Check vehicle information with Jaguar VIN
Looking for the VIN?
Here is there you’ll find it:
Swallow Sidecar renamed themselves Jaguar in 1945, after a decade of building cars. During WWII, engineers worked after hours on a new twin overhead cam straight 6 that went into the new XK120 after the war. This car and its engine won races ranging from the 24 Hours of Le Mans to NASCAR. It was followed by the E-Type, regarded as one of the most beautiful cars ever produced. Meanwhile, their luxury sedans were renowned for their performance and beautiful interiors. From the 1960s to the 2000s, Jaguar went through several ownership changes. They were part of British Leyland, had a few years as an independent automaker, joined Ford’s Premier Auto Group, and finally ended up at Tata. Under Tata’s ownership, Jaguar and Land Rover operations merged, creating a luxury-focused company that produces everything from sports cars to world class off-roaders.
Many of us dream about owning a Jaguar one day. However, that desirability comes with major financial risk. Before you buy your next car, get a VIN check from EpicVIN. When you look up the VIN on our site, it will tell you how the vehicle was equipped when it left the factory. This can help you find the right vehicle, and avoid cars that have been modified. Want to reduce your risk when you buy a Jaguar? Order a VIN report, and you’ll get a full history of the vehicle based on data from official databases. This includes legal issues, theft, accident damage and more.
Vehicle identification numbers are issued by Jaguar when they build each vehicle. This 17 character I.D. includes information about when the car was built, where it was built, and how it was equipped. While it’s possible to pass a vehicle off as a different trim, it’s all but impossible to falsify a VIN.
How does this help you find the right car? Let’s say you want to buy an F-Type. When this car debuted, handling performance was identical across all models, despite being offered with three engines. This is thanks to unique suspension and drivetrain components for each motor. An unscrupulous seller could simply swap engines, leaving the rest of the car alone. Without the accompanying upgrades, this could leave you with a car with great acceleration and terrible handling. While it’s hard to tell a standard differential from an electronically controlled on, it’s trivial to use our decoder to see how the car was equipped at the factory.
Jaguar places this identifier in several areas to prevent tampering. Some stickers and engravings have “Jaguar” finely printed across them, making it each to spot tampering. Here are some places to check when you’re looking for a car’s VIN.
With the driver’s door open, look for a plate or sticker on the door pillar near the latch. This label has extensive vehicle information, including the VIN. If it’s not there, look at the side of the B pillar, near the door sill. On some older models, this plate is made of a plastic that’s designed to chip apart if any attempt is made to remove it from the vehicle. Be wary of any vehicle that is missing this plate.
Some recent vehicles also have a white VIN sticker on the A-pillar between the door hinges.
If you open the hood, you should see the VIN stamped somewhere on the passenger’s side inner fender or on the center of the firewall. Older models also have a white manufacturer sticker next to one of the hood hinges, near the cowl.
Look inside the trunk. On some models, including the X-Type, the VIN is stamped into the passenger’s side fender or floor pan.
Now that you have the VIN number, what can you learn from it? Here’s an overview of what each digit stands for.
The first three digits make up the World Make Identifier. The first digit is the manufacturing location. This is “S” for Great Britain. The second digit is the manufacturer. On recent cars, this is “A” for Tata. The third character is the brand division, which is “D” or “J” on late model vehicles.
The fourth digit is the market and safety system. You should see one of these letters here for American market cars:
D- four airbags
E, J- United States
W- Front, side and curtain airbags
You may come across other characters on cars from neighboring countries. B, G and X are used on Canadian market cars, while P, R, T and Y are used on Mexican market cars.
The fifth digit is the gearbox: “A” for automatic and “B” for manual.
The sixth and seventh digits are the model and body type:
| Code | Body Type |
|---|---|
| 01 | S-Type |
| 03 | S-Type Sport |
| 12 | XJ Sport |
| 14 | XJ8 |
| 15 and 73 | XJR |
| 1C and 71 | XJ |
| 20, 23 and 79 | XJ8L |
| 24 and 74 | Vanden Plas |
| 25 | Vanden Plas SC |
| 82 | Vanden Plas long wheelbase |
| 25 | XJ Super V8 |
| 2B | F-Pace |
| 41 and 43 | XK and XKR coupe |
| 42 and 44 | XK and XKR convertible |
| 51 | X-Type |
| 53 | X-Type Sport |
The eighth digit is the engine and market. Here are the codes you’ll see on modern American market Jaguars:
| Code | Engine |
|---|---|
| A | X-type or S- type ULEV 3.0L |
| B | S-type, XKR, XJR / Vanden Plas SC and XJ Super, ULEV 4.2L V8, or XJ 5.0L V8 |
| C | XJ8, XJ8L, Vanden Plas, XK8, XKR, XJR, SV8 and S-type R supercharged 4.2L V8, S-type V6, X-type 3.0L V6, or XJ and Sovereign 4.0L |
| D | S-type V8 or X-type 2.5L V6 |
| N or T | S-Type 3.0L V6 |
| U | S-Type 4.2L V8 |
| V | S-Type R supercharged 4.2L or F-Pace |
The ninth digit is used to check the authenticity of the VIN.
The tenth digit is the year. This alternates between numbers and letters, excluding characters that have similar shapes. For example, there is no “0” or “O” used for the year. 2000s models used numbers, while 2010 and later models use letters.
| 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 |
Here are some examples of Jaguar vehicle identification numbers, and the information you can get from them:
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:
