Plate to VIN

Convert license plates to VIN numbers with our advanced lookup technology

GET Request

~200ms response

1 credit per request

Endpoint

GET https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/{plateNumber}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
plateNumber	string	Required	License plate number (URL path parameter)
country	string	Required	Country code (query parameter). Must be one of: PL, NO, SK, SE, CZ, US
state	string	Conditional	2-letter US state code (query parameter). Required when `country=US`; ignored for other countries.
token	string	Required	API authentication token (query parameter)

Request Examples

cURL

curl -X GET \
  "https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/ABC123?country=SK&token=YOUR_API_KEY"

# US lookups require a 2-letter state code:
curl -X GET \
  "https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/7ABC123?country=US&state=CA&token=YOUR_API_KEY"

JavaScript

// Using fetch API
const response = await fetch('https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/ABC123?country=SK&token=YOUR_API_KEY', {
  method: 'GET',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
});

const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

// US lookups require a state code
const usResponse = await fetch('https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/7ABC123?country=US&state=CA&token=YOUR_API_KEY');
console.log(await usResponse.json());

Python

import requests

url = "https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/ABC123"
params = {
    "country": "SK",
    "token": "YOUR_API_KEY"
}

response = requests.get(url, params=params)
data = response.json()
print(data)

# US lookups require a state code
us_response = requests.get(
    "https://api.carapi.dev/v1/plate-to-vin/7ABC123",
    params={"country": "US", "state": "CA", "token": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
print(us_response.json())

Response Examples

Success Response (200)

{
  "plateNumber": "ABC123",
  "country": "SK",
  "vin": "1HGBH41JXMN109186"
}

US Success Response (200)

{
  "plateNumber": "7ABC123",
  "country": "US",
  "state": "CA",
  "vin": "1HGBH41JXMN109186"
}

Error Response (400)

{
  "error": "Country parameter is required"
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
plateNumber	string	The original plate number searched
country	string	Country code (e.g., SK, CZ, US)
state	string	2-letter US state code (uppercase). Present only for US lookups
vin	string \| null	Vehicle Identification Number (null if not found)

Error Codes

400

Bad Request

Missing country parameter or invalid format

403

Forbidden

Invalid or missing API token

500

Internal Server Error

Server encountered an error processing the request

Important Notes

•Returns a single VIN number for the given license plate
•Returns null if no VIN is found for the plate number
•US plates are only unique per state, so country=US requires a valid 2-letter state code (e.g. CA, NY, TX)
•Each successful request consumes 1 API credit from your monthly allowance
•Response data is cached for improved performance