How do you know how old your car is?

Answer 1

Open the driver's side door. On the back edge of the door, where it latches to the frame, is a sticker that has a lot of information on it. One piece of information is that month and year the vehicle was manufactured. Stamped into the vehicle body is a 17 character alpha-numeric sequence called the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) which is completed against international standards ISO 3799, ISO 4030, and ISO 8357, giving Manufacturer, country of origin, model, factory etc. There are a number of free decode sites on the internet. That said, the 10th character is the code for the year of manufacture. They run in sequence A - Y less I O Q U . Then 1 - 9 for the next years, then back to the letters. So, the last 21 years, J = 1988 through Y=2000. 1 = 2001 through 9 = 2009, then back to A for next year. However, the VIN indicates when the vehicle was manufactured, not when it was put on the road for the first time. Manufacturer/dealer stockpiling can easily introduce a discrepancy of 5 years between manufacture and first registration.