| Question | Answer |
| · Decryption through special services; · Self-decryption; · Sending a request to the manufacturer. |
|
| The actual year of manufacture of the vehicle. | |
| Belonging to a specific car model or its restyling to a specific year. | |
| · full title vehicle;
· manufacturer; · Model year; · Exact date of manufacture; · Information about power unit and transmissions; · Factory color and other characteristics. |
|
| Partsfan.com; Pogazam.ru/vin; Avtoraport.ru. |
The year of manufacture of the vehicle affects the cost of customs clearance when importing a car from abroad (the younger the car, the higher the price), and also helps to choose the right part in the event of a vehicle breakdown. The vehicle's production date can be found by the VIN number.
There are several ways to find out the release date of a vehicle using the VIN code of the vehicle:
- Self-decryption. In most cases, the body identification number contains information about the year of manufacture of the car. It is important to understand that with self-decryption, you can only find out the year, without specifying the date and month.
- Decryption using specialized services. Online resources allow you to find out all the basic information about a car: make and model, exact release date, manufacturer, engine type, etc. In some cases, services provide services on a paid basis.
- Send a request to the manufacturer. The cost of the service is paid, the amount depends on the company. If necessary, you can make a request through an authorized representative (dealer).
How to decipher the year of issue
You can find out the year of production of a car by wine code by reading the 10th symbol of the identification number. This applies to manufacturers from North Europe, America and some Asian countries adhering to the international VIN standard ISO 3779-1983. The following designations have been assigned over the years:
| Year | Designation | Year | Designation | Year | Designation | Year | Designation |
| 1971 | 1 | 83 | D | 95 | S | 07 | 7 |
| -72 | 2 | 84 | E | 96 | T | 08 | 8 |
| -73 | 3 | 85 | F | 97 | V | 09 | 9 |
| -74 | 4 | 86 | G | 98 | W | 2010 | A |
| -75 | 5 | 87 | N | 99 | NS | 11 | V |
| -76 | 6 | 88 | J | 2000 | Y | 12 | WITH |
| -77 | 7 | 89 | TO | 01 | 1 | 13 | D |
| -78 | 8 | 1990 | L | 02 | 2 | 14 | E |
| -79 | 9 | 91 | M | 03 | 3 | 15 | F |
| 1980 | A | 92 | N | 04 | 4 | 16 | G |
| -81 | V | 93 | R | 05 | 5 | 17 | N |
| -82 | WITH | 94 | R | 06 | 6 | 18 | J |
Based on the table, the designations are repeated every 30 years. At the same time, manufacturers do not use the number 0, as well as the letters I, O, Q, since there is a possibility of confusing the indicated characters.
Exceptions
Japanese manufacturers adhere to their own VIN (chassis number) compilation standards and they do not encrypt the vehicle's year of manufacture into it. The same applies to some other countries. To distinguish the international standard ISO 3779-1983, you should know that the identification number according to ISO 3779-1983 always consists of 17 characters and does not contain dashes. Also, the digit 0 and the letters I, O, Q cannot be in place of the 10th character. At the same time, the presence of the digit 0 (but not the indicated letters) is allowed in other positions.
You can find out the year of manufacture of a vehicle whose VIN code does not correspond to ISO 3779-1983 in three ways:
- Through specialized services. For example, on the website drom.ru at the link www.drom.ru/frameno, you can find out the year of manufacture of Japanese cars manufactured up to 2010 inclusive.
It should be noted that in most cases, Honda and Suzuki cars are not checked by the online service due to the lack of the necessary database.
- Through a request to an official representative. The car owner can send a request to the dealer, who will redirect it to the manufacturer. In this case, it will be necessary to pay for the services of the dealer and the manufacturer's company.
- On the glass of the vehicle, where the year of its manufacture is always indicated. It should be noted that the glass could have been changed on the car earlier.
What is the Difference Between a Model Year and a Calendar Year
The calendar year is the actual year the vehicle was manufactured. Model - means that a specific vehicle model or its restyling belongs to a specific year. So, manufacturers often release the first versions of cars for the exhibition, and their mass assembly begins as early as next year. For example, the actual (calendar) year of the vehicle is 2017, and the model year is 2020, since only this year the mass production of this version of the car began.
It should also be noted that some manufacturers set the beginning of the model year, which may not coincide with the calendar year. For example, a model year might start on July 1, September 1, and so on.
The vehicle identification number for a vehicle manufactured in accordance with ISO 3779-1983 always indicates the model year. The documents for the vehicle can contain both model and calendar years, therefore, to obtain accurate information, the car owner must use either specialized online services, or send a request to the manufacturer through an authorized dealer.
