How to check the year and month of a car by VIN? Find out the year of manufacture of the car Year of manufacture of the car by VIN

Car enthusiasts are well aware that any vehicle, be it a car, motorcycle or trailer, has . WITH in English Vehicle Identification Number literally translates to “Car Identification Number”. VIN is compiled based on international standards.

There are only two of these:
ISO 3779-1983;
ISO 3780.

The numbers are entered into places regulated by the manufacturer, and the number itself consists of 17 characters. The first three signs are tied to the place of production (the first sign is the continent, the second is the country, the third is the plant). The following six characters describe the characteristics and features of the car - engine size, body type, equipment, etc. Next are the numbers and signs of VIS, in English – Vehicle Identification Section (“Vehicle Identification Section”). It is in this section that the code for the year of manufacture of the vehicle is encrypted.

Why do you need a VIN code?

First, let's decide why you might need to find out the year of manufacture by VIN code? In addition to the fact that it is determined during customs clearance, the modern VIN code is intended for the selection of spare parts for a car. For this purpose, automobile concerns have created special spare parts catalogs EPC (Electronic Parts Catalog), which describe in detail which modification of the spare part should be in a certain place. As you know, concerns do not like to produce “individual” cars, but even if it is produced to order, all the detailed information is immediately reflected in new version such a directory.

Year of manufacture does not match

The concern cannot stop production in one day previous model and move on to release another. For example, the pre-restyling modification of the Ford Ranger is produced until, say, the end of 2009. In September of this year, the plant continues to produce this modification, but at the same time, the presented updated version of the Ford Ranger is already coming off the production line of this concern. It will go on sale only in 2010, but the plant needs to produce a certain number of cars so that the majority official dealers simultaneously presented a restyled car on their trading platforms. In these cases, despite the fact that the de facto date of manufacture of the car is 2009, the VIN will indicate the year of manufacture 2010. All this is reflected by the electronic catalog and the sign responsible for identifying the year of manufacture of the car.

Some electronic catalogs of such concerns as, for example, Daewoo, SsangYong, do not automatically provide complete information by year of manufacture of the car. And the model range undergoes modifications depending on the year of manufacture. Here, a parts selector or car enthusiast will have to decipher the VIN manually, taking into account the signs that identify the year of manufacture. Old Audi models, Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda also do not provide complete information and the year of manufacture can only be accurately determined with the help of independent decoding.

Cars from famous concerns, assembled in Russia and some Asian countries, have the same features. Fortunately, some companies, such as Hyundai and Kia, indicate both the Russian identifier and VIN code for Korean production. Chinese and asian cars They generally do not have electronic catalogs for selecting spare parts, and you can find out the production date of a car, and therefore its model range, only by the 10th digit of the VIN. Note, however, that for China, indicating the vehicle's VIN in several places on the body is mandatory due to the laws of this country.

Knowing the year of manufacture model range will give you the opportunity to have the most accurate information on your vehicle and will directly help in operating the car.

Year of manufacture of the car by VIN code

So, how can you find out the year of manufacture using the VIN code? The 10th or 11th digit is used to identify the year of manufacture in the VIN. The first option is used by most automobile concerns in Asia, Europe and some North American concerns. The 11th character determines the year of manufacture in accordance with the traditions of the US automotive industry. Note that the European subsidiaries of Ford, originally an American company, also use the eleventh character to determine the year of manufacture. Also, that Toyota concerns, Mercedes Benz and Renault is not identified by VIN at all model year, it is stamped on the body on a special nameplate.

To better understand, here is an example of a car identification plate by year of manufacture since 2010:

1. 2010 – A
2. 2011 – B
3. 2012–C
4. 2013 – D
5. 2014 – E
6. 2015 – F
7. 2016 – G
8. 2017 – H
9. 2018 – J

As you can see, the identification number is ordered in accordance with the Latin alphabet. Let us add that the license plates of cars from 2001 to 2009 have digital sign from 1 to 9 respectively.

VIN code location

The VIN of the car is duplicated several times on the body of the vehicle. First of all, it can be seen under the windshield on the left side in a special “window”. Depending on the manufacturer, it can be repeated under the trunk trim, on the driver's door pillar, under the hood on a special nameplate, under the wings, under the floor trim in the cabin. The numbers and characters of the code must match.

Car thieves, as a rule, do not interrupt all numbers and characters of the code, changing only those that are easy to interrupt - C to 0, C to G, J to 9, etc., since it is quite difficult for them to imitate a VIN completely stamped at the factory . In addition, they do not change it on all elements of the body, they only make do with the most visible places.

Therefore, when you study where this car The concern indicates the VIN code, and carefully check the numbers in the PTS, on the body, on the nameplate, under the glass. This will protect you from buying a stolen car, or a “hodgepodge” assembled from several damaged cars. The last option is also dangerous because the elements damaged cars may be deformed, which will invariably become apparent during operation.

