Ford VINs commonly start with 1FA, 1FM, 1FT, 2FA, 3FA and NM0 among others.
Specs are free. The Ford's history isn't guesswork either.
Accident records, title brands, odometer readings, service history and open recalls — $5.99.
Get the full report — $5.99Reading a Ford VIN
Ford uses a broad set of WMI prefixes rather than a single one. Cars assembled in the United States commonly begin 1FA, SUVs 1FM and trucks 1FT, while 2FA indicates Canadian build and 3FA Mexican. Transit vans carry their own NM0 prefix.
The eighth character is the engine code, and on high-volume models it is the difference between two very differently priced vehicles. An F-150 listing that says "EcoBoost" without specifying 2.7 or 3.5 is resolved instantly by decoding, as is any Mustang described vaguely as a V8.
Where the decode stops
A decode describes the car as the factory released it, and nothing after that. Accidents, salvage or rebuilt titles, wound-back odometers and years of skipped servicing are all events, recorded against the vehicle over time rather than stamped into its identification number — so they surface only in a paid history report. On a Ford that report costs a fraction of what one missed fault would.
Use this page as often as you like; it costs nothing. Decode the whole shortlist, then spend $5.99 on the one car you actually intend to buy. Other manufacturers are covered by the standard VIN decoder, and the window sticker lookup presents the same specification in sticker form.