What other information can be obtained by VIN-code through online services
There are several online services on the network that allow you to obtain information about a vehicle using its VIN code. Among these:
- partsfan.com. A foreign site, therefore, does not show information about vehicles from Russian companies. The service is free. It can be used to determine the following vehicle data:
- Manufacturer.
- The full name of the car.
- Model year.
- The exact date of manufacture.
- Information about the engine and transmission.
- Factory color and other characteristics of the vehicle.
The service also searches for Japanese cars. To do this, you must enter the appropriate code in the second line from the right. Registration required.
- pogazam.ru/vin. Russian-language site. Provides the same information as the above service, however, due to the incompleteness of the database, there may not be information about the transmission, engine, etc., this applies to both European manufacturers (Mercedes, Audi, BMW, etc.) and North American ... Also, there is no database on Japanese cars at all. The service is free.
- avtoraport.ru. Russian-language site. In addition to technical information about the vehicle, it determines its registration history, use in a taxi, previous accidents, restrictions (bail, arrest), etc. The services are paid. As of August 2020, one check costs 299 rubles.
Good afternoon, dear reader.
In this article I will tell you about an interesting way that allows with a high degree of probability determine the year of manufacture of almost any car.
Of course, many drivers are familiar with this method, but for some it will turn out to be an interesting discovery.
So, you can determine the year of production of a car after a careful study of its glasses.
Year of manufacture on car glass
Almost every car glass contains information about the year of its production. You just need to be able to find it and interpret it correctly.
As a rule, the information stamp is located in one of the lower corners. car glass.
Consider the example shown in the figure on the left.
In this case, we are only interested in the lower part of the information stamp, namely the string "0...".
The number in the given line- this is the last digit of the year in which the car was produced. In this example, the number 0 indicates that the car was produced in 2010.
However, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that in practice the number 0 means both 2010 and 2000, 1990, etc. To determine the exact year, you need to have some information about a specific car model.
For example, take a look at the picture at the beginning of this article. On it you can see that the last digit of the year of manufacture of the car is 4. This photo was taken on a VAZ 2112 car, which was produced from 1999 to 2008. Obviously, the model year of the car is 2004.
Note that only a few cars have been produced unchanged for more than 10 years. For example, these include VAZ 2107 and Niva. In practice, however, it is usually not difficult to distinguish new car from a car 10 years ago. For more old car usually rust, there are a large number of dents and other body defects.
One more Automotive Glass Stamp Secret... In addition to the year of glass production, it also contains the month of production, but it is a little more difficult to determine it. The month is encrypted in the number of dots next to the year number. Namely:
0 - January 2010.
... ... ... ... ... 0 - February 2010.
... ... ... ... 0 - March 2010.
... ... ... 0 - April 2010.
... ... 0 - May 2010.
... 0 - June 2010.
0. - July 2010.
0. ... - August 2010.
0. ... ... - September 2010.
0. ... ... ... - October 2010.
0. ... ... ... ... - November 2010.
0. ... ... ... ... ... - December 2010.
Note that the three dots to the left of the year number are April, and the three dots to the right of the year are September. Nothing complicated.
Using this diagram, you can easily determine that the first example of this article is about February 2004, and the second - about September 2010.
Using this method, you can find out the year of manufacture of almost any car.
However, I want to note some features to consider:
1. If one of the car windows has been replaced, then the year of manufacture will be different from the rest. Therefore, for greater accuracy, I recommend inspecting all glass in the vehicle.
2. Some cars produced at the beginning of the year have different glasses for different years. For example, a car manufactured in January 2014 may have some glasses from 2013. This is fine.
3. On some new cars, the glass shows not one, but the last two digits of the year of manufacture.
4. On some glasses, information stamps may be erased or even absent. In this case, the year of manufacture of the car cannot be determined.
When making a purchase of a used car, the buyer often wants to make sure that the year of its production is correct. It is fashionable to carry out such a check in several ways:
- having studied the technical passport for the car;
- by checking the car VIN-code;
- having examined the individual elements of the car.
Determination of the year of production according to the technical passport
If the seller has regularly operated the vehicle, then he:
- passed technical inspection in a timely manner;
- regularly issued an insurance policy.
V technical passport and insurance policies, you can reliably establish the year of manufacture of the car. It is more difficult when the car is driven from abroad without documents or has been in the garage for a long time. In this case, you should use other methods of determining the year of its release.
Determination of the year of production by VIN-code
VIN-code of the car is a set of 17 characters. The VIN-code plate is located:
- under the hood;
- on the cross member under the front bumper.
