Audi Cabriolet VIN Decoder

Decode any Audi Cabriolet VIN free in seconds. Type the 17-character vehicle identification number into the decoder above and pull the model year, engine, assembly plant, and open NHTSA recalls. No account, no credit card, no email gate.

The Audi Cabriolet is a genuine standalone model name, not a body-style suffix tacked onto another car’s badge. Audi sold it from 1991 through 2000 in Europe, and in the US from the 1994 through 1998 model years, as a two-door convertible built on the same Typ 89 platform that underpins the Audi 80 and Audi 90, Audi’s B3/B4-generation sedans. It shares its floorpan and much of its running gear with those cars, but stayed in production for years after the sedans had moved on to the A4. There’s also a manufacturing twist worth knowing before you buy one: for roughly the second half of its run, the Cabriolet wasn’t finished on a standard Audi line at all. It moved to Karmann, the coachbuilder better known for the VW Karmann Ghia, at a plant in Osnabrück. This page covers the US-market run: how the Cabriolet relates to the 80/90 sedans, what changed when Karmann took over final assembly, and how to read a genuine Cabriolet VIN position by position.

About the Audi Cabriolet

Audi introduced the Cabriolet in May 1991 as a drop-top companion to the B3-generation Coupe, itself a shortened, two-door version of the Typ 89 80/90 sedan. European buyers could choose four-cylinder and five-cylinder engines early on, then a pair of V6 options once the lineup expanded in 1993. The US market only ever received one configuration: the 2.8-liter V6, which arrived in November 1993 for the 1994 model year and stayed unchanged through the end of the 1998 model year, when Audi of America dropped the car. Total US volume across those five model years came to 5,445 units, a small number that makes surviving examples uncommon today next to their 80/90 sedan siblings.

Years (US)	Platform	Body	Engine	Notes
1994-1998	Typ 89 (B3-based, carried through the B4 era)	2-door convertible	2.8L V6, 172 hp	Sole US-market engine and body style for the entire run
1994-1996	Typ 89	2-door convertible	2.8L V6, 172 hp	Built at Audi’s Ingolstadt plant
1997-1998	Typ 89	2-door convertible	2.8L V6, 172 hp	Final assembly moved to Karmann, Osnabrück

Every US-spec Cabriolet came with the same 2.8-liter, 172-horsepower V6, paired with a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic, and front-wheel drive only. That last detail surprises some shoppers coming from other Audi nameplates of the era: unlike the 90 CS quattro sedan or the S2 coupe, the production Cabriolet was never offered with quattro all-wheel drive, in any market. A listing calling a car a “Cabriolet quattro” describes a configuration Audi never built, not a factory trim you can look up.

Audi Cabriolet WMI codes (positions 1-3)

The first three characters of a VIN form the World Manufacturer Identifier, assigned by SAE on behalf of ISO. This is the WMI confirmed on real, checksum-valid Audi Cabriolet VINs decoded through NHTSA’s vPIC database:

WMI	Country	Vehicle type	Confirmed on
WAU	Germany	Audi passenger car	1995, 1996, and 1997 (x2) and 1998 US-market Cabriolets

We checked this against five checksum-valid VINs spanning the confirmed US production run: a 1995 Cabriolet (WAUAA88G3SA001431), a 1996 Cabriolet (WAUAA88G5TA005966), two 1997 Cabriolets (WAUAA88G5VN002903 and WAUAA88G5VN001878), and a 1998 Cabriolet (WAUAA88G9WN005045). All five decode cleanly through NHTSA vPIC, confirm the check digit at position 9, return “AUDI” as the make and “Cabriolet” as the model, and every one begins WAU. If a VIN offered to you as an Audi Cabriolet starts with anything else, decode it with the tool above before trusting the listing.

How to read a VIN: position by position

Every US-market Audi Cabriolet carries a full 17-character VIN under ISO 3779, the same standard used across the industry.

Positions 1-3: World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI)

See the table above. Every confirmed Cabriolet VIN begins WAU, identifying it as an Audi-built passenger car from Germany, regardless of whether the specific car was assembled at Ingolstadt or, later, at Karmann’s Osnabrück plant.

