Resolve a license plate to structured vehicle data — make, model, trim, VIN, engine, and more. Pass a plate and state (or country) and get back the same richness you'd expect from a VIN decode, sourced directly from registration records.

Who uses this API

Parking operators, insurers, rental platforms, and law-enforcement SaaS call this endpoint when the input is a plate (and state or country) instead of a VIN — cameras, quote forms, and intake screens.

Use cases

B2B

Parking and valet — vehicle identity: Resolve a captured plate to make, model, color, and VIN for matching spaces, EV charging, or lot records.
Insurance — quote from a plate: Pre-fill year, make, model, and VIN on a quote form so the customer does not type the VIN.
Rental — check-in and returns: Identify the vehicle from a plate at the gate and attach spec data to the rental record.

B2C

Driver parking apps: Let a driver enter a plate and get vehicle-aware parking or charging recommendations.
Consumer quote widgets: Start an insurance or warranty quote from a plate instead of a VIN.

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`plate`	Yes	The license plate number
`state`	Yes	Two-letter state, province, or region code (e.g. `CA`, `ON`, `NSW`)
`key`	Yes	Your CarsXE API key
`country`	No	ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code. Defaults to `US`. Example: `GB`, `DE`, `AU`
`district`	No	Pakistan only — pass the district code alongside `country=PK`
`require_vin`	No	Spain only (`country=ES`). Pass `1` to guarantee a VIN in the response. Costs 2× a standard lookup

Example

Decode a plate

Code

curl -G https://api.carsxe.com/v2/platedecoder \
  -d key=YOUR_API_KEY \
  -d plate=7XER187 \
  -d state=CA \
  -d country=US

Response

Top-level shape

{

"success": true,// always true on 200

"description": "2021 Toyota Camry SE",

"make": "Toyota",

"model": "Camry",

"trim": "SE",

"vin": "4T1G11AK9MU451234",// when available from provider

"year": "2021",

"style": "Sedan",// optional — not always returned

"body_style": "SEDAN 4-DR",

"color": "Silver",

"engine": "2.5L L4 DOHC 16V",// optional — not always returned

"engine_size": "2.5",

"fuel_type": "Gasoline",

"drive_type": "FWD",

"transmission": "8-Speed Automatic",

"assembly": "United States",

"registration_year": "2021"// optional — not always returned

}

Click input to expand it and see the echoed request fields. For the full interactive reference, try it live in the API Reference.

All fields except success and input are optional — availability depends on the country and provider.

Country response matrix

Plate Decoder v2 responses are country-specific. Expand a country below to inspect the JSON shape that country can return from the current v2 response builders. These fields are possible response keys, not guaranteed non-empty values for every plate.

country=US

{
  "description": null,
  "body_style": null,
  "vin": null,
  "assembly": null,
  "engine_size": null,
  "year": null,
  "make": null,
  "model": null,
  "fuel_type": null,
  "trim": null,
  "color": null,
  "drive_type": null,
  "transmission": null
}

Fields

Identity — Who made it, what it is, and its VIN

Name
description
Type
string
Description
Human-readable summary combining year, make, model, and trim. Example: "2021 Toyota Camry SE".
Name
make
Type
string
Description
Manufacturer or brand. Example: "Toyota", "Ford", "BMW".
Name
model
Type
string
Description
Model family. Example: "Camry", "F-150", "3 Series".
Name
trim
Type
string
Description
Trim level or variant. Example: "SE", "XLT", "330i".
Name
year
Type
string
Description
Model year as a 4-digit string. Example: "2021".
Name
vin
Type
string
Description
17-character vehicle identification number, when available from the provider. Not guaranteed — use require_vin=1 with country=ES to enforce it for Spanish plates.

Body & Style — Shape, body classification, and color

Name
style
Type
string
Description
Normalized vehicle category. Example: "Sedan", "SUV", "Truck". Optional — not always returned.
Name
body_style
Type
string
Description
Body style as recorded by the manufacturer, typically in uppercase with door count. Example: "SEDAN 4-DR", "PICKUP", "SPORT UTILITY 4-DR".
Name
color
Type
string
Description
Registered exterior color. Example: "Silver", "Black", "White". Sourced from registration records — may differ from the current painted color if the vehicle has been repainted.

Powertrain — Engine, fuel, drivetrain, and transmission

Name
engine
Type
string
Description
Full engine descriptor. Example: "2.5L L4 DOHC 16V". Optional — not always returned.
Name
engine_size
Type
string
Description
Engine displacement in liters. Example: "2.5", "3.0", "5.0".
Name
fuel_type
Type
string
Description
Primary fuel type. Example: "Gasoline", "Diesel", "Electric", "Hybrid".
Name
drive_type
Type
string
Description
Wheel drive configuration. Example: "FWD", "RWD", "AWD", "4WD".
Name
transmission
Type
string
Description
Transmission description. Example: "8-Speed Automatic", "6-Speed Manual", "CVT".
Name
assembly
Type
string
Description
Country where the vehicle was assembled. Example: "United States", "Germany", "Japan".

Registration — Year registered

Name
registration_year
Type
string
Description
Year the vehicle was first registered. May differ from the model year. Example: "2021". Optional — not always returned.

Country & region support

The endpoint supports 50+ countries. Pass country as an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (e.g. GB, DE, NL, AU). It defaults to US when omitted.

State or province is required for US, Australian, Canadian, and Pakistani plates — use the standard two-letter code (e.g. CA, NSW, ON).

Pakistan additionally supports a district parameter for more precise lookups.

Coverage and field availability vary by country. Some regions return a full spec set; others return only identity fields.

See the full list of supported countries.

require_vin (Spain only)

By default, Spanish plate lookups use a standard provider that does not guarantee a VIN in the response. Pass require_vin=1 with country=ES to route the request through a higher-cost provider that always returns a VIN.

curl -G https://api.carsxe.com/v2/platedecoder \
  -d key=YOUR_API_KEY \
  -d plate=1234ABC \
  -d state=MA \
  -d country=ES \
  -d require_vin=1

This costs 2× a standard lookup and only applies to country=ES. Passing it for any other country has no effect.

Errors

Status	When it happens
`400`	Missing `plate` or `state`, or invalid parameter values
`401`	Missing or invalid API key
`404`	No data found for this plate in the provider's database
`429`	Usage limit exceeded
`500`	Internal server error
`502`	Upstream plate data provider returned an error; response includes `retryable: true` and `Retry-After`
`504`	Upstream plate data provider timed out; response includes `retryable: true` and `Retry-After`

See the Errors guide for general error handling guidance.