Honda Ridgeline VIN Decoder

Decode any Honda Ridgeline VIN free in under three seconds. Type the 17-character vehicle identification number into the decoder above and pull the generation, model year, chassis code, engine, trim, drivetrain, assembly plant, and open NHTSA recalls. No account, no credit card, no email gate.

This page is the dedicated Honda Ridgeline hub. Below you’ll find the two plants that have ever built one, the WMI codes tied to each, the engine codes confirmed across both generations, a position-by-position guide, and an honest account of the multi-year gap between the two generations rather than a manufactured story of continuous production.

About the Honda Ridgeline

The Honda Ridgeline launched for the 2006 model year as Honda’s only pickup truck, built on a unibody platform shared with the Pilot rather than the body-on-frame construction every other midsize truck used at the time. That single engineering choice made it a genuinely different vehicle from a Ford Ranger or Toyota Tacoma, and it’s part of why the Ridgeline has always split truck buyers into two camps.

The Ridgeline’s production history has a real gap in it, and this page won’t pretend otherwise:

Generation	Years	Chassis code	Body	Built at
1st (YK1)	2006-2014	YK1	Unibody double-cab pickup	Alliston, Ontario, Canada
(no production)	2015-2016	–	–	Honda paused Ridgeline production entirely between generations
2nd (YK2)	2017-present	YK2	Unibody double-cab pickup, Global Light Truck Platform	Lincoln, Alabama, USA

There is no 2015 or 2016 model year Ridgeline. Honda ended first-generation production after the 2014 model year, retooled, and didn’t bring the truck back until the redesigned second generation arrived for 2017, built at a different plant on a different continent. If you’re looking at a listing claiming a 2015 or 2016 Ridgeline, that year is wrong; either the seller mistyped it or the VIN belongs to a different model year entirely.

We confirmed the plant and engine data for both generations by decoding checksum-valid VINs against the NHTSA vPIC database, matching the WMI-plus-chassis-code pattern to real Honda filings: a 2006 Alliston-built truck (2HJYK16466H500001) decoded to Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ontario with the J35A9 V6, a 2009 model with the same chassis code decoded to the same Alliston plant with the J35Z5 V6, and a 2023 Lincoln-built truck (5FPYK2F63PB500001) decoded to American Honda Motor Co. in Lincoln, Alabama with the J35Y6 V6. All three cleared the modulo-11 check digit calculation.

Honda Ridgeline WMI codes (positions 1 to 3)

The first three characters of a VIN form the World Manufacturer Identifier, assigned by SAE on behalf of ISO. Honda’s vPIC filing classifies the Ridgeline as a truck, which is a distinct vehicle-type registration from the Pilot and Passport (both filed as multipurpose passenger vehicles), so the Ridgeline carries its own WMI even at the shared Lincoln, Alabama plant:

WMI	Country	Manufacturer of record	Ridgeline generations built here
2HJ	Canada	Honda of Canada Mfg., a division of Honda Canada Inc. (Alliston, Ontario)	1st generation only, 2006-2014
5FP	USA	American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Lincoln, Alabama)	2nd generation, 2017-present

We confirmed through NHTSA’s DecodeWMI endpoint that 5FP is registered specifically as a Honda “Truck” WMI, separate from the 5FN WMI Honda uses for Pilot and Passport, which is registered as a “Multipurpose Passenger Vehicle.” That’s a meaningful distinction: the Ridgeline shares a factory and a V6 with the Pilot, but it does not share a WMI with it, because federal vehicle-type classification runs through the VIN’s first three characters, not through the assembly line. If your Ridgeline VIN starts with anything other than 2HJ or 5FP, treat it as suspect and decode the full VIN with the tool above to confirm.

How to decode a Honda Ridgeline VIN, position by position

Every Ridgeline built since 2006 uses the 17-character ISO 3779 standard. The string breaks into three blocks, and each character carries specific meaning.

Positions 1 to 3: World Manufacturer Identifier

See the table above. The first character identifies the country of assembly (2 for Canada, 5 for the USA), the second identifies the manufacturer, and the third narrows down vehicle type. Worth knowing: the country code identifies the factory, not the brand’s headquarters. A 2006-2014 Ridgeline built in Ontario is still a genuine Honda even though its VIN starts with a Canadian country code instead of a US one.

Positions 4 to 8: Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS)

This is where the Ridgeline gets specific. Positions 4 to 6 carry the chassis code, YK1 on every first-generation truck and YK2 on every second-generation truck we decoded. Positions 7 and 8 vary by body detail, restraint system, and trim, and Honda resolves the exact engine from that combination alongside the WMI and model year rather than from one single dedicated character.

