How we match a part to your car
Year, make and model is where a parts search starts, not where it ends. This is what we check before we send a quote, and what you can check yourself.
Start with the VIN
The vehicle identification number is 17 characters. It carries the model year, the plant and the maker’s code for body and engine, and often the trim. It is also the key to the factory build record for that one car.
Find it at the base of the windshield on the driver’s side, on the label in the driver’s door jamb, or on your registration and insurance card.
A made-up VIN with a real check digit
- 11
- 2C
- 30
- 4W
- 5L
- 6T
- 7A
- 8G
- 9X
- 10T
- 11S
- 120
- 130
- 140
- 150
- 160
- 171
Check a VIN
Type or paste a VIN. We confirm the check digit, read the model year and look the vehicle up in the federal database.
Then the build date
Manufacturers change parts in the middle of a model year, and catalogs split the listings by production date: “to 02/2019” and “from 03/2019.” The VIN does not carry the month. The label in the driver’s door jamb does.
The model year and the build year often differ. A 2026 model can be built in late 2025, as on this label.
Left and right
Sides are named from the driver’s seat, facing forward. On U.S. vehicles, left is the driver’s side and right is the passenger’s. Catalogs write LH and RH. It does not matter where you stand when you look at the damage.
The options that change a part
Each family has its own list of details that split one model into several part numbers. These are the first we ask about.
Bumpers and body
- Parking sensors
- Fog lamps, tow hooks, washers
- Trim and appearance package
- Finish
Mirrors
- Power or manual
- Heated glass
- Power folding
- Turn signal
Lighting
- Light source
- Adaptive and self-leveling lamps
- Bezel color
- Trim level
Cooling and A/C
- Engine
- Transmission
- Towing or heavy-duty cooling
- Receiver-drier
Two part numbers, checked against each other
The original-equipment number is the vehicle manufacturer’s own number for the part your car was built with. It comes from the build record, by VIN.
The Partslink number is the collision trade’s shared number for the aftermarket part that replaces it. Each Partslink number tracks to an original number, and keeps tracking it when the manufacturer supersedes that number.
We look up the first, find the second, and confirm the pair against your options. If an estimate or an old box gives you either number, send it along.
Certified parts
CAPA is an independent program that tests aftermarket parts against the originals for fit, materials and performance. Where a certified version of your part exists, we quote it on request, next to the standard one.
Headlamps for road use carry DOT on the lens. It is the maker’s own certification that the lamp meets the federal lighting standard, FMVSS 108.
What we check before we quote
These are the six things we check before we send a quote.
- The model year, engine and trim, from the VIN when you send one
- The original part number for that build
- The Partslink number that replaces it
- The options that split the listing
- The side, repeated back to you as left or right
- Stock at a U.S. warehouse and a delivery estimate to your ZIP code
Related guides
What a VIN can and cannot tell you
What the 17 characters say about a vehicle, position by position, and what they leave out.
How to read a Partslink number
Nine characters name the vehicle maker, the type of part and the individual part. Here is how to take one apart.
Left or right: which side is which
Driver side, passenger side, LH and RH, settled in a minute.
Halogen, HID or LED: ordering the right headlight
How to tell which headlamps your car was built with, and why the three do not swap.