Check vehicle information with Buick VIN
Looking for the VIN?
Here is there you’ll find it:
Buick opened their doors in 1899, becoming one of the world’s first car brands and the first brand under General Motors. As GM grew, they became a luxury brand just below Cadillac. Innovative features, like overhead valve engines and front wheel drive, helped the brand stand out from its competitors. The company even dabbled in sports cars, first with 60s muscle cars like the GSX, then again in the 80s with the legendary GNX. However, cars like the Park Avenue and LeSabre gave Buick a reputation for building cars for old people. After GM’s restructuring in the late 2000s, the brand was re-established as a direct competitor to Japanese luxury brands. Although Buicks are popular in America, it doesn’t compare to their runaway success in China. Today, 80% of the brand’s cars are sold there.
Whether you want the practicality of an Encore, the comfort of an Enclave, or the legendary reliability of their classic 3800-powered models, make our VIN check part of your vehicle search. Using our decoder, you can learn all the information contained in this factory-issued number. This includes safety equipment, trim levels and more. Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, take your search a step further by ordering a VIN report. This tells you about the car’s history, drawing from official government, police and insurance records.
That way, you can find a car with the equipment you want in the condition you want.
Why is it important to decode the VIN on any vehicle you plan on buying? This code tells you more than you’ll get from a classified listing. Each letter and number in the vehicle identification number has a meaning. It shows where the car was built, when it was produced, and which engine, drivetrain and trim level it came with.
This is handy for more than finding the right vehicle to buy. It also helps you avoid misrepresented vehicles. For example, a GNX is based on the common G-Body. It doesn’t take much to put a turbo V6 in a standard Regal and add some paint to make it look like the real thing. However, the value of such a car is a fraction of a genuine vehicle. VINs are difficult to remove, making it easy to check if the car really is a GNX, or was modified to resemble one.
Buick places the VIN in several locations, and these locations can vary depending on the age and model of vehicle. Here are the most common places you’ll find the VIN number.
Look inside the cabin next to the driver’s side mirror. You will see the VIN stamped into a small plate on the dashboard.
With the driver’s door open, look for a sticker on the front or side of the door pillar. Depending on the model year, the VIN is either next to a barcode, just above information about tire sizes, or at the bottom left of the sticker. Older Buicks also have a plate on the A pillar, either next to the windshield or the door hinges.
Open the hood and look for a sticker, metal plate or stamp on the firewall.
On truck-based SUVs and older body-on-frame cars, the VIN is stamped into the frame behind the driver’s side rear wheel.
The engine serial number on most Buicks is identical to the VIN. On older cars, this is stamped on the engine block, usually below one of the valve covers. On newer vehicles, this number is on a sticker, below the barcode. This sticker is on the side of the block. Keep in mind that this VIN may be incorrect if a used or rebuilt engine was installed in the vehicle.
The VIN is also on official paperwork. Be sure to check titles, service receipts, insurance policies and other documents for this code.
Most of the VIN is made up of letters and numbers that describe the vehicle. Here’s what you can learn from each of these characters.
The first three places in the VIN make up the World Make Identifier. This includes the country where the car was built, the plant and the vehicle division. This can be hard to decode, because Buick reuses some characters. For example, a “4” in the third place in the VIN could be a vehicle built by Buick, GM-DAT or Adam Opel. However, using all three characters together, you can determine who built the vehicle and where:
| Code | Country |
|---|---|
| 1G4 and 5GA | Buick in America |
| 2G4 | Buick in Canada |
| 3G4 | Buick in Mexico |
| KL4 | GM-DAT in Korea |
| LSG | Shanghai General Motors in China |
| W04 | Adam Opel in Germany or Poland |
The fourth and fifth places in the VIN identify the model and trim. Here are some common codes for late model Buicks:
LaCrosse
| Code | Equipment |
|---|---|
| G1 | Early models |
| G4, GF | Touring |
| GA | Base |
| GB | Leather |
| GC | Leather AWD |
| GD | Premium |
