Manufacture year and month of a car - VIN number & chassis number
While researching for buying a new car, I came to know that sometimes dealers sell an old car under the guise of new. You wouldn't come to know the difference unless you understand the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) and chassis number which have the manufacture month and year coded in them.
To understand these numbers for my would-be-car Hyundai i10, I had to search and read many pages before I could get the complete picture. Below is the detailed information:
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Each car has a unique VIN that is usually stamped somewhere within the engine bay, or around the passenger compartment. For Hyundai i10, we could locate it on a sticker stamped on the rear window.
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VIN is a 17 digit number which will have the manufacture year coded in it. For i10, the 10th digit of VIN signifies the manufacture year.
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If the 10th digit = A then the manufacture year would be 2010. If 10th digit = B then manufacture year is 2011. Similarly C = 2012, D = 2013 and so on. Find complete 'model year encoding' table at this link.
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To know the manufacture month you would have to look at the chassis number which, for i10, is located at the bottom of the driver seat, near the handle which you use to push the seat back.
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Chassis number is the same as the VIN Number followed by a * and a letter. This letter is the month of manufacture.
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If this letter = A then the manufacture month is Jan, if letter = B then the manufacture month is Feb. Similarly C = Mar, D = Apr, E = May, F = June, G = July, H = Aug, J = Sep, K = Oct, L = Nov, M = Dec.
Pls note that ' I ' is not used.
Example:
