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-   -   ARTICLE: Find your car's date of manufacture (VIN) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying-car/96830-article-find-your-cars-date-manufacture-vin-14.html)

Hope this will convince you.

Hey.I got only this information from my salesman.can anyvody help?

Eng num:29665
Cha:54344
Model:xylo e8 airbag

This is a detailed explanation as the 9th digit DOES not signify the month :

The VIN is 17 characters. The explanation is as follows :

Pos Type Meaning

1-3 [AN] WMI - World Make Identifier
4 [AN] Vehicle Line
5 [AN] Series
6 [AN] Body Style (Sedan 2 door/4door, Coupe etc)
7 [A] Restraint System (Manual Seat belt with dual airbags etc)
8 [AN] Engine Type (4Cyl Diesel etc)
9 [AN] Check digit (NOT Month) This is calculated by POMS
10 [AN] Year of Manufacture
11 [AN] Plant Location (H for Halol)
12-17 [N] Sequence Number


There is a separate placard on the right bottom of front left doorway (just right bottom of the seat)
That has a separate Manufacturing Date which is 2 characters (BB, DB) etc which follows the logic as shown by Wildon


MA6 -WMI - World Make Identifier
NF - Vehicle Line/Series - Together means Chevrolet Optra Magnum
1 - Body Style
9 - Restraint System
6 - Engine Type
T - Check digit (NOT Month) This is calculated by POMS
4 - Year of Manufacture (2011)
H - Plant Location (H for Halol)
XXXXXX - Sequence Number


Is yours a 2004 model? I am asking this because the YEAR (10th character) starts with A from the year 2010. So going by the HEX decoding, 4 should mean 2004.
Also, the other fields are also a bit different from the latest cars!

Please check this site if you are really interested in matching them.

There is no doubt about the Year i.e 4= 2004 (10th Character) but i was not able to get the Month code from the Older GM Vehicles.As you pointed out there may be a separate sticker for that.

In the newer GM vehicles 9th character represents month and 10th as Year.and its been confirmed from the VIN's i received for decoding.

Can you confirm newer VIN still having the separate sticker for MM/YY

I have a new Optra (May 2011)
The 7th char of my VIN is D, the 9th char is B and the 10th is B.

As per your logic, the car manuf date would be Feb 2011.
But there IS a separate placard, and it has the Manuf Date as DB, which is April 2011.

Also, I went to the showroom and checked about 10 cars (Optras, Beats, Sparks, Cruzes and Captivas) - all had the 9th and 10th chars as BB.
Even the Beat diesel which did not exist in Feb 2011 had BB.
But the manufacturing date had relevant values.

Also, the 7th character matches the month (so it might be the month and not the restraint code). I have asked mods for edit rights to the post.

So :

10th char is the YEAR
9th char IS NOT the month
7th char MAY be the month

There is a separate placard near the front left door, right bottom (near seat) that has a 2 char Manufacturing Date, which matches the pattern you have said.

Just look at this post

That adds more confusion,
but the separate plate for MM/DD is a new info for me and thanks for confirming that :thumbs up. Can you also check with your RC book too.

Also if you can post a picture of that MM/DD Plate it would be helpful for the benefit of others and can be added to the opening post with your inputs.

That's an old post that you picked up, Wildon.

Now after working with 20 odd Chev VIN's, I can safely conclude:

1) The 7th Alphabet is the Month.
2) 10th Alphabet is the Year.

HTH

Take a look at this thread.
There has been a discussion at the end of it for the same between me and Torq.

^^ So this pattern started from Feb 2011 onwards ?!

as i have few older VIN's for referal

MA6NF19DG9H
MA6MF481AAH
MA6ABG766ATE
MA6JF69DBAH
MA6MF481BAH
MA6BF482CAT
MA6BF482DAT
MA6MF481FAT
MA6NF19DJAH
MA6NF19DKAH
MA6NF19DABH

and look the last one, the 7th character comes as 9 for a Jan 2011(my logic) Vehicle.

Just as a side note ;
The ending H stands for Halol (Gujrat) (where Optras, Cruzes and Captivas come from)
The T stands for Talegaon (Pune) (where Sparks come from)

Also, can you check if you have the placard near the left front door frame?

Is that all VIN's are on or after Feb 2011 ? then we can conclude that the change in month code position effective from Feb 2011.

I have a friend who owns a 2010 Spark and will check it up with him.

Wildon, you have hit the nail right on it's head, I had a discussion with another T BPian, Poitive on the same, the findings at that point in time were not clear.

Now 4 months hence, when a have a handful of VIN to look at, the conclusion that I can draw is:

1) Post Feb 2011, the logic has changed, I have looked at Jan 2011 VIN's and post Feb 2011 VIN's so