The date of manufacture of the vehicle is indicated by the 10th character of the VIN-code. This symbol can have the following meanings:
- numbers 1-9 - indicate the year of manufacture in the periods 1971-1979 and 2001-2009;
- letters A-Y (without using I, O, Q, U and Z) - indicate the year of manufacture in the period 1980-2000.
For many models, manufacturers fix their own year of manufacture. At the same time, some manufacturers in the VIN code clog the year and month of release with the 11th and 12th characters, while others do not record it in it at all.
There are many sites on the Internet that will decipher any VIN code and will allow you to find out, along with the release date, and another useful information about the car. A car operated on the territory of Russia must be entered by its VIN-code into the traffic police database.
Determination of the month of production for individual elements of the car
There are a number of elements in the car, according to which you can also establish the year of production, if they have not been replaced:
- at the bottom of the seat belt on the label in new cars;
- on a plate located on the bottom of the front passenger seat;
- on windshield.
Most sellers will not hide the age of the vehicle. Attempts to do this are cause for caution. To obtain a greater guarantee of the correctness of the establishment of the year of production of the car, its buyer is recommended to use several methods at once, set out above.
Based on international standards, each car is assigned a special VIN identification code. This abbreviation stands for Vehicle Identification Number (translated from English - vehicle identification number). The set of letters and numbers for the car is unique. Based on these data, a number of characteristics of the vehicle are determined, including the year of production. The identification code is indicated on the car itself, duplicated in the documents (registration certificate, technical passport). Each character in the code is an indicator of specific information.
Why define this data?
When buying a new car in a showroom, it is worth remembering that the year of purchase is not the year of vehicle manufacture, however, the values differ minimally. Buying a used car is a more risky thing, the owner will not always provide reliable data on the age of the car. If a potential buyer is able to determine the exact year of production, and it will differ from the declared one, then there will be a good reason for bargaining. The year of issue is important when crossing the Russian border, since the amount of customs duty depends on this indicator. For vehicles under 3 years old, it is significantly less than for older vehicles.
When insuring (both compulsory and optional) the car pays great attention to age, the amount of regular insurance payments depends on it. It is important to know exactly the year of manufacture of the car and when passing the technical inspection. The law provides that cars under 3 years old are exempt from mandatory technical inspection (the year of manufacture is taken into account, not the purchase). The insurance company does not require a diagnostic card of the technical inspection if the car left the assembly line less than three years ago. The VIN code is used to determine the exact year of vehicle production.
Inspection instructions
When inspecting a car, a potential buyer can ask for documents on the vehicle and see the VIN code. If this is not possible, then they are looking for a plate under the hood, bumper, on the transverse frame. VIN consists of an alphanumeric sequence (letters - Latin, numbers - Arabic). The symbols I, O, Q, U, Z are not used in composing the code, since their spelling is similar to numbers. To determine the year in which the vehicle rolled off the assembly line, you need:
- Find the identification code (in the documents, on the plate).
- Determine which character is in the 10th place of the code. This mark is an indicator of the year of manufacture.
- Compare the found sign with a specific year.
Cars produced in 2001-2009 have a corresponding digital designation. For example, a 2001 car has the number 1 in the tenth position of the code; for cars in 2002 - number 2, etc. From 1980 to 2000, the marking was made on the basis of the Latin alphabet, excluding characters similar to numbers. For example, if the car was produced in 1980, then the letter A is in the tenth place of the VIN-code; for a vehicle of release 1981 - the letter B, etc. Starting from 2010, the alphabetical marking began to be repeated, so the letter A will also be on the 2010 car. It is difficult to determine the release date more precisely; there is no clear indication of the month in the code. It is customary to start the automobile year in July, so the calendar indicators do not fully correspond to the automobile ones. The year of manufacture is also indicated on the windshield if it has not been changed. Mercedes manufacturers duplicate the year of manufacture on the steering unit - under the rubber pad that covers the signal button. Many cars foreign production the release date is written on the seat belt fasteners.
The international standard ISO 3779, adopted in 1977, regulates the application of the number by which the vehicle is identified - the so-called VIN code. The ability to read VIN correctly will help you quickly determine the vehicle's release date. The skill will come in handy if you plan to buy a car for secondary market: the code cannot be falsified, not only the body is marked, but also the main parts of the power unit, components.
The VIN code consists of a certain combination of Arabic numerals, Latin letters, which cannot be altered. When creating, manufacturers use the calculation algorithm accepted by most countries. Therefore, using the number, it is easy to see through electronic services whether the car is on the wanted list.
