It’s amazing to think just how far the automotive industry has come since its early beginnings. Even something as simple as vehicle identification has undergone a massive change. At the heart of that change is the Vehicle Identification Number or VIN, a 17 digit code that acts like a vehicle’s “fingerprint”.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has also played a considerable role in updating how VINS are interpreted and used, making it more accessible, accurate and actionable to identify vehicles for a variety of users, from manufacturers to customers and even developers.
The Early Days of Vehicle Identification
In the early days of the automotive industry, vehicles didn’t have a standard identification system. Manufacturers each used their own systems, which led to a host of inefficiencies and confusion when it came to tracking, registration and preventing vehicle thefts.
In 1954, the United States began advocating for a more uniform system, but it wasn’t until almost 30 years later, 1981 to be exact, that the VIN format we know today came about. The VIN format was standardized by the NHTSA and included 17 digits which, when decoded, would reveal:
- The vehicle’s manufacturer
- The year the vehicle was produced
- The make and model of the vehicle
- What engine type was under the hood
- The plant where the vehicle was assembled
Even though the VIN standard was adopted, it was still a challenge to decode the information simply because of its complexity and, again, because of different standards across manufacturers. For example, in the 1960s, Ford used a VIN format that included:
- A letter to indicate which plant the vehicle was manufactured at
- A numerical code to indicate the model year
- A series of numbers for the production sequence
- Other letters and numbers for the body style and engine type
At the same time, General Motors used a completely different approach. Their VINs would include:
- A division code for Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, etc.
- Codes for the engine type, body type, and series
- Production sequence numbers which varied by plant
That meant that if you were a dealership, law enforcement agency or insurance adjusters in the 1960s trying to decode a VIN, you’d need to:
- Know the Manufacturer’s System – Each manufacturer had its own unique coding structure, so understanding a Ford VIN wouldn’t help you with a GM VIN.
- Access Limited Resources – Decoding required access to manufacturer-specific documentation, which wasn’t readily available or standardized.
- Interpret Variations – Manufacturers sometimes changed their formats between years, even within the same brand, requiring constant updates to decoding methods.
Confusing right? Even mechanics trying to order parts for one vehicle would struggle to understand the right specifications if they didn’t understand the coding. The NHTSA’s standardized 17-digit code helped pave the way for uniformity and compliance, helping improve tracking, prevent thefts, manage recalls and give customers access to valuable vehicle data when buying.
From VINs to Databases
As the automotive industry and technology in general evolved, modern vehicles began to be equipped with more features, options and variations, which made it difficult to identify every possible specification based on the VIN alone. Recalls also became more common, so there was a pressing need to link to VINs with specific recall data in order to alert owners.
At the same time, paper-based records were being transitioned to digital databases, which made accessing that type of data faster and easier. At this time, VIN decoding normally revolved around proprietary software used by fleet operators, manufacturers and dealerships.
The Birth of APIs
The rise of the internet and web technologies in the late 1990s and early 2000s gave organizations the idea to start creating web-based interfaces to share data. APIs (Application Program Interfaces) became a quick and easy standard for letting eternal systems receive specific data without granting them database access.
APIs were also the answer to being able to serve multiple users and applications at the same time while integrating them and ensuring they could all communicate together.
Today, companies like MarketCheck have only improved on the process. The NHTSA VIN Decoder API unlocks the treasure trove of data encoded in VINS. Thanks to the user-friendly web-based API, users can input a VIN and get detailed, structured information about the vehicle in real-time. The VIN data can also be used by developer and automotive businesses, giving them the freedom to integrate it into their dashboards and applications
How the NHTSA VIN Decoder API Works
At its core, the NHTSA VIN Decoder API has given new functionalities and flexibility to how VINs are used across the automotive industry. Because the API decodes the VIN, users can instantly get information on vehicle attributes like make, model, year, engine specifications, safety features and more. Users can also access recall data, giving them greater confidence before making a vehicle purchase.
Developers can customize queries to retrieve specific data fields and can integrate the API into their own apps or platforms. If there are invalid or incomplete VINs, the API will detect and notify the user, helping to keep the data accurate. Ongoing updates help make sure that information stays compliant even as vehicle regulations and manufacturing standards change.
Interested in learning more about how the NHTSA VIN Decoder API works? MarketCheck offers a full suite of automotive data APIs that make it easy to decode VINS while delivering detailed vehicle information. These APIs help dealerships, manufacturers and other automotive businesses integrate valuable data into their applications and operations, improving inventory management, assisting with marketing analysis and boosting customer engagement across the board.
Contact MarketCheck today and let us demonstrate how our basic VIN decoder API and more enhanced VIN Decoder API as well as our full suite of data and integrations can help you grow and scale your automotive business with the latest, detailed information on a variety of vehicles, including historic details, trim breakdowns and much more.