Positions 4-8: Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)

This five-character block encodes body style, restraint system, engine, and series information. On every confirmed US-market VIN we checked, positions 4-8 read AA88G, identical across the 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 model years. That consistency tracks: the US Cabriolet was a single-engine, single-body-style car for its entire run, so this block didn’t need to distinguish between trims the way it does on a car sold with several engines or body styles. Audi hasn’t published a public digit-by-digit key to this block, so the most reliable way to confirm what a specific VDS combination means is to run the full VIN through the decoder above.

Position 9: Check digit

The check digit is calculated from the other 16 characters using a fixed weighting table and modulo-11 math, and it exists purely to catch transcription errors. Retype a VIN with one wrong character anywhere in the string and the math stops matching. On the five VINs we verified, position 9 reads 3, 5, 5, 5, and 9, each different from the last and each confirmed correct by NHTSA’s decoder, exactly what you’d expect from a digit that’s mathematically derived rather than fixed by model.

Position 10: Model year

The 10th character maps to model year on a fixed, repeating 30-year cycle. Scoped to the Audi Cabriolet’s full production run, Europe and US combined:

Char	Year	Char	Year
M	1991	T	1996
N	1992	V	1997
P	1993	W	1998
R	1994	X	1999
S	1995	Y	2000

The letters I, O, and Q are never used, since they can be misread as 1 and 0. Of this full range, only R through W, 1994 through 1998, was ever sold new in the United States; a Cabriolet carrying an M, N, P, X, or Y in position 10 was a European-market car for its first several years on the road, and any US paperwork on one deserves a closer look. On our verified VINs, position 10 reads S on the 1995 car, T on the 1996 car, V on both 1997 cars, and W on the 1998 car, each matching the model year NHTSA’s decode returned.

Position 11: Assembly plant

This is where the Cabriolet’s Karmann story shows up directly in the VIN. On the two earliest cars we verified, the 1995 and 1996 model years, position 11 reads A, the same code Audi used for its Ingolstadt plant on the contemporary 80 and 90 sedans. On both 1997 cars and the 1998 car we checked, position 11 changes to N, a plant code that only starts appearing on Cabriolet VINs from the 1997 model year forward. That timing lines up with published Audi history: multiple sources, including Audi’s own retrospective coverage of the Cabriolet, describe final assembly moving from Ingolstadt to coachbuilder Karmann’s facility in Osnabrück starting with the 1997 model year update, a shift that ran through the end of production in 2000. One caveat worth flagging: NHTSA’s own reference table labels plant code N as “Neckarsulm” rather than naming Karmann or Osnabrück, which likely reflects an administrative plant of record rather than the coachbuilder that physically finished the car. Either way, the position-11 change is real and lands on exactly the model year the historical record points to, and no other Typ 89-platform Audi shows the same shift, since Ingolstadt kept building the 80 and 90 sedans in-house throughout.

Positions 12-17: Serial number

The final six characters are the sequential production number assigned as the car came down the line. Combined with the preceding 11 characters, this makes every Audi Cabriolet VIN globally unique, even between two cars of the same year, plant, and engine.

Where to find the VIN

On an Audi Cabriolet, check these locations:

• Lower corner of the windshield on the driver’s side, visible from outside the car
• Driver’s side door jamb or B-pillar sticker
• Stamped into the firewall or engine bay bulkhead, under the hood
• Vehicle title, registration, and insurance documents

The windshield and door-jamb locations are the fastest to check on a car you’re looking to buy. The firewall stamp is the one to verify if you have any doubt about the car’s history, since it is physically part of the body and much harder to alter than a sticker, and it’s a useful cross-check on a car that changed assembly plants partway through its life.

