Search on TrustCar works by plate number: enter a plate and the car page shows its VIN from MIA open data, along with make, model, year, photos and stolen status.
To be clear: TrustCar has no VIN-based search yet — search works by plate number. If you only know the VIN, use the official MIA services.
The VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a unique 17-character factory-assigned identifier. Unlike the plate, it never changes. Letters I, O and Q are never used to avoid confusion with 1 and 0.
World manufacturer index: country and brand. E.g. WBA — BMW (Germany).
Model description: body, engine, trim. Manufacturer-specific.
Identifier section: model year, plant code and serial number.
Format AA 1234 BB, Cyrillic or Latin.
The "Vehicle data" block shows the VIN when present in MIA open data — over 5M cars.
Before buying, match the VIN in documents, on the body and in the registry.