Honda VIN Decoder Australia
What each character on a Honda VIN means, and what it doesn't tell you.
- Hondas in our data
- 214,527
- Hondas in our data
- Characters that identify the model
- 5 characters
- identify the model
- Last updated
- Oct 2026
- last updated
How to read a Honda VIN
Take a 2018 Honda Civic sedan. Its VIN starts MRHFC, and those five characters are the useful part: FC is Honda's own code for this Civic. Character 10 is the model year, a J for 2018. The rest is unique to one car, so it's painted out here.
Civic (FC) · VIN plate
- Characters 1 to 3: Maker and country
- Characters 4 and 5: Model and generation (Honda's chassis code)
- Characters 6 to 8: Variant
- Character 9: Not a check digit on a Honda
- Character 10: Model year
- Characters 11 to 17: Plant and serial number
Characters 1 to 5
Maker, country and Honda's chassis code, the same code owners use for the generation: FD, FB and FC on a Civic sedan, RW on a CR-V. MRH is Honda in Thailand, JHM Honda in Japan.
Characters 9 and 10
On a US car, a check digit and the model year. On a Honda, only the year. Character 9 was a valid check digit on just 13.1% of the 8,204 Hondas we checked, and character 10 was within a year of the build year on 95.1%.
Characters 11 to 17
Plant and serial number. Unique to one car, so never shown.
The VIN gives the model year, not the build date
On a Honda, the 10th character is the model year, the same as on a US car. In October 2026 we checked 8,204 Hondas against their build dates, and it was within a year of the build year on 95.1% of them. The model year is not the build date, though: that is on the build plate, and in every Carify VIN check.
Civic VIN patterns
Characters 4 and 5 are the Civic chassis code. Honda used FK for two hatches, the UK-built one (SHH) and the Thai-built one from 2017 (MRH), so the first three characters matter too.
| Pattern | Generation | Built | Cars in our data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civic EK | 1996 to 2000 | 3,015 | |
| Civic ES | 2002 to 2005 | 2,842 | |
| Civic FD | 2006 to 2011 | 16,125 | |
| Civic FN | 2007 to 2011 | 686 | |
| Civic FK | 2009 to 2018 | 6,300 | |
| Civic FB | 2012 to 2015 | 3,384 | |
| Civic FC | 2016 to 2020 | 7,784 | |
| Civic FK | 2017 to 2021 | 8,537 |
Plus 18 less common patterns. Built: the middle 90% of build years, from 2,583 decoded cars. Updated Oct 2026.
1 Centre door pillarOpen the front door to see the label. 
2 Floor, under a coverDriver's side, by the door sill. Lift the cover to see the stamp. 
3 Base of the windscreenWhere fitted. Read it through the glass from outside.
Locations from Honda's owner's manual for the Civic sedan (FC), the edition that covers Australian models.
Other popular Hondas
The Hondas we see most after the Civic, and the patterns that identify them.
-
CR-V
and 22 more
- RD 2000 to 2006
- RE 2007 to 2012
- RM 2013 to 2017
- RW 2017 to 2022
From 1,512 decoded cars
-
Jazz
and 6 more
- GD 2002 to 2008
- GE 2008 to 2012
- GK 2014 to 2019
From 1,123 decoded cars
-
Accord
and 23 more
- CL 2003 to 2008
- CM 2004 to 2007
- CU 2008 to 2013
- CP 2008 to 2012
From 1,660 decoded cars
-
HR-V
and 19 more
- RU 2015 to 2021
- RV 2022 on
From 479 decoded cars
Other makes
About these numbers: generations and build years come from 8,204 Hondas decoded from factory records, one per VIN. Build years show the middle 90% of each pattern, and patterns with fewer than 30 decoded cars are left out. Updated October 2026.