You can find out a variety of information about your Ford car or truck by decoding its vehicle identification number.

Your vehicle's VIN number is unique to it and provides information about where it was manufactured, when it was manufactured and what options were available for it. You can decode a VIN using several different methods, all of which will provide you with more or less the same information.

Locate your Ford vehicle's VIN number. The 17-digit number is listed on numerous locations throughout the vehicle's body, including on the left-hand side of the dashboard near the windshield and on the sticker in the driver's side door jamb, as well as on any paperwork pertaining to the vehicle.

Break down the VIN number. The first digit stands for the country the vehicle was manufactured in. The second designates the manufacturer, in this case, Ford. The third designates the type of vehicle. The fourth through eighth digits are individual options and styles. The ninth digit is a check digit that can be used to determine if the VIN is real, should there ever be a question about its authenticity. The tenth digit is the year, the eleventh is for the assembly plant and the twelfth through seventeenth designate where the vehicle fell in the sequential production line.

The Ford Fleet VIN Decoder website provides PDF documents listing the different VIN number designations for different vehicles by year model (see resources).

Enter the VIN number in Ford's VIN decoder. This will provide you with the most up-to-date VIN decoding information for your vehicle, according to Ford.

Call Ford and provide the company with the VIN number if you still have any questions. A representative will be able to look up your VIN in his computer system and tell you all of the information about the vehicle, including features and specific part information.