from Hacker News

Show HN: CheckAnyPlate – Free License Plate to VIN Decoder

by AutoAPI on 10/9/23, 1:17 PM with 43 comments

This started as a project to scratch my own itch and has grown from there.

Initially I wanted a way to easily see if potential funny license plates were available in a given state, but I've also started using it at car shows when I'm curious which engine or transmission is in a car.

It most cases the plate can be matched to a VIN using DMV data, and then some information about the vehicle can be decoded into basic car specs

You can also purchase a full vehicle history report which uses data from the NMVTIS and other services to show accident history, previous titles, and salvage issues.

The site is built using the Laravel framework and connects to a bunch of APIs like the DOT and NHTSA for Safety and recall information.

This is my first time running Laravel on AWS Lambda so let me know how the site feels to you

  • by hk1337 on 10/9/23, 3:09 PM

    Seems weird to call it a decoder. There's no correlation between VIN and plate other than a plate is assigned to a VIN when it is registered. It's not like the plate number is generated based on the value of the VIN.

  • by blincoln on 10/9/23, 2:40 PM

    I'm surprised plate-to-VIN information is publicly available for Washington state, at least. The DOL here will let you renew tabs online[1] using just the plate number and last four digits of the associated VIN.[2] I'm sure there must be some interesting fraud and/or harassment potential for being able to access someone else's account.

    Edit: just to be clear, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with building an app that uses the data. I'm surprised the data is available from the DOL, given that they use it for authentication.

    [1] And update one's mailing address information, AFAIK.

    [2] https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/extdriveses/NoLogon/

  • by tedchs on 10/9/23, 3:19 PM

    FYI, there are various other front-ends for NMVTIS data here: https://vehiclehistory.bja.ojp.gov/nmvtis_vehiclehistory

  • by seabass-labrax on 10/9/23, 2:36 PM

    The British DVLA already provides a similar service for cars registered in the UK:

    https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

  • by jdeisenberg on 10/9/23, 2:38 PM

    Interesting application, but my license plate (yes, I did renew the registration earlier this year) appears to not exist. The VIN number search gives the correct results.

    [Edit: the results page should say “active lien” rather than ”active Lein”]

  • by k4rli on 10/9/23, 3:03 PM

    > Check any plate

    > Checks only American plates

    Alrighty then

  • by joezydeco on 10/9/23, 2:04 PM

    Your "age" calculation is broken.

  • by Svip on 10/9/23, 3:09 PM

    What does "That is not a valid VIN" indicate? Does it just mean the VIN wasn't found, or do you actually verify that the VIN lives up to specifications? I entered a VIN that I know is valid, but has never had US plates (but has been in the US and US insured), and it claimed it was invalid.

  • by dharmab on 10/9/23, 3:23 PM

    Vehicles with less an a 1L engine get converted to float- might want to convert to cubic centimeters instead

  • by hiatus on 10/9/23, 2:47 PM

    How do you get the DMV data?

  • by sprior on 10/9/23, 5:09 PM

    Is the raw data available anywhere in parseable format? I'd be curious about looking up new license plates recognized by my home automation image recognition system in my driveway.

  • by madmod on 10/9/23, 2:42 PM

    It says my 2018 tesla is 2023 years old

  • by dinkleberg on 10/9/23, 2:35 PM

    This looks great, nice work!

  • by jumby on 10/9/23, 2:48 PM

    DPPA and your EULAs might have something to say about this.

  • by Faaak on 10/9/23, 2:34 PM

    CheckAnyPlateAsLongAsItsAnUSOne would be an even greater name :-)

  • by 0ct4via on 10/9/23, 3:21 PM

    The license plate isn't incorporated into the VIN in any form though, so this is demonstrably -- and literally -- not decoding.

    "Identifier" or "Finder" maybe, but not in any way a decoder...

    A "VIN decoder" would take a VIN and identify the World Manufacturer Identifier (country of origin / manufacturer), vehicle descriptor, model year, manufacturing plant, and production number -- but not the license plate.