Your car's Vehicle Identification Number (VIN for short) is unique to your vehicle. Those 17 characters contain the secrets to everything in your car, truck or SUV.

Dealerships also have an electronic on-board reader that verifies the VIN from the car’s computer system. Plus, you should always check the Carfax report against the vehicle itself.

Decode your vehicle identification number (VIN) to get detailed information about your car. Find out the make, model, year, and more with our VIN decoder tool.

Police say thieves are stripping VIN numbers off stolen cars more often, but manufacturers are stamping the number in other, undisclosed parts of the vehicle to deter this.