Example VINs

Get real VINs for a vehicle when you know its year, make, model or trim but have no VIN of your own. Pass a VIN from the answer to any VIN-based API: Specifications, OEM Build Data, VIN Decode and the rest.

Endpoints

GET https://api.auto.dev/example
GET https://api.auto.dev/example/new
GET https://api.auto.dev/example/used
GET https://api.auto.dev/example/photos

View in Browser

https://api.auto.dev/example?vehicle.make=Ford&vehicle.model=Escape&vehicle.year=2020

Parameters

Every endpoint takes the Vehicle Listings filters. The ones most often used here:

Example Request

curl -X GET "https://api.auto.dev/example?vehicle.make=Ford&vehicle.model=Escape&vehicle.year=2020&vehicle.trim=SE" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response Structure

data lists up to 10 VINs, each as a link to its decode on data.vin: the VIN is the link's last path segment.

{
  "data": [
    "https://data.vin/1FMCU0G60LUA05025",
    "https://data.vin/1FMCU0G60LUA51437",
    "https://data.vin/1FMCU0G60LUA67766"
  ]
}

How the Sample Is Drawn

• The VINs come from vehicle listings, so a configuration appears only if a vehicle with it has been listed. A year, make, model or trim no listing has returns an empty data.
• Each call starts at a random place among the matching listings and returns the next 10 in VIN order, so one answer often holds VINs from one production run. Call again for others.
• The VINs are of real vehicles: use them to look up a configuration, not as a list of vehicles for sale. For listings themselves, use Vehicle Listings.

Example: Specifications for Each Year of a Model

for (const year of [2020, 2021]) {
  const sample = await fetch(
    `https://api.auto.dev/example?vehicle.make=Ford&vehicle.model=Escape&vehicle.year=${year}`,
    { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' } },
  ).then((r) => r.json())
  const vin = sample.data[0]?.split('/').pop()
  if (!vin) continue
  const specs = await fetch(`https://api.auto.dev/specs/${vin}`, {
    headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' },
  }).then((r) => r.json())
  console.log(year, specs.specs?.engine)
}

Plan Availability

Every plan, with an API key.