What is VIN Data? Best Datasets & Databases for VIN Database Download
What is VIN Data?
VIN data is information associated with a vehicle identification number (VIN). A VIN is a unique code assigned to each vehicle, containing details about its manufacturer, model, year of production, engine type, and other specifications. VIN data provides crucial information about a vehicle’s history, including its ownership, accident records, mileage, and maintenance records. It is commonly used by individuals, businesses, and organizations to verify the authenticity and condition of a vehicle before making a purchase or conducting any transactions. VIN data is used for various purposes such as vehicle history reports, insurance claims, vehicle recalls, and identifying stolen vehicles. In this page, you’ll find the best data sources for VIN data and instant VIN database downloads.
Best VIN Data Databases & Datasets
Here is Datarade's curated selection of top VIN Data. These trusted databases and datasets offer high-quality, up-to-date information.
Alesco Auto Database - VIN DATA - 242+ Million VINs with 152+ Million Opt-In Emails - US based, licensing available
USA Court Data, USA Litigation Data, US County legal Data - All county legal data Available , Court Data API | 50% Cost savings
Think Data Group | US First-Party Automotive VIN Data | 150MM+ Automotive Consumer Records | Dual Opt-In | Updated Monthly | Fully Compliant
Alesco Auto Database - AUTOMOTIVE DATA - 242+ Million VINs with 152+ Million Opt-In Emails - US based, licensing available
Exoma Company Data (USA) | Distinct VIN, year, make, model, series of vehicles
PlateToVIN - License Plate to VIN HTTP API with VIN Decode
AUTOMOBILE DATA - US VIN FILE OF MORE THAN 200 MILLIONS VEHICLES, PLUS YEAR, MAKE MODEL, ADDRESS
Visual property intelligence dataset of Living room, kitchen, dining room, outdoors, Bedroom images
AGR Automotive Data - US VIN file of 165 million autos with address verification.
SocialSift: Walmart USA Driving Distance based on Mobile Location | CSV File + Insights Report | Store ID + Lat/Long | Walmart Data Enrichment
VIN Data Explained
What are the attributes of VIN data?
Each VIN comprises 17 characters (digits and capital letters) that act as a unique identifier for the vehicle. A VIN relays the vehicle’s unique features, specifications and its manufacturer.
- 1st character - location vehicle was built
- 2nd and 3rd characters - manufacturer
- 4th and 8th characters - aesthetic qualities of the vehicle: brand, engine size, type
- 9th character - security code
- 10th character - model year of car
- Last 6 characters - serial number of vehicle
- 11th character - plant where vehicle was assembled
What is VIN data used for?
VIN data has a range of use cases. In general, it’s used to provide intelligence on a vehicle’s history. With a single VIN, you can monitor when a specific vehicle has been recalled for safety reasons, registered with a new owner, added to an insured policy, undergone a warranty claim, or reported as stolen.
Vehicle identification
Automotive businesses, including car dealerships, refurbishers, and manufacturers can all use VIN data to improve their vehicle identification processes. After license plate recognition (this can be input manually or automatically detected), VIN data providers can map each plate to a VIN. This conversion is usually done via API calls on demand. From there, all of the important data points about the vehicle are available: its make, model, history, etc.
Due diligence and compliance
Car dealers often need to cross-check the VIN for a vehicle against an external database to ensure they’re complying with relevant industry regulations. For example, in Canada, vehicles must register with National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). Automobile dealers and salesmen can use external VIN data to corroborate a vehicle’s history. This way, they can avoid costly purchases, such as buying a vehicle reported as stolen or unsafe.
Car parking optimization
Car parking centers with license plate recognition in operation can enrich their proprietary database with VIN data to understand the kind of vehicles using their facilities. From here, they can construct enhanced customer profiles based on the make, model, size, and type of vehicles parking in a given car park. Car park owners can also track the frequency of vehicle visits to plan future parking bays and future parking sites.
Automobile marketing and advertising
Automotive marketing companies can also use license plate recognition then VIN decoding to understand the vehicles moving in a certain location. For example, marketers can collect the license plates of vehicle driving in a certain urban area. These plates are then decoded into VIN, which then reveal the car make, model, size etc. With these insights, marketers and advertisers can make data-driven strategies. For example, whether or not it makes sense to display a billboard for a certain vehicle brand based on the volume of those vehicles in local traffic.
What are the sources of VIN data?
You can find a specific vehicle’s VIN manually by looking at the dashboard on the driver’s side. The VIN is printed where the windshield meets the dashboard. However, if you’re looking for VIN data in bulk, you can buy VIN datasets from VIN data providers. These databases include hundreds of VIN identifiers, covering vehicle types and geographies of your choosing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I buy VIN Data?
Data providers and vendors listed on Datarade sell VIN Data products and samples. Popular VIN Data products and datasets available on our platform are Alesco Auto Database - VIN DATA - 242+ Million VINs with 152+ Million Opt-In Emails - US based, licensing available by Alesco Data, USA Court Data, USA Litigation Data, US County legal Data - All county legal data Available , Court Data API | 50% Cost savings by APISCRAPY, and Think Data Group | US First-Party Automotive VIN Data | 150MM+ Automotive Consumer Records | Dual Opt-In | Updated Monthly | Fully Compliant by Think Data Group.
How can I get VIN Data?
You can get VIN Data via a range of delivery methods - the right one for you depends on your use case. For example, historical VIN Data is usually available to download in bulk and delivered using an S3 bucket. On the other hand, if your use case is time-critical, you can buy real-time VIN Data APIs, feeds and streams to download the most up-to-date intelligence.