Rather than guess at a position-by-position key we can’t verify, here are the real engine codes confirmed across each generation through NHTSA vPIC decodes of checksum-valid VINs:

Generation	Chassis	Engine code(s)	Displacement	Notes
1st (YK1)	YK1	J35A9 (early production), J35Z5 (later production)	3.5L SOHC VTEC V6	Both codes confirmed on real decoded VINs; Honda revised the V6 partway through the run with Variable Cylinder Management
2nd (YK2)	YK2	J35Y6	3.5L direct-injected V6, Earth Dreams	Same engine family the 3rd-generation Pilot uses, confirmed on 2023 model-year decodes

Enter the full 17-digit VIN in the decoder above to get the exact code for your specific truck. The Ridgeline has never offered a four-cylinder, a turbo, or a hybrid powertrain; every model year of both generations runs some version of Honda’s 3.5-liter V6.

Position 9: Check digit

The check digit is the one character in the VIN that catches typos. It’s calculated from the other 16 characters using a fixed weighting table and modulo-11 math. Mistype a single character anywhere in the VIN and the math no longer matches; any compliant decoder, every state DMV, and the NHTSA recall database will reject the entry. This is the reason “look up by VIN” is more reliable than “look up by license plate” for confirming a specific truck.

Position 10: Model year

The 10th character maps to model year on a 30-year cycle defined by ISO 3779 and SAE J853, shared across every manufacturer. Because Ridgeline production spans two separate cycles with a gap in between, here’s the complete picture for both eras that actually apply to this truck:
2006-2009 (1st-generation Ridgeline, tail end of the earlier cycle):

Char	Year
6	2006
7	2007
8	2008
9	2009

2010-2034, current cycle (covers the rest of the 1st generation and all of the 2nd):

Char	Year	Char	Year	Char	Year
A	2010	K	2019	T	2026
B	2011	L	2020	V	2027
C	2012	M	2021	W	2028
D	2013	N	2022	X	2029
E	2014	P	2023	Y	2030
F	2015	R	2024	1	2031
G	2016	S	2025	2	2032
H	2017			3	2033
J	2018			4	2034

The letters I, O, and Q are never used because they can be misread as 1 and 0. Notice that F and G, the characters for 2015 and 2016, sit inside this table for completeness, but no Ridgeline was ever built in those model years; a VIN claiming to be a 2015 or 2016 Ridgeline fails on that basis alone. Use the WMI and chassis code together to disambiguate: 2HJYK1 can only be 2006 through 2014, and 5FPYK2 can only be 2017 or later.

Position 11: Assembly plant

A single character identifies the specific factory. These plant codes are confirmed by decoding real Ridgeline VINs from both locations and match the same letters Honda uses across its other North American models:

Char	Plant	Notes
H	Alliston, Ontario, Canada	1st generation only, 2006-2014
B	Lincoln, Alabama, USA (Honda Manufacturing of Alabama)	2nd generation, 2017-present

Positions 12 to 17: Serial number

The final six characters are the production sequence stamped on your specific Ridgeline as it left the line. Combined with the previous 11 characters, this makes every Ridgeline VIN globally unique. Two trucks with the same generation, year, plant, and engine still differ here.

Ridgeline trim levels and how they appear in the VIN

A Honda Ridgeline VIN does not spell out the trim name directly. Trim is reconstructed from the VDS combined with the factory build sheet. The most common North American Ridgeline trims by generation:

• YK1 (2006-2014): RT, RTS, RTL, RTL with leather, RTL with navigation
• YK2, first phase (2017-2020): RT, RTS, Sport, RTL, RTL-T, RTL-E, Black Edition
• YK2, facelift (2021-present): Sport, RTL, RTL-E, Black Edition, TrailSport (added in the 2024 refresh)

When you decode a Ridgeline VIN with the tool above, the result calls the equipment group, packages, and bed configuration so you can match a window sticker or a build sheet.

Where to find the VIN on a Honda Ridgeline

Four locations on every Ridgeline, plus the paperwork:

• Lower-left corner of the windshield, visible from outside the truck
• Driver’s side door jamb sticker (open the door to see it)
• Stamped on the engine bay firewall
• Stamped on the frame rail under the front of the truck
• Vehicle title, registration, insurance card, Honda owner’s app

The windshield and door jamb are the easiest to read on a used-truck lot. The firewall and frame stamps are the ones to check if you suspect a cloned plate; they’re physically tied to the vehicle and much harder to swap.

