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Where is it located: Left front corner of dashboard, driver's door jam, various body panels and engine components, on your registration and title

A code's specific meaning may be different on a yearly basis but the position remains the same.
 

Positions 1-2-3 Manufacturer ID code.
1: country code. J is Japan, 1 or 4 is USA, (2 is Canada, 3 Mexico, K Korea, S England, W Germany, Z Italy etc)
2. manufacturer. F is Fuji Heavy Industries (A is Audi, B BMW, C Chrysler, F Ord, G GM, H Honda, S Subaru, V VW etc)
3. Vehicle type or manufacturing division

JF1, JF2  is FHI Fuji Heavy Industry passenger vehicle, made in Japan
4S3 is a SIA Subaru-Indiana factory passenger vehicle (Legacy)
4S4 is a SIA Subaru-Indiana factory MPV/SUV multi purpose vehicle- Outback and Tribeca

Position 4 model ie line or model type, ie. what product line.
B is Legacy and Outback, G is Impreza, S is Forester, W is Tribeca

Position 5- body  what kind of body
E- Impreza 4 door sedan, H- Forester or Impreza 5 door wagon, M- Legacy sedan,  R- Outback wagon, X- SUV
This code can change yearly.

Position 6 - Engine types, varies by year. This can change yearly
6- 2.5L, 7- 2.5L turbo, 8- 2.5L high power turbo, 9- 3.6L

Position 7 - model type and trim. First, you have to know the model, then you can decipher the correct trim.

number	Tribeca	Forester	Legacy	Outback	Impreza
A	-	2.5X	base	base	2.5L
B	-	2.5XS	Premium	Premium	Limited
C	-	2.5X Premium	Prm, AWP	Prm, AWP	2.5L - S
D	-	2.5X Limited	Prm, H/K audio	Prm, H/K audio	Outback Sport
E	-	2.5 XT	Prm, moonroof	Prm, moonroof	2.5GT
F	7pass	2.5 XT Limited	Prm, HK audio, AWP	Prm, HK audio, AWP	2.5GT - S
G	7p Ltd	-	Prm, awp, moonroof	Prm, awp, moonroof	WRX- SS
H	7p Ltd Nav	-	Prm, awp, hk audio, moonroof	Prm, awp, hk audio, moonroof	-
J	7p Ltd DVD	-	Limited, hk audio	Limited, hk audio	-
K	7P Ltd Nav/DVD	-	Limited, hk audio, moonroof	Limited, hk audio, moonroof	-
L	-	-	Limited, moonroof, Nav	Limited, moonroof, Nav	-
M	-	-	Limited, moonroof, Nav	Limited, moonroof, Nav	-

Position 8 is the restraint system based on GVWR.
6- manual seat belts with dual front and dual side airbags, front/rear curtain airbags (except Outback).
C: Class C (4001-5000lbs) MPV manual seat belts with dual front and dual side airbags, front/rear curtain airbags (Outback)
D: Class D (GVWR 5001-6000lbs) manual seat belts with dual front and dual side airbags, front/rear curtain airbags

Position 9: check digit. A mathamatical formula that takes all the other characters in the VIN and comes up with a value of 0-9 or X, thus ensuring accuracy. I have no idea how this works. It's a mystery.

Position 10: Model year: A 2010, B 2011, C 2012...

(J is 1988, K is 1989, L 1990, M 1991, N 1992, P 1993, R 1994, S 1995, T 1996, V 1997, W 1998, X 1999, Y 2000, 1 2001, 2 2002, 3 2003,
4 2004, 5 2005, 6 2006, 7 2007, 8 2008, 9 2009)

Position 11- Manufacturing plant and Transmission: can vary by year
 

SIA (US Built)-  1: 6spd manual trans 2: 5 spd automatic 3: CVT 4: 5spd automatic

FHI (Japan built)  G: 5spd manual  H: 4 spd automatic  L: 6 spd manual

Position 12-17- sequential production numbers. Changes yearly, based on the model

210001  and up- Legacy sedan;  310001 and up - Outback wagon

400001 and up- Tribeca 500001 and up- Impreza 4 door sedan

700001 and up- Forester 800001 and up- Impreza 5door wagon

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Information subject to change, correction, updating.
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