Check recalls and safety information

Once you’ve confirmed the VIN decodes cleanly to a genuine Audi Cabriolet, check it against NHTSA’s recall database. Given the car’s age, most owners will not find an open recall tied to a still-active campaign, but it’s worth confirming, especially on a car you’re about to buy:

1. Decode the VIN with the tool above to confirm the model year, engine, and plant
2. Cross-reference the full 17-character VIN with NHTSA’s recall database
3. For older campaigns that may have been closed out administratively, a dealer or independent Audi specialist can pull the full service history tied to the VIN

Recall repairs are free regardless of the vehicle’s age or ownership history, though on a car this old, parts availability for a very old campaign can be a separate issue from the repair itself being free.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Audi Cabriolet the same car as the Audi 80 or Audi 90?

Not the same car, but a close relative. The Cabriolet shares its Typ 89 platform and much of its mechanical layout with the Audi 80 and Audi 90, Audi’s B3/B4-generation sedans, and started life as a convertible version of the closely related Coupe. Audi kept it in production on that architecture through 2000, years after the sedans it was based on had given way to the A4, which is part of what makes it a distinct, standalone nameplate rather than just a body-style variant.

Was the Audi Cabriolet really built by Karmann?

For part of its run, yes. The 1995 and 1996 US-market Cabriolets we checked carry assembly-plant code A at position 11, Audi’s own Ingolstadt code. Starting with the 1997 model year, that code changes to N on every VIN we checked, matching published accounts that final assembly moved to coachbuilder Karmann’s plant in Osnabrück from 1997 onward. Karmann specialized in convertible and low-volume body construction, best known for the VW Karmann Ghia, and built convertibles for several German manufacturers during this era.

When was the Audi Cabriolet sold in the US, and how many were sold?

The US market received the Cabriolet for five model years, 1994 through 1998, with the 2.8-liter V6 arriving in dealerships in November 1993. Audi of America sold 5,445 units over that span before discontinuing the car after the 1998 model year, a modest number that reflects how far Audi’s US sales had fallen during the mid-1990s more than any flaw in the car itself.

Does the Audi Cabriolet VIN cycle work the same way as other Audi models?

Yes. Position 10 follows the standard ISO 3779 30-year cycle used across the industry, so the same letter-to-year mapping that applies to an Audi 80 or 90 applies to a Cabriolet, R for 1994 through W for 1998 for the US-market cars. The letters I, O, and Q are always skipped because they’re easy to confuse with 1 and 0.

Was a quattro all-wheel-drive Cabriolet ever built?

No. Despite quattro being available on other 80/90-based Audis of the same era, including the 90 CS quattro sedan, the production Cabriolet was front-wheel drive only in every market for its entire 1991-2000 run. A car advertised as a “Cabriolet quattro” is not a documented factory configuration, so verify the full VIN and drivetrain before treating that description as accurate.

Is the Audi Cabriolet VIN decoder free to use?

Yes. VinDecoderPlus decodes every Audi Cabriolet VIN free, with no sign-up. The basic decode covers everything the factory encoded into the VIN itself: model year, engine, plant of origin, and any open NHTSA recalls. A full vehicle history report (accident records, odometer readings, prior ownership, title issues) is available as a separate paid upgrade if you need it.

Can I decode a Cabriolet VIN if I only have a partial number?

Not reliably. The decoder needs all 17 characters to calculate the check digit and return an accurate result. A partial VIN, common on old classified ads, can sometimes be narrowed down using the WMI and visible characters, but always confirm the full VIN before trusting a listing, especially on a car this old and this low-volume in the US.

Decode any Audi Cabriolet VIN free

Type the 17-character VIN from the windshield, door jamb, or title into the decoder at the top of this page for an instant, free breakdown. To go deeper into VIN structure or check related models:

• Audi VIN decoder hub for the brand-wide guide
• Audi 90 VIN decoder for the sedan sibling built on the same platform
• Audi 80 VIN decoder for the base-model version of that same platform
• How to read a VIN number for the general standard
• What every character in a VIN means for a position-by-position reference
• Classic car VIN decoder for pre-1981 vehicles
• VIN decoder vs. vehicle history report for what a decode covers vs. what it doesn’t
• How to check if a car is stolen by VIN for verifying a used Audi Cabriolet before you buy
• How the VIN check digit works for verifying a VIN was not mistyped or altered
• VIN formats by country and manufacturer for what the first three characters tell you