When creating an identifier, it is forbidden to use the letters of the Latin alphabet Q, I, O: O can be confused (or altered) into the letter Q, and the letters I and O duplicate the numbers 0 and 1.
The number is entered either in the vehicle registration certificate or in the registration certificate. Sometimes both documents have a corresponding (same) paragraph. On the car itself, the VIN-code can be found on the chassis, integral parts of the body, plates (nameplates):
- instrument panel on the left (the code is visible through the windshield);
- front left pillar;
- cylinder block, block head;
- door sills;
- spars;
- engine compartment - number plate;
- under the driver's seat: the numbers are visible if the seat is moved.
Technical documents for the car indicate all the places where the identification number is stamped.
The American manufacturer uses part for marking dashboard from the driver's side, the opening of the driver's door, where a special sticker with a number is installed.
Car release date via VIN
In the VIN code, manufacturers are not required to indicate the place of assembly of the vehicle, but the date of production is required. Companies indicate not the year of car production, which coincides with the calendar year, but the model year. It starts on July 1 and lasts up to 18 months if the car is not in production.
The following corporations indicate the model date:
- Toyota;
- Mazda;
- Nissan;
- Honda;
- Mercedes-Benz;
American manufacturers, arranging the premiere of a new model, put the date of the series on sale, that is, the next one.
You can quickly find out the year of release of a car by VIN by learning the rules for reading the number. The exit is indicated at 10th, for some American brands at 11th position, a month at the eleventh, for "Americans" at 12th position.
The number indicates the last digit of the year for cars produced from 1971 to 1979, then there are 20 Latin letters in order (except for those excluded) for cars produced from 1980 to 2000. Then the frequency is repeated. If the number 1 is in tenth place, then the car rolled off the assembly line either in 1971 or 2001. If the letter D is indicated, then in 1983 or in 2013.
The classification is based on common sense: a motorist can easily distinguish a car that is 5 years old from a model thirty-five years ago.
You can check the car online. There are enough services in the network that provide such a service. If you apply with an official request to the traffic police website, the VIN code will determine when the car was made, specify the number of owners, the status of the car, etc.
Find out the exit of the machine from the conveyor by the branding of the components
You can quickly find out the release period of a car using the component labeling. However, this is a bad way to check if you need to buy a car from hand: all removable parts, including the windshield, can be replaced with new ones.
Windshield
Windshield manufacturers always mark the part according to international standards. When stamping glass, any form of applying the number can be used, but the principle always remains: the year is marked with a number from 0 to 9 and the month with a letter or the exact number of dots or asterisks. In the combination of the sign, the symbols are used in any order (depending on the manufacturer's certificate).
It is easy to determine the year of manufacture of the windshield: first the year is put in the marking, then three (less often more) letters. The first letter corresponds to the month of issue.
Fiat has assigned the second letter of the English alphabet for the first month, shifting the reading order of the brand by one position.
To make sure that the month of production of the car corresponds to the stamp on the windshield, it is necessary to check all the VIN codes on the body.
Safety belt
This is the second element by which you can check the date of manufacture of the car, provided that the stamp, which some manufacturers put with stamped paint, has not been erased.
The manufacturer's label is attached to the lower part of the belt, where the production date is put. The lower, less often the upper clamps should also be marked. The calendar production date is stamped on the parts.
Using the belt check as a VIN identifier, it is necessary to take into account that when assembling according to a broken cycle, when components are brought to the conveyor from different companies, the date of manufacture of the belt may not coincide with the final year of production of the car.
Shock absorbers
A lot will tell you about the auto check of the struts of the shock absorbers of the trunk and hood, but only if the car was assembled in Europe after 1997. The racks are engraved with two numbers separated by a fraction. The first one denotes the week from 1 to 52, the second number is the last digits of the year.
The second standard for marking the racks is usually to designate the day from 1 to 365, the second number after the fraction is the year when the part was made. Rack marking differs from the VIN code, so many do not pay attention to these two numbers. Knowing such nuances, it is easy to break through the time when the car came off the assembly line.
You can find out the year of production of Japanese cars online. Correct definition the date of production of Japanese cars will determine the duty on the import of cars into the Russian Federation.
Companies like Toyota provide their technical bases data to directly determine the period of issue, since the company provides for marking according to two standards. The body number can be stamped on the car as EXZ10 - 0021028, and in the vehicle it is indicated as EXZ100021028.
If you know the rules for reading the VIN-code, then you can immediately determine when the car got into the series. It is important to check if the number matches the rest of the marking characters.
