What are SIPP codes?

While you don’t really need to know what SIPP codes are, if you’re curious, read on for a comprehensive breakdown of what each one means.

Standard Interline Passenger Procedure (SIPP) codes are four-letter abbreviations that identify the major features of a rental car. For example, a compact, two-door car with air-conditioning would have a SIPP code of CBMR or CBAR depending on whether it’s a manual or automatic vehicle.

Why do car rental companies use SIPP codes?

With so many different vehicles available for renting, there needs to be a system of arranging and classifying them. Thanks to SIPP codes, filtering hire cars according to their traits and features is easy.

The code will generally highlight such things as the vehicle type, the number of doors, the transmission, the fuel type, and whether the car has air-conditioning.

First letter Size of vehicle

Compact

Compact Elite

Economy

Fullsize

Fullsize Elite

Economy Elite

Intermediate

Intermediate Elite

Luxury

Mini

Mini Elite

Oversize

Premium

Standard Elite

Standard

Premium Elite

Luxury Elite

Special

Second letter Number of doors

2/3 Door

2/4 Door

4/5 Door

Coupe

SUV

Crossover

Motorhome

Open-Air All Terrain

Commercial Van / Truck

Limousine / Sedan

Monospace

Roadster

Pickup (Single/Extended Cab) 2 Door

Pickup (Double Cab) 4 Door

Recreational Vehicle

Sport

Convertible

Passenger Van

Wagon / Estate

Special

Two-Wheel Drive

Special Offer Car

Third letter Transmission and drive

Auto Unspecified Drive

Auto Four-Wheel Drive

Manual All-Wheel Drive

Auto All-Wheel Drive

Manual Unspecified Drive

Manual Four-Wheel Drive

Fourth letter Fuel and A/C

Unspecified Fuel/Power, No A/C

Unspecified Fuel/Power, A/C

Petrol, A/C

Petrol, No A/C

Diesel, A/C

Diesel, No A/C

Electric (Distance < 250mi/400km), A/C

ElectricPlus (Distance ≥ 250mi/400km), A/C

Hybrid, A/C

Hybrid Plug-in, A/C

LPG/Compressed Gas, A/C

LPG/Compressed Gas, No A/C

Multi Fuel/Power, A/C

Multi Fuel/Power, No A/C

Hydrogen, A/C

Hydrogen, No A/C

Ethanol, A/C

Ethanol, No A/C

Do I need to know how to read SIPP codes when renting a car?

At VroomVroomVroom, we outline the features of a vehicle on the booking page so that you don’t have to worry about deciphering SIPP codes. But in case you’re interested in familiarising yourself with them, here's a brief list of some of the more popular SIPP codes:

CBMR - Compact two-door car with manual transmission and air-conditioning.

IDAR - Intermediate four-door car with automatic transmission and air-conditioning.

FVAV - Full-size passenger van with automatic transmission and air-conditioning, fuelled by petrol.

FVAD - Full-size passenger van with automatic transmission and air-conditioning, fuelled by diesel.

FDAD - Full-size four-door with automatic transmission and air-conditioning, fuelled by diesel.

To clarify, the SIPP code is not a discount code and is not something you need to enter or remember; rather, it’s more like a digital label attached to the vehicle to categorise it for comparison purposes. If you have any questions about SIPP codes or the features of rental cars, feel free to contact us.

For more information on the types of rental cars available, check out our rental car vehicle types page.