Fix a VIN that will not decode

What to check when a VIN won't decode, returns the wrong vehicle, or comes back empty — reading it correctly, scanning it with your camera, or adding the vehicle by make and model instead.

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This is the troubleshooting companion to adding a vehicle. If a VIN won't decode or comes back as the wrong vehicle, this article covers what to check and where to go next. For the normal walkthrough, read Scan a VIN with YardScan first. If you're stripping one car into many parts, see Part out a whole vehicle.

> [!NOTE] > Almost every "won't decode" problem is one mistyped character. Most of this article is about reading the VIN correctly. The quickest way past a stubborn VIN is often to add the vehicle by make and model instead.

What the app tells you

When a decode fails, the reason shows under the VIN box in the Add a vehicle window.

| Message | What it means | What to do | |---|---|---| | "VIN needs 17 characters — check the door sticker." | The box holds fewer than 17 characters. | Count the characters. Decode VIN stays greyed out until there are exactly 17. | | "That VIN looks invalid." | The VIN was rejected as not valid. | Re-read it for look-alike characters. See the table below. | | "Couldn't decode this VIN — enter the vehicle manually." | The lookup returned no vehicle. This also shows if your connection dropped. | Try once more. If it still fails, press Enter manually beside the message. |

Read the VIN carefully

A VIN is exactly 17 characters. VINs never use the letters I, O or Q. Wherever you see one of those on the plate, it's really a digit. The VIN box does not correct them for you, so type the digit:

| On the plate it looks like… | In a VIN it's actually… | |---|---| | The letter O | the digit 0 (zero) | | The letter I | the digit 1 (one) | | The letter Q | never valid. Re-read it. It's usually the digit 0 |

Faded or dirty plates blur other pairs too: a 5 and an S, an 8 and a B, a 2 and a Z. When a decode fails, read the VIN slowly, one character at a time, against a clean source. The VIN appears in several places if the dashboard plate is hard to read:

  1. Driver's-side dashboard, through the windscreen
  2. Driver's-side door-jamb sticker
  3. Vehicle title or registration
  4. Insurance card or policy

> [!TIP] > On a phone or tablet that supports it, a Scan button appears beside the VIN box. Use it to read the barcode with your camera instead of typing, since a camera can't mistype a character. Point it at the barcode on the door jamb or windscreen. A successful scan decodes the VIN straight away. If the scanner can't read the barcode, press Type the VIN instead to close it and type.

When a valid VIN still won't decode

Sometimes the 17 characters are correct but you still get "Couldn't decode this VIN — enter the vehicle manually." The vehicle may sit outside what the decoder covers. You don't have to fight it. Two reliable ways forward:

  • Add the vehicle by hand. Press Enter manually beside the message, or Pick year, make and model instead under the VIN box. Pick the Make and Model (add the Year to narrow it), then press Use this vehicle. This skips decoding entirely, comes from GridX Connect's verified vehicle list, and never uses a vehicle decode. A vehicle added this way has no VIN on record.
  • Open a vehicle you've already added. If you decoded this VIN before, you don't need to decode it again. Find it in My Yard (the search box accepts a VIN). If you add the same VIN again, the app opens the existing vehicle and the decode is free.

If your plan blocks the decode

A decode can also be refused because of your plan, not because of the VIN. That happens when your free vehicle decodes are used up on Free or eBay Sponsored, or when the decode would go past your monthly spending limit on a paid plan. The app asks you to upgrade. On a paid plan, raising your spending limit also clears it. See Raise or change your spending limit.

Adding the vehicle by make and model is never blocked. How the free decodes work is covered under *Vehicle decodes and your plan* in Scan a VIN with YardScan.

If the wrong vehicle came back

If the card shows the wrong year, make or model, the VIN was probably mistyped. By then the vehicle has already been saved to My Yard, so do two things:

  1. Press Change on the card (a round-arrows icon on a phone) and decode the corrected VIN. A different VIN counts as a new decode.
  2. Delete the wrong vehicle. In My Yard, press the bin on its tile (Delete vehicle) and confirm Delete.

You can't edit a saved vehicle's year, make or model. If you have already closed the window, delete the vehicle from My Yard and add it again. If the right VIN still comes back wrong, add the vehicle with Pick year, make and model instead.

"Needs choice" is about the part, not the vehicle

Decoding a VIN takes you straight to one vehicle. There's no "pick one of these vehicles" step. Later, when you identify a part, it may show Needs choice with a Choose button. That's because the part comes in more than one variant for this vehicle (for example, different engines). Pick the one you're holding. It doesn't change the vehicle.

Where to go next