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When you view a used car, turn the radio on. If it plays, ask the seller to write the code down for you. If it shows CODE, SAFE or LOCKED, the radio is not broken. It only needs its code, and that comes from the radio's serial number or, on a Renault, Dacia or Suzuki SLN, from the VIN. Renault, Volkswagen, Honda, Nissan, Ford and Dacia make up more than 8 in 10 of the 35,000 codes we supplied in the last six months, so on those six makes it is worth a two minute check before you pay.
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Turn the radio on at the viewing
Most people try the lights, the windows and the heater when they view a car. Try the radio too. Switch it on with the ignition and give it a few seconds.
If it plays, the code is already in and there is nothing to fix today. Ask the seller to write the code down for you anyway. The radio will want it again the next time the battery goes flat or gets changed.
If the screen says CODE, SAFE or LOCKED, the radio is not broken. It lost power at some point, often a battery change before the sale, and it is waiting for its code. Nothing inside it is damaged.
Three words a coded radio shows when it wants its code back.
Read the screen before you decide
Most lock screens clear with time and the right code. A few do not, and those are the ones to spot before you pay.
CODE or SAFE means the radio wants its code after a power cut. Find the number the code comes from and it plays again.
A countdown, WAIT or LOCKED 10 means someone has tried wrong codes. Left with the ignition and the radio on, it clears by itself and asks for the code again.
On a Ford, LOCKED 13 means the radio has used up its wrong entries. It will not take a code until a radio specialist has reset it.
Some screens never count down: SECURE on some Clarion radios in Nissans, Radio Locked on a Vauxhall Vivaro, and a Nissan Connect or Bosch screen that says the system is locked, with no timer and no serial on it. Waiting does not clear these.
If you see one of the last two, take a photo of the screen and send it to our chat before you pay. We will tell you straight whether a code will help. Our guide to LOCKED, SAFE and ERR screens has the detail for each make.
Check it is the radio the car was built with
A radio code belongs to the radio, not to the car. It is set when the radio is made, and it never changes, however many owners the car has had.
That matters when a seller hands you a code from the service book or an old card. It only works on the radio it was written for. If the radio has been swapped since, for a second hand unit or after a repair, that code will be refused however carefully it goes in.
So ask the seller one simple question: has the radio ever been changed? On a Renault, Dacia or Suzuki SLN it matters even more, because the VIN finds the code of the radio the car left the factory with. Our guide to VIN or serial number explains why.
Do not let anyone guess the code
Sellers mean well. Plenty will lean in and try 1234, 0000 or the last four digits of the number plate. It never works, and every wrong try counts.
After a few misses most radios make you wait, often longer each time, and a few stop taking codes altogether. A radio that only wanted its code can leave the viewing locked out. Ask them to leave it, and our guide to a radio asking for a code after a battery change explains why.
The one exception is Nissan Connect, Daewoo and Visteon radios. On those, three wrong entries bring up a screen with the serial on it, which is exactly the number we need. Our lockout guide shows that screen.
Take the right number away with you
Nobody takes a dashboard apart on a seller's drive, and you do not need to. Note the number the code comes from, or take a photo that shows where it is.
- Renault, Dacia and Suzuki SLN: the VIN. It is on the registration document in the box marked E, on a small plate at the bottom of the windscreen, and on a sticker on the driver's door pillar.
- Every other make: the radio's serial. Many radios show it on screen, Ford and Honda among them. Others have it on a label on the radio casing, so it can wait until the car is yours.
Not sure which kind your radio is? Take a photo of the front of the radio and its screen and send it to our chat. Our guide to where to find the radio serial shows each make.
Is a missing code a reason to walk away?
No. On a factory radio a missing code is a small job, not a fault. We find the code for most factory radios from that one number, and it stays the same for as long as the radio stays in the car.
Two things are worth raising with the seller before you pay:
- A lock screen from the list above that waiting does not clear.
- A radio that is not the one the car was built with, when the seller is handing you a code from the paperwork.
Anything else, write the number down and carry on with the rest of your checks.
Already bought the car?
Most people who ask us about this have already driven the car home. The steps are the same. Leave the buttons alone, read the screen, and find the number the code comes from.
Our guides take you through it: a radio asking for a code after a battery change, VIN or serial number and where to find the radio serial. The button below takes you to every make we cover.
Once the radio plays again, keep the code with the car's papers. It never changes, so the next flat battery is a one minute job, and if you sell the car one day, you can pass it on.
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I have just bought a 2022 Nissan NV400 van. I got all the documents and both keys, but no code for the radio. I only have the chassis number. What do you need?
On a Nissan we do not work from the chassis number. We need the radio's own serial. Nissan Connect, Daewoo and Visteon radios show it on screen after three wrong entries, with a device or part number and a date, and we need all of them. Older Clarion and Blaupunkt radios have the serial on a label on the casing. Our Nissan page has photos of both.
I bought the car today and I cannot get to the VIN because I do not have the logbook yet.
You do not need the paperwork for it. The VIN is on the car itself: a small plate at the bottom of the windscreen that you read through the glass from outside, and a sticker on the driver's door pillar. It is always 17 characters. On a Renault, Dacia or Suzuki SLN that is the number we need, as long as the radio is the one the car was built with.
My radio lost its code when the battery was changed. The previous owner must have put in their own code. How can I get a new one?
Nobody can put in their own code. The code is set in the radio when it is made and stays the same for life, so every owner has used the same one. We find it from the radio's serial, or from the VIN on a Renault, Dacia or Suzuki SLN. If a code from the paperwork is refused, the usual reason is that the radio is not the one the car was built with.
I bought the car from a garage and nobody mentioned a code. Now the radio asks for a PIN.
That happens a lot. Codes often go missing between owners, and the paperwork rarely mentions them. It does not matter, because we work the code out from the radio itself, not from the previous owner. If you are not sure where your radio's serial is, send a photo of the front of the radio and its screen to our chat and we will tell you.
I am looking to buy an RCD 500 radio online. It has no code, but it has the VWZ number on the side of the unit.
Ask the seller for a clear photo of the whole label before you buy. Volkswagen codes come from that VWZ serial, so it has to be readable from end to end, not just the first few characters. Send the photo to our chat and we will tell you whether it is a serial we can work from.
I recently bought a second hand Ford Galaxy. I need to change the battery but I do not have the radio code.
Find the serial before the battery comes off. On most Ford radios it shows on the screen when you hold buttons 1 and 6 with the radio on, and on the 4500 RDS buttons 2 and 6. It is a letter, usually M or V, and six digits. Write it down, order the code, and have it ready for when the new battery goes in. Sat nav units such as the TravelPilot have the serial on a label instead, so the radio has to come out.