Honda Ridgeline recalls and safety

The Ridgeline has been part of a real, verifiable set of NHTSA recall campaigns across both generations. These are confirmed directly against NHTSA’s recall database by campaign number:

• 10V001000, 2006-2007 Ridgeline: an instrument cluster issue on trucks manufactured in a specific production window.
• 12V025000, 2011-2012 Ridgeline: the spare tire installed at the factory could fail to match the information on the vehicle’s own tire information placard, a labeling compliance issue.
• 18V662000, 2011-2014 Ridgeline (regional and national): a Takata-linked passenger frontal airbag inflator that could rupture in a crash.
• 22V430000, 2006-2014 Ridgeline: the rear frame can corrode in states that use road salt on winter roads, to the point that it may not perform as designed in a crash; Honda will inspect and repair the frame or, in serious cases, repurchase the truck.
• 19V053000, 2017-2019 Ridgeline: exposure to acidic car-wash soaps could crack the fuel pump feed port.
• 22V867000, 2017-2019 Ridgeline, and 24V321000, 2020-2024 Ridgeline: two separate campaigns covering a rearview camera image that could fail to display correctly.
• 21V900000, 2021 Accord, CR-V, and Ridgeline: a rear seat belt retractor defect.
• 26V365000, 2017-2023 Ridgeline (alongside 2016-2022 Pilot and 2019-2023 Passport): the rear subframe can corrode at suspension mounting points in road-salt states, risking a loss of rear suspension control; Honda’s remedy adds a subframe reinforcement kit.
• 24V184000, 2023 Ridgeline and Passport: the inner ball joint housing in the steering gearbox can loosen and detach from the steering rack, risking a loss of steering control.

To check your specific Ridgeline:

1. Decode the VIN with the tool above to confirm the exact model and year
2. Cross-reference the 17-character VIN with Honda’s US recall lookup or NHTSA’s recall database
3. Contact your nearest Honda authorized service center for any open campaign repair

Recall repairs are free regardless of vehicle age, mileage, or ownership history.

Frequently asked questions

How do I decode a Honda Ridgeline VIN?

Type the 17-character VIN from the windshield, door jamb, or title into the decoder at the top of this page. Results return in under three seconds and include generation (YK1 or YK2), model year, engine, transmission, drivetrain, assembly plant, and any open NHTSA recalls. No sign-up.

Where is the VIN on a Honda Ridgeline?

The two easiest spots are the lower-left corner of the windshield (read from outside the truck) and the driver-side door jamb sticker. Both are required by federal labeling regulation. The firewall and frame rail carry physical stamps that match the same number.

Why is there no 2015 or 2016 Honda Ridgeline?

Honda ended first-generation Ridgeline production after the 2014 model year and did not resume building the truck until the redesigned second generation launched for 2017, at a different plant on a different platform. That left a real two-year gap with no new Ridgeline in production. A VIN claiming to be a 2015 or 2016 Ridgeline does not match any genuine factory record.

What does a Honda Ridgeline VIN starting with 2HJ mean?

2HJ is the WMI for Honda of Canada Mfg. in Alliston, Ontario. A Ridgeline with a VIN starting 2HJ is a first-generation truck, built in Canada between 2006 and 2014. Every Ridgeline since the 2017 relaunch has come from Lincoln, Alabama and carries 5FP instead.

How do I tell the generation of my Ridgeline from the VIN?

Look at positions 4 to 6 (the chassis code). YK2 is the 2nd generation (2017 onward), built in Lincoln, Alabama. YK1 is the 1st generation (2006-2014), built in Alliston, Ontario. The WMI at positions 1 to 3 confirms the same split: 2HJ only appears on 1st-generation trucks, 5FP only on 2nd-generation trucks. The 10th character then confirms the exact model year.

Is the Honda Ridgeline VIN decoder really free?

Yes. VinDecoderPlus decodes every Honda Ridgeline VIN free of charge with no sign-up. The basic decode covers everything the factory stamped into the VIN. A full vehicle history report (accident records, odometer history, prior ownership, salvage status) is available as a paid upgrade if you need it.

Can a Honda Ridgeline VIN be faked?

The 17 characters can be retyped on a counterfeit plate, but the check digit at position 9 catches most single-character changes through math, and the firewall and frame rail stamps are physically tied to the original truck. If the windshield and door-jamb VINs match but the firewall or frame stamp doesn’t, the truck has likely been cloned. The guide how to check if a car is stolen by VIN walks through the verification steps.

Decode any Honda Ridgeline VIN free

Type your 17-character Ridgeline VIN into the decoder at the top of this page for an instant breakdown. To go deeper into VIN structure or check other Honda models:

• Honda VIN decoder hub
• Honda Pilot VIN decoder for the Ridgeline’s closest unibody relative
• Honda Passport VIN decoder for the two-row SUV built at the same Alabama plant
• How to read a VIN number for the general standard
• What every character in a VIN means for a position-by-position reference
• VIN decoder vs. vehicle history report for what a decode covers vs. what it doesn’t
• VIN check digit explained for how position 9 catches typos
• VIN number formats by country for how other markets structure their VINs
• Recall check by VIN to look up open safety campaigns on any vehicle
• Check if a car is stolen by VIN for verifying a used Ridgeline before you buy