Be careful when buying a car, try to have the most accurate information on it. This will help you avoid mistakes when selecting spare parts and protect you from unpleasant surprises.

Of course, everyone who wants to buy a car wants it to be not very old. The younger your car, the longer it will last and, accordingly, vice versa, the older, the less. You can determine the production and release date of your car if you look at the entry that is included in technical passport to this car or try to decipher the identification number (body number).

It is not at all difficult to determine the production number of a car by the markings that are applied to the window glass of the car. The name of the manufacturer's company, compliance standards are displayed there, the month and year of glass production are indicated. Basically, the year of production is indicated by one digit, which is the last one in the calendar, and the month is indicated by dots and this date appears before the beginning of the year designation. This - the simplest way, how to determine the month of manufacture of a car.

It happens that a fraction symbol is used in the date of manufacture of glass. Each of the inclined fractions represents five months and appears on glass markings that are issued starting from the month of May. In general, in a car you can find many marked parts, from the markings of which you can determine the date of manufacture, and the time from the start of mass production to the warehouse is about six months, after which you yourself can determine the time when your car was born.

The date of manufacture of the car must be clearly indicated in all documents for the car itself. But there are situations when it is not easy to determine the date of production and release, for example, when there are no relevant documents for the car. You also need to find out the exact month the car was manufactured; this is very important for crossing the border.

The production date can be determined by the numbers of the main components of the car and its parts: gearbox, engine, chassis. There is also our own method that allows you to determine the release date; it was developed by the manufacturers themselves Vehicle. There are also rules: for the month of issue, the exact date is the fifteenth, and if you could only find out the year of issue, then the first of July of that year is generally taken as the date.

Remember, only the manufacturer of this car or a regional representative of the company can accurately determine the date of production and release using the known spare part numbers of a car. It is within his competence how to find out the month of manufacture of the car. There are also certain situations when it is impossible to determine the date of release of the car and then you need to turn to specialized examination, which is carried out in customs laboratories or licensed organizations.

When purchasing a used car, the buyer often wants to make sure that the year of its manufacture is correct. There are several ways to carry out such a check:

• having studied the technical passport for the car;
• by checking the car VIN code;
• examining individual elements of the car.

Determining the year of production from the technical passport

If the seller regularly used the car, then he:

• underwent technical inspection in a timely manner;
• regularly took out an insurance policy.

In the technical passport and insurance policies, you can reliably determine the year of manufacture of the car. It is more difficult when the car was imported from abroad without documents or has been sitting in a garage for a long time. In this case, you should use other methods to determine the year of its manufacture.

Determining the year of production by VIN code

The VIN code of a car is a set of 17 characters. The plate with the VIN code is located:

• under the hood;
• on the cross member under the front bumper.

The vehicle's production date 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 record their own year of manufacture. At the same time, some manufacturers enter the year and month of manufacture in the VIN code with the 11th and 12th characters, while others do not record it at all.

There are many sites on the Internet that will decipher any VIN code and allow you to find out, along with the release date, other useful information about the car. A vehicle operated in Russia must be entered according to its VIN code into the traffic police database.

Determining the month of production for individual elements of the car

There are a number of elements in a car that can also be used to determine the year of production if they have not been replaced:

• on the label at the bottom of the seat belt in new cars;
• on a plate located on the bottom of the front passenger seat;
• on the windshield.

Most sellers will not hide the age of the car. Attempts to do this are cause for caution. To obtain greater guarantee of the correct identification of the year of manufacture of the car, its buyer is recommended to use several methods outlined above.

As you know, the year of a car can be found out from the data in the title and registration certificate. But few people know that the year can also be determined by the accompanying units and markings on car windows, seat belts, etc.

It is important to remember the main thing, sometimes at the factory itself they can install glass from last year’s batch and, accordingly, the year on the glass will be, for example, 2010, and the car will be 2011 - this is normal. But if your car's glass is older than 2014, for example, and your car is 2013, then you should think about whether your car was in an accident.

The year marking on the glass is to some extent encrypted and it is difficult for an ordinary car owner to decipher this “cipher” and calculate the year of the car on the glass. In this article we will take a closer look at how to find out the year and even month of glass production. Thus, when inspecting the car for sale, no one will mislead you by trying to hide the real age of the used car from you.

Typically, car glass markings are located in one of the lower corners. As an example, consider the factory stamp shown in the figure.

Now in order:
Number 1 - designation of the type of automotive glass.
Digit 2 is the code of the country that grants approval.
Number 3 - compliance with UNECE requirements.
Number 4 indicates the year and month of glass production.
Number 5 is the sign of the manufacturer.

