Check vehicle information with Kia VIN
Looking for the VIN?
Here is there you’ll find it:
Kia opened their doors in 1944 as a bicycle manufacturer, before adding motorcycles, trucks and cars to their lineup. In 1986, they partnered with Ford and Mazda to build the Pride, which was sold in the U.S. as the Ford Festiva. Kia started selling cars under their own name here in 1992. Just 5 years later, the Asian Financial Crisis forced them into bankruptcy and eventually a partnership with Hyundai. Since then, Kia has leveraged Hyundai-developed platforms to create sporty and practical offerings, including the boxy Soul, the critically-acclaimed Stinger, and the lightning fast EV6 electric car.
Are you looking to buy a Kia? EpicVIN has tools that help you get the car you want. Our VIN search makes it easy to decode the VIN number. This tells you how the vehicle was configured at the factory, including the model year, engine and equipment. As an official National Motor Vehicle Title Information Service (NMVTIS) source, we're also able to offer detailed VIN reports. These reports contain information gathered from corporate and government databases, giving you a full history of the vehicle.
Every vehicle sold in the U.S. is required to have a Vehicle Identification Number. The VIN number follows a standard format with 17 digits, and each digit has an assigned meaning. Our DMV VIN check decodes the VIN, telling you factory information about the vehicle, including the model, year, engine and manufacturing location. This helps you verify information in sales listings.
Want to compare Kias with other makes? We cover all brands sold in the U.S. Searching for other types of vehicles? Kia never sold their motorcycles in the U.S, but we do offer motorcycle VIN check services, as well as tools to look up trucks and RVs.
Our VIN decoder turns the vehicle's identification number into information you can use. This includes all the data it contains, like the model, manufacturing plant, engine and more. This helps you verify sales listings are correct before you spend time looking at the vehicle in person. We also have a license plate lookup tool. This uses public records to find the VIN connected to the plate and decode it, delivering the same information.
Want to know more? A VIN report uses this code to find vehicle records from several sources, including insurance companies and government agencies. This lets us put together a history report, including vehicle owner lookup, registration history, and report filings covering accidents, outstanding liens and theft. Using this information, you can avoid cars that have legal issues or possible hidden damage.
To do a DMV VIN check, first you need the VIN. Some sales listings include the VIN, while it can be found on a range of official documents, including insurance policies, vehicle registrations and titles. Kia puts the VIN on their cars in several locations, making it easy to identify the vehicle. Here are some places you can find this number.
What can you learn about a vehicle when you use our VIN decoder? Here's a breakdown of what each digit in the VIN is used for.
First three digits: World Make Identifier (WMI)
These three digits identify the country, manufacturer and manufacturing location. The first two digits identify the country and division:
5X and 5X – Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia
KM and KN – Hyundai/Kia Korea
The third digit will be X or Y for Georgia-built vehicles, and A-H for Korea-built vehicles.
Digits 4 and 5: Model
Here are a few examples of codes for popular models.
| CB, CC, DC, DE, DG | Rio |
| E5 | Stinger |
| FA, FB | Sephia and Spectra |
| GD, GM, GN | Optima |
| JA, JB, JE, KH, PB, PC | Sportage |
| JC, KU | Sorento |
| JG, JT | Soul |
| UP | Carnival |
Digits 6 and 7: Body Type
| 22, 42, 46, 81, 83 | Sedan |
| 23, 33 | Three door hatchback |
| 24, 34, 41, 44, 5L | 5 door hatchback |
| 31, 35, 45, 47 | Two door coupe |
| 32 | Four door coupe |
| 43 | Station wagon |
| 52 | Four door SUV |
| 62 | 5 door van |
| 71, 73 | Four door MPV |
Digit 8: Engine
Each model gets its own engine designations, and some models have up to 9 options, depending on displacement, technology and emissions. Our search tool can tell you which engine was installed in the vehicle.
Digit 9: Transmission
These are the most common transmission codes:
| 1, 2, 5 | 5 speed manual |
| 2 | 3 speed automatic |
| 3 | 4 speed automatic |
| 9 | CVT |
Digit 10: Model Year
Model year designations are standard across all models, regardless of make. This alternates between numbers 1-9, last used between 2001 and 2009, and letters, excluding characters that could be confused with numbers. “P” is used for 1993 models, the first Kias sold in the U.S, as well as 2023 models.
Digit 11: Assembly Plant
This is the factory where the vehicle was built. These codes are used for Korean-built Kias:
| 7, T | Korea |
| 5, A | Hwa-Sung |
| 6, S | Sohari |
Digits 12 through 17: Serial Number
All vehicles are required to use these digits for the vehicle's serial number, but the format they use isn't standard. While serial numbers are reused, you will never find two vehicles with an identical VIN number.
Want to see what you can learn about vehicles when you use our search tools? Here are some example VIN numbers:
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:
