Audi 500 VIN Decoder

Short answer first: yes, “Audi 500” is real, but it is not a separate, engineered model with its own platform or engine range. It is the South African market badge Audi used for the C2 and C3 generation Audi 100 and 200, the same cars sold in Europe as the 100/200 and in North America as the Audi 5000. If you own or are buying a car with a “500,” “500E,” “500SE,” or “500SEL” badge on the boot lid, you have an Audi 100 or 200 under a different name, and it decodes the same way. Type the VIN into the decoder above, and read on for what the badge means, what trims existed, and how to approach the VIN itself.

About the Audi 500 badge

Audi’s C2 (Typ 43, 1976-1982) and C3 (Typ 44, 1982-1991) generation 100/200 were sold under three different names depending on market: “100” and “200” in Europe and the UK, “5000” in the United States and Canada from 1978 to 1988, and “500” in South Africa. Wikipedia’s Audi 100 article states this plainly: “The C2 and C3 models of the Audi 100 were marketed in North America as the Audi 5000 from 1978 to 1988, and in South Africa as the Audi 500.” Some secondary sources also mention New Zealand as a market that used the “500” name; we could not independently confirm that claim the way we could for South Africa, so treat it as unconfirmed rather than repeat it as fact.

Audi’s presence in South Africa long predates the “500” badge. Local assembly of the Audi 100 in South Africa began around 1972, and by 1985 Volkswagen of South Africa, which has assembled Audis alongside VW models at its Uitenhage plant near Port Elizabeth since the 1940s, was building the Audi 80 and 100 for the domestic right-hand-drive market. The “500” name applied once the C2/C3-generation car went on sale there, running in parallel with the US “5000” name and, later, outliving it: South African-market sources describe “500SEL” cars with the 2.8-liter V6 (the engine used in the very late Typ 44 100 and the early C4-generation 100) as late as 1992, which suggests the “500” badge in South Africa carried on for a few years after the US had already reverted to “100”/”200″ in 1989 and before Audi’s worldwide 1994 switch to the “A6” name.

Enthusiast and marketplace sources document a real trim hierarchy under the “500” name, not just a single renamed sedan:

Badge	What it was
Audi 500	Base trim, naturally aspirated five-cylinder
Audi 500 E	Fuel-injected variant
Audi 500 SE	Upmarket trim; South African “Right Hooker Week” coverage of a 1990 car describes it wearing the larger brakes and wheels of the turbocharged model even without a turbo engine, plus the dual-chamber headlights from the 200 and a more luxury-oriented interior
Audi 500 SEL	Long-wheelbase/flagship trim; period listings show a 2.8-liter V6 option in the early 1990s
Audi 500 Turbo	Turbocharged variant, referenced alongside naturally aspirated 500/500SE cars in South African buyer’s guides

The 2.3-liter NF five-cylinder engine that powered late-run US 5000s and early Typ 44 100 quattros also turns up in South African 500SE literature, underscoring that this was mechanically the same car sold elsewhere, assembled or converted for right-hand-drive local sale rather than independently engineered.

Does the Audi 500 have its own VIN structure?

No, and rather than build a table that looks authoritative but isn’t, here is the honest answer. Because “500” is a market badge applied to the C2/C3 (and possibly early C4) Audi 100/200, it was never assigned a distinct World Manufacturer Identifier, Vehicle Descriptor Section pattern, or type code of its own the way a genuinely different model would be. A German-built, WAU-prefixed car exported to South Africa and badged “500” carries the same VIN structure documented on our Audi 5000 VIN decoder page, which covers the full position-by-position breakdown for this platform, including real WMI, VDS, model-year, and plant codes pulled from NHTSA’s vPIC database.

Where it gets genuinely uncertain is South African local assembly. Volkswagen of South Africa built Audis at Uitenhage for the domestic market for decades, and locally assembled vehicles from other manufacturers in South Africa have sometimes carried their own, separately assigned WMI rather than the German export code. We looked for a confirmed, publicly documented WMI specific to Uitenhage-built Audi 500s and could not verify one to the standard we hold this site to, so we are not going to publish a guessed code as fact. If your car was locally assembled in South Africa, do not assume it starts with WAU; decode it with the tool above and cross-check the result against the title, registration, and any surviving dealer paperwork rather than relying on a table built for German-export cars.

For everything else, the Audi 5000 VIN decoder page is the right reference: check digit math at position 9, the model-year letter at position 10, and the Neckarsulm/Ingolstadt plant codes at position 11 all apply the same way to a “500” as they do to a “5000” or a “100,” provided the car in question is one of the German-built export units rather than a locally assembled South African car.

Where to find the VIN

• Lower-left windshield corner, where fitted (not universal on right-hand-drive export cars from this era)
• Driver’s side door jamb or B-pillar, on a data plate listing the VIN and factory options
• Stamped into the firewall or bulkhead in the engine bay
• Vehicle registration/title documents held by South Africa’s licensing authorities

Cross-check all of these against each other. On a car this old, sold new in a market a long way from the factory, mismatches from resprays, part swaps, and reshelled bodies are more common than on anything newer.

Recalls and safety information

The Audi 500 was never sold in the United States, so it will not appear in NHTSA’s recall database under that name, and a VIN lookup here will not return NHTSA campaign data for it. The mechanically identical US-market Audi 5000 was the subject of well-documented recalls in the 1980s covering a shift-lock interlock and an idle-stabilizer valve; those campaigns are detailed on our Audi 5000 VIN decoder page, but they were US recalls tied to US-market VINs and do not automatically extend to South African-market cars. If you own a 500:

1. Decode the VIN with the tool above to confirm what you actually have.
2. Contact South Africa’s National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications or an Audi/Volkswagen of South Africa dealer for any locally issued service or recall bulletins, since NHTSA’s database will not cover this market.
3. Given the car’s age, an independent Audi specialist familiar with Typ 43/44 cars is a more realistic source of parts and service history than an official dealer network at this point.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Audi 500 actually exist?

Yes, as a real market badge. Audi’s South African importer and, later, Volkswagen of South Africa’s Uitenhage assembly operation sold the C2 and C3 generation Audi 100/200 as the “500,” with its own sub-trims (500, 500E, 500SE, 500SEL, 500 Turbo), running in parallel with the “5000” name used in North America for the same underlying car. It is not a distinct, separately engineered model.

Is the Audi 500 the same as the Audi 5000?

Mechanically, yes. Both names cover the same C2 (Typ 43) and C3 (Typ 44) Audi 100/200, just badged differently for two different export markets: “5000” for North America, “500” for South Africa. Our Audi 5000 VIN decoder page covers the position-by-position VIN structure that applies to a German-built “500” the same way it applies to a “5000.”

Why does the South African badge say “500” instead of “5000” or “100”?

We could not find a documented explanation for exactly why South Africa’s importer chose “500” rather than adopting either the European “100/200” or the American “5000” naming. It appears to have simply been the regional marketing choice made at the time, the same way many manufacturers vary a model’s badge name by export market without changing the car underneath.

How do I tell which generation my Audi 500 is?

The C2 (1976-1982 Typ 43) is the boxier, earlier body; the C3 (1982-1991 Typ 44) is the smoother, more aerodynamic redesign, and South African sources describe “500” cars persisting into the early 1990s with the 2.8-liter V6 associated with the very end of that run. If the VIN follows the standard 17-character ISO 3779 format with a WAU WMI, the model-year character and body details on our Audi 5000 VIN decoder page will help narrow it down; for a locally assembled South African car, generation is easier to confirm by body style, engine, and trim badge than by VIN alone.

Was the Audi 500 involved in the 1986 unintended-acceleration controversy?

Not directly. That controversy centered on the US-market Audi 5000 and a 1986 “60 Minutes” segment; NHTSA’s investigation and recalls were specific to US-market cars. Since the 500 was a South African-market car, it was not part of that US regulatory history, even though it shares its platform and much of its engineering with the car that was.

Is this VIN decoder free to use for an Audi 500?

Yes. VinDecoderPlus decodes any Audi VIN, including a German-built car sold under the South African “500” badge, free with no account and no credit card. What the decoder can confirm depends on whether your VIN follows the standard export format documented for the 5000/100/200 platform; a locally assembled South African car may need extra cross-checking against title and registration records, as explained above.

Can an Audi 500 VIN be faked or cloned?

Yes, and on a car this old, in a market this specific, more due diligence is warranted than usual. A South African “500” is worth verifying carefully before purchase: confirm the VIN or chassis number matches across the windshield, door jamb, and firewall stamp, and matches the registration paperwork. Our guide on how to check if a car is stolen by VIN walks through the general process, though bear in mind that South African-specific theft and title databases are not the same as NHTSA’s US-focused recall data.

Decode your Audi VIN free

Whether your car is badged 500, 5000, 100, or 200, if it is a German-built export car it shares one VIN structure. Type it into the decoder above, or go deeper with these guides:

• Audi VIN decoder hub for the brand-wide guide across every model
• Audi 5000 VIN decoder for the full position-by-position breakdown of the same underlying car under its North American name
• How to read a VIN number for the general ISO 3779 standard
• What every character in a VIN means for a position-by-position reference
• Classic car VIN decoder for pre-standard and export-market VIN quirks like the ones that can turn up on a locally assembled South African car
• VIN decoder vs. vehicle history report for what a decode covers versus what it doesn’t
• How to check if a car is stolen by VIN for verifying a used 500 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