Find Date of Manufacture

[EddieM]

Tiger, good shout, but ashtray had nothing on it in the way of date code.

Eddie and gaz: dealer told me to do one. They would want a visit in person with a V5 before entertaining that idea, plus "a good reason to want the information".

Talk about over-zealous.....

Salty, nothing in the wheel well, although I know what you mean: my Octavia had a label in the boot.

Lower: BINGO!

Thanks everybody!

View attachment 231370

Odd, no skin off their noses, takes a few clicks on a dealer system.

 

[securespark]

I had a bit of a theory the car was hanging around a good while between manufacture and registration.

I first smelt a rat when the original battery would not hold a charge: sitting in it listening to the radio with the engine off would drain the battery in around 15 minutes!

We got a Bosch AGM battery and it's still going strong years later.

 

[EddieM]

I had a bit of a theory the car was hanging around a good while between manufacture and registration.

I first smelt a rat when the original battery would not hold a charge: sitting in it listening to the radio with the engine off would drain the battery in around 15 minutes!

We got a Bosch AGM battery and it's still going strong years later.

As said the difference can be many many months.

 

[securespark]

Sorry, but those dates don't tell you when the completed vehicle rolled off the line.

I know.

But, as I said to Fred:

I know, but I have a theory that the parts won't be hanging around. I reckon Honda would order them "Just In Time" so it must be close to the assembly date.

If I can find more dates on the car's parts, it will give a better idea.

All the seatbelts had the same date.

 

[EddieM]

I know.

But, as I said to Fred:

Well I suppose it didn't roll off any earlier!

 

[securespark]

My experience of Just In Time (having worked in a factory) is that parts are ordered at the last minute so stock is not hanging around for ages taking up space.

 

[securespark]

Well I suppose it didn't roll off any earlier!

Exactly!!

 

[EddieM]

My experience of Just In Time (having worked in a factory) is that parts are ordered at the last minute so stock is not hanging around for ages taking up space.

Well, yes, from the supplier, but then you don't know what kind of stock levels they hold.

 

[Tigercubrider]

https://www.team-bhp.com/advice/find-your-cars-date-manufacture-vin#p3

 

[securespark]

Thanks, Tiger, but unfortunately it does not tally.

The 9th and 10th characters are zero and 8 or "O" and 8.

Perhaps the VIN numbers vary around the world? Maybe that site is for US cars? I dunno.....

 

[Avocet]

Yes, each manufacturer (apart from the first three characters) can store whatever information he likes in the VIN. Your seat belts are the best clue so far. I agree, they won't have been made long before the car was. If you can pull out some other bits of plastic mouldings (like ashtrays) they often have a date stamp on them (usually the two circles with the arrow in them - one for year and one for month or week), they might give you more of a clue. Funny enough, since last September, the manufacturer has had to put the date of manufacture on the car's EU Certificate of Conformity, but prior to that, there was no requirement. That said, in most cases, the date the certificate was issued usually tallies pretty well with the date of manufacture.

 

[Mottie]

I used a decoder to work out the spec of our 1.4 A3. Worked well and told me every option and accessory that was factory fitted except for the fact that it also said I had the V8 4.2 litre engine fitted!

 

[jondecs]

In the bad days I worked at Longbridge just as they started the Allegro.. Various strikes and power cut/ miners strike meant some bits were missing to complete a car ready for sale.. meant hundreds of cars were stored in compounds for months ... all of these had got a vin plate. not sure why I wrote this lol ,but there you are ha ha

 

[sxturbo]

Wish I could help, where I used to work had all the dealer info, you thought about buying the Honda EPC from eBay, it will be a hooky copy but will give the info you require, will also help with parts identification.

I once had a Mondeo st200 registered in 2000 just as the next gen was being produced, but was actually built in 1998, it sat for 2 years waiting for a buyer

 

[rds60h]

The only thing that will confirm the date that any vehicle was built is the chassis number which is on the VIN Plate (Vehicle Identity Plate) the manufacturing year is usually easy to identify but to identify the date any closer you will have to contact the vehicle maker or try a vehicle owners forum who are often able to identify a model down to a month of manufacture.