As you probably already guessed, we will especially need to disassemble the lower part of this stamp (symbols indicated by the number 4). In this example, the number "14" represents the last two digits of the year of manufacture. That is, this car was produced in 2014. But please note that not all manufacturers can indicate two digits in the release date. Some are limited to just one. For example, if on the glass you are looking at, instead of the number “14” there is one digit, for example “0”, then it is the last, fourth digit of the year of manufacture. Therefore, this car was released either in 2000, or in 2010, and maybe even in 1990.

In this case, its model will help you determine the year of manufacture of the car by looking at the glass. Let's say a manufacturing plant began producing a certain car model in 2005. Therefore, if we see the number “0” on the glass stamp, then this cannot in any way mean the year of manufacture 2000, and, especially, 1990. Most likely, this car was produced in 2010. Or let's take another example - a more specific one. Let’s assume that the marking also contains only one number, for example “4”. The make of this car is VAZ 2112. Even if you are not very knowledgeable about cars, then by searching for information on the Internet, you can find out that the VAZ 2112 was produced by the car plant from 1999 to 2008. Therefore, the number “4” can only indicate one version of the year of manufacture - 2004, and not 1994 or 2014, since this car was simply not produced in those years! As you can see, everything is quite simple.

Of course, there are rare exceptions when a certain car brand has been produced for more than 10 years. Such cars include, for example, the Niva from VAZ. In such cases, to find out the year of the car, you need to pay attention not only to the markings on the windows, but also to the external condition, for example, the presence of corrosion, scratches, dents and other features of the used car. Be that as it may, I think many will be able to distinguish relatively new car from the one that was released over ten years ago.

14 (six dots, then a year) - month January
. . . . . 14 (five dots, then a year) - month February
. . . . 14 (four dots, then a year) - the month of March
. . . 14 (three dots, then a year) - month April
. . 14 (two dots, then a year) - month of May
. 14 (one point, then a year) - month June
14 . (first the year, then one dot) - month July
14 . . (first the year, then two dots) - the month of August
14 . . . (first the year, then three dots) - month September
14 . . . . (first the year, then four dots) - month October
14 . . . . . (first the year, then five dots) - month November
14 . . . . . . (first the year, then six dots) - the month of December.

As can be seen from this diagram, if the dots are located before the numbers, then this is the first half of the year, but if after the numbers, then the second. Now, having looked knowledgeably at the above figure, we will understand that this car was released in February 2014.

And finally, I would like to draw your attention to some non-standard situations. It happens that a used car has previously been in an accident, or for other reasons one or two windows were once broken. And since the damaged glass was replaced, the markings on the glass themselves may differ. In this case, it is recommended to pay attention not to one, but to all the windows of the car in order to have a complete picture of it.

If, for some reason, the stamp on the glass is missing or simply worn out, then it will no longer be possible to determine the age of the car using this method; you will have to do this in another accessible way.

According to statistics, more than 48% of Russians selling their cars on secondary market, hide the real year of production of the car. Buyers, not suspecting a catch, clutch their heads after the purchase - the car turns out to be faulty. How to avoid being scammed by scammers? Today this problem can be easily solved using the Autocode service.

Why do you need to know the car's release date?

Sellers of used cars overestimate the year of manufacture in order to sell a used car more profitably, which will bring a lot of trouble to the owner due to its “age”. To avoid troubles, the Autocode service offers to find out the production date of the car by VIN or state license. number. A free brief report will help you check the vehicle engine size and power, category and steering wheel location.

A full report along with the ability to check the year of manufacture of the car by VIN or state registration. The number will allow you to find out the following information:

• participation in road accidents;
• presence of encumbrances;
• actual mileage of the vehicle;
• work in taxi companies in the country;
• being on bail;
• presence of fines;
• theft, etc.

Complete information collected from official sources (traffic police, register of pledges, etc.) will also tell you about the legal purity of the car.

How to find out the year of manufacture of a car by VIN or state license. number

To check the year of manufacture of a car, you will need to go to the Autocode website. You can access the data both by VIN and state number. number. The check itself takes 5 minutes:

• enter your license plate number or VIN code into the search bar;
• receive a summary report;
• To receive a full report, pay the amount of 349 rubles.

The Japanese automobile industry does not have a VIN, and Autocode offers to find out the year of manufacture of the car by body number. If it is not there, then one state license is enough to check a Japanese car. numbers!

Why is it worth checking your car's history through Autocode?

All information presented in the reports is collected only from official sources - traffic police, EAISTO, RSA, Federal Tax Service, Federal Customs Service, Federal Tax Service and others.

What other advantages of checking through Autocode:

• If you do not have the opportunity to check the car’s history in advance, mobile application You can do this on a trade.
• If you have any questions, you can contact support. The service staff will help you solve the problem and explain how to find out the year of manufacture by the car number.

To avoid becoming the “lucky” owner of an old car at the price of a new one, you need to check the car before purchasing. By ordering a report on Autocode, you will protect yourself from possible troubles and save your own money.