| GE | Premium AWD |
Regal
| Code | Equipment |
|---|---|
| G2 | Early models |
| G3 | Sport Touring |
| GK | Leather |
| GL | Leather AWD |
| GM | Fleet |
| GN | Premium eAssist |
| GP | Premium I |
| GP | Premium I AWD |
| GS | Premium II |
| GT | Premium II AWD |
| GU, WS | GS |
| GV | GS AWD |
Verano
| Code | Equipment |
|---|---|
| PP | Early models |
| PR | Convenience |
| PS | Leather |
| PT | Premium Turbo |
| PV | 1SV |
| PW | Sport Touring |
Cascadia
| Code | Equipment |
|---|---|
| WG | 1SV |
| WH | PL |
The sixth place is the body style:
| Code | BODY STYLE |
|---|---|
| 1 or 2 | Two door |
| 3 | Convertible |
| 5 | Sedan |
| 6 | Sedan or four door hatchback |
| 8 | 5 door wagon or hatchback |
| 9 | Touring |
The seventh place is used for the passenger safety equipment:
| Code | Equipment |
|---|---|
| 1 | Seat belts only |
| 2 | Dual front airbags |
| 3 | Driver’s side airbag |
| 4 | Front and side airbags |
| 5 | Front airbags and side airbag on driver’s side |
| 6 | Front and side airbags with occupancy sensor |
| 7 | Front airbags and side airbags for front and rear passengers |
The eighth place is the engine:
| Code | Engine |
|---|---|
| 1 | 3.8 liter V6 |
| 3 | 3.6 liter V6 |
| 4, 6 | 2.2 liter four cylinder |
| A, D | 2.3 liter four cylinder |
| E | 3.4 liter V6 or 5.0 liter V8 |
| G, P | 5.7 liter V8 |
| H | 5.0 liter V8 |
| J | 3.1 liter V6 |
| K | 3.8 liter V6 or 2.4 liter four cylinder |
| R | 2.4 liter four cylinder or 3.0 liter V6 |
| T | 2.4 liter four cylinder |
| V, X | 2.0 liter turbo four cylinder |
| W | 4.3 liter V6 |
The ninth place is a check digit. This can be an “X” or numbers 1 to 9.
The tenth place is the model year. This alternates between numbers and letters, with “M” being used for 2021, “B” for 2011 and “1” for 2001.
| Code | Country | Code | Country | Code | Country | Code | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1984 | R | 1994 | 4 | 2004 | E | 2014 |
| F | 1985 | S | 1995 | 5 | 2005 | F | 2015 |
| G | 1986 | T | 1996 | 6 | 2006 | G | 2016 |
| H | 1987 | V | 1997 | 7 | 2007 | H | 2017 |
| J | 1988 | W | 1998 | 8 | 2008 | J | 2018 |
| K | 1989 | X | 1999 | 9 | 2009 | K | 2019 |
| L | 1990 | Y | 2000 | A | 2010 | L | 2020 |
| M | 1991 | 1 | 2001 | B | 2011 | M | 2021 |
| N | 1992 | 2 | 2002 | C | 2012 | N | 2022 |
| P | 1993 | 3 | 2003 | D | 2013 | P | 2023 |
The eleventh place is the manufacturing plant:
| Code | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| 0 | Landing, MI |
| 1, 9 | Oshawa, Ontario, Canada |
| 4 | Orion, MI |
| 5 | Bowling Green, KY |
| 7 | Lordstown, OH |
| A | Arlington, TX |
| C | Changwon, Korea |
| F | Fairfax, KS |
| G | Gilwice, Poland |
| L | San Luis Potosi, Mexico |
| S | Ramoz Arizpe, Mexico |
| U | Detroit, MI |
The remaining places in the VIN are the serial number.
Here are some real Buick VIN numbers, and some of the information you can learn from them when you use our site:
Locations vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. However, there are three places you can find the code on most vehicles:
- Look through the windshield at the dashboard. On the driver’s side, you should see a small metal plate with the number stamped into it.
- Open the driver’s door. Look at the front and side of the door pillar for an I.D. sticker. It usually has the manufacturer’s logo on it. The code should be on this sticker.
- Open the hood. You may see a sticker on the firewall or near the passenger’s side strut tower. Some cars have the number engraved in one of these areas.
Since this number is used to identify the vehicle on official documents, you can also find it on the title, the window sticker, and on insurance policies.
We also decode numbers for RVs, heavy-duty trucks and motorcycles. If you need to decode an RV number, make sure it’s the one issued by the chassis manufacturer, not the RV outfitter.
No. Canadian and Mexican cars usually use the same format. Other countries use their own formats.
It’s up to the manufacturer to determine what they want to include for some parts of the number. For example, some companies don’t include information about transmissions or trim levels.
Usually, no. A few manufacturers stamp the code into the engine. If the VINs on the engine and car match, then it’s the original engine. On most vehicles, there isn’t anything that ties an engine to a specific vehicle. At most, looking up the vehicle on our website will tell you if a different type of engine was installed. For example, if someone swaps a V8 into a Ford Mustang, our site will tell you it originally came with a V6.
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Read moreLooking for the VIN?
Here is there you’ll find it:
