Plate decoder

US Vehicle Plate Decoder

Look up a US vehicle by license plate number and state. Returns the VIN, year, make, model, trim, engine, body style, transmission, drive type, fuel type and exterior color. Optionally decodes the VIN to include the full vehicle specifications object. Accepts plates from all 50 US states, the District of Columbia (DC) and Puerto Rico (PR). Each successful lookup costs 5 credits; `decodeVIN=true` adds one Specifications charge when specifications are returned.

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GET
/v1/us-platedecoder

Look up a US vehicle by license plate number and state. Returns the VIN, year, make, model, trim, engine, body style, transmission, drive type, fuel type and exterior color. Optionally decodes the VIN to include the full vehicle specifications object. Accepts plates from all 50 US states, the District of Columbia (DC) and Puerto Rico (PR).

Each successful lookup costs 5 credits; decodeVIN=true adds one Specifications charge when specifications are returned.

Authorization

key<token>

Your CarsXE API key, passed as the key query parameter.

In: query

Query Parameters

plate*string

The vehicle registration number or license plate number.

state*string

Two-letter abbreviation for one of the 50 US states, the District of Columbia (DC), or Puerto Rico (PR).

decodeVIN?string

Set to true or 1 to decode the resolved VIN and include a vehicle_specs object in the response (identical in shape to the Specifications endpoint response).

Value in"true" | "1"

Response Body

application/json

application/json

application/json

application/json

application/json

application/json

application/json

application/json

{
  "success": true,
  "input": {
    "plate": "H37SFS",
    "state": "NJ"
  },
  "vin": "1GNSCGKC0JR318026",
  "year": "2018",
  "make": "Chevrolet",
  "model": "Suburban",
  "trim": "LS",
  "description": "2018 Chevrolet Suburban",
  "engine_size": "5.3L V8 OHV 16V",
  "body_style": "SUV",
  "transmission": "Automatic",
  "drive_type": "RWD",
  "fuel_type": "Flexible-Fuel",
  "color": "Black"
}

{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Missing vehicle registration number or license plate number"
}

{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Missing API key"
}

{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Could not fetch data"
}
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "API usage limit exceeded",
  "usage": {
    "current": 1000,
    "limit": 1000,
    "remaining": 0
  }
}
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Internal server error"
}
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Could not fetch data",
  "retryable": true
}
{
  "success": false,
  "message": "Request timed out. Please try again.",
  "retryable": true
}