VIN Decoder · Subaru
Subaru VIN Decoder: JF1, JF2, 4S3 and 4S4 Codes
Each of the 22 Norwegian Foresters with the 150 hp petrol engine that we looked up, built between 2013 and 2018, begins JF1SJ5LC5, and that 5 never changes. Position 9 on a European Subaru built in Gunma is part of the model code, not a check digit: of 286 such VINs, only 26 happened to compute. A Forester sold new in the US starts JF2 instead, and there the check digit is law. The model year, at least, sits in position 10 on both.
- WMI set: 4 codes: JF1, JF2, 4S3, 4S4
- Plant codes: 6 characters, Gunma and Lafayette
- Last verified: 8 October 2026
Decode a Subaru VIN
Scope: Subaru JF1 · JF2 · 4S3 · 4S40 / 17
A Subaru VIN never contains I, O or Q. A round character on the dashboard plate of a JF1 Forester is therefore a zero, never the letter O.
How a Subaru VIN is put together
JF1 and JF2 belong to Subaru Corporation in Japan, the company formerly called Fuji Heavy Industries. JF1 marks cars, JF2 SUVs and MPVs, but only on the American side of the Pacific: US Foresters and Outbacks carry JF2, while the European Foresters, Outbacks and XVs we checked all start JF1. 4S3 and 4S4 come from Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette, which builds the Legacy, the Outback and the Ascent, and since model year 2026 the Forester for the US as well.
Position 9 splits the brand in two. On North American Subarus it is a genuine ISO 3779 check digit, because US and Canadian law require one. On a Gunma-built car for Europe it is another model character. Look at 286 Norwegian VINs and you see the same digit again and again within one model line; the formula fits only 26 of them, about what blind luck delivers at one in eleven. Subarus that Toyota builds, such as the Solterra, compute correctly everywhere.
Every market gets the model year in position 10: D for 2013, L for 2020. Position 11 is where Subaru packs two facts into one character. In North America it names the plant and the gearbox together: H is a Gunma car with CVT, 3 a Lafayette car with CVT. European cars simply carry G for Gunma, whatever the transmission.
Subaru WMI codes
| WMI | Meaning |
|---|---|
| JF1 | Subaru Corporation, Japan: cars, and in Europe also Forester, Outback and XV. The Toyota GR86, built by Subaru, carries it too |
| JF2 | Subaru Corporation, Japan: SUVs and MPVs for North America, such as the US Forester and Outback |
| 4S3 | Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Lafayette: cars such as the Legacy and the US Impreza from 2017 |
| 4S4 | Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Lafayette: Outback, Ascent, B9 Tribeca and the 2026 US Forester |
Two sources stand behind every code here: NHTSA's vPIC register of manufacturer filings and an independent VIN reference. 4S6 is often listed as Subaru but belongs to the Honda Passport that Subaru-Isuzu built in Lafayette, so it is not on this page.
Gunma or Lafayette: what the VIN says about your Subaru
Almost every Subaru in a European classified ad was built in Gunma prefecture, at Ōta. North American buyers also get cars from Lafayette, Indiana, and a few models come from Toyota plants. Which of these is yours? The first character and the check digit answer that between them.
Built in Gunma for Europe: JF1
- Position 9 is a model character, so a check-digit failure is normal here.
- Position 10 holds the real model year; Subaru does not put a 0 there.
- Position 11 is G on every European Gunma car we checked, CVT or manual.
North America: JF1, JF2, 4S3, 4S4
- Federal rules on both sides of the US-Canadian border require a valid position 9, so a failing one turns red, whether the car came from Gunma or Indiana.
- Position 11 doubles as a gearbox code: 3 is Lafayette with CVT, H is Gunma with CVT.
- A B9 Tribeca sold new in Europe also starts 4S4, yet both 2007 Norwegian ones we checked fail the check digit.
Toyota twins in both directions
- Subaru builds the BRZ and the Toyota GR86 side by side in Gunma, and both carry JF1.
- Toyota builds the Solterra at Motomachi; in the US it even carries Toyota's own JTM code.
- The Trezia sold in Europe from 2011 to 2014 is a Toyota Verso-S and starts with Toyota's JTD.
Imported from Japan? Expect a frame number
A Subaru sold new in Japan has no 17-character VIN. Its frame number is the model code, a hyphen and a serial, for example GDB followed by digits on a second-generation Impreza WRX STI. This decoder cannot read that format. Australia turns such numbers into a 17-character code beginning 6U9 or 6ZZ when the car is imported.
Green means position 9 computes. Red means it fails on a VIN that has to carry a real check digit: North American Subarus and the Toyota-built Solterra. Amber marks a failure on a Gunma-built European Subaru, where the digit was never calculated, so amber there says nothing about the car.
Model year: position 10 on a Subaru
The letter repeats every 30 years, and Norway shows it neatly: a 1993 Legacy and a 2023 Solterra both carry P in position 10. On a 4S3 or 4S4 car position 7 settles which cycle applies. A European JF1 gives no such hint, so read the year off the paperwork instead: a German Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I keeps that date under the letter B, and a British V5C lists it too. Buying a ten-year-old Outback? E stands for 2014, F for 2015.
| Code | Model year | Code | Model year |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2010 | M | 2021 |
| B | 2011 | N | 2022 |
| C | 2012 | P | 2023 |
| D | 2013 | R | 2024 |
| E | 2014 | S | 2025 |
| F | 2015 | T | 2026 |
| G | 2016 | V | 2027 |
| H | 2017 | W | 2028 |
| J | 2018 | X | 2029 |
| K | 2019 | Y | 2030 |
| L | 2020 |
Frequently asked questions
What do the Subaru WMI codes JF1, JF2, 4S3 and 4S4 mean?
JF1 is Subaru Corporation in Japan for cars, JF2 the same company for SUVs and MPVs. 4S3 and 4S4 are Subaru of Indiana Automotive in Lafayette, cars and SUVs respectively. European Foresters and Outbacks use JF1; the JF2 versions are North American.
Why does my European Subaru fail the check digit?
Because Subaru does not calculate one for Gunma-built European cars. Position 9 stays the same across a model line: every 2013 to 2018 Forester with the 150 hp petrol engine we found reads JF1SJ5LC5. The decoder shows amber for that. A US-market Subaru or a Solterra has to pass, so a failure there points to a typo or a doctored plate.
Where is the VIN on a Subaru?
Subaru names the lower dashboard on the driver's side, readable from outside through the windscreen, and the certification label on the pillar behind the driver's door. North American cars also carry VIN labels on major body panels. A car registered in Germany repeats the number in field E of its Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I; a British one on the V5C.
My GR86 is a Toyota. Why does its VIN start with JF1?
Subaru builds it. The GR86, and the Toyota 86 and Scion FR-S before it, come off the line at Subaru's main plant in Gunma next to the BRZ, and NHTSA files JF1 under both makes. The Solterra is the reverse case: Toyota builds it at Motomachi.
What can't a Subaru VIN tell you?
Trim, paint colour, the EyeSight generation and the options list stay outside the 17 characters, and so does any record of servicing. Even the gearbox is only encoded on North American cars. For those, a Subaru dealer's records or the original order confirmation tell you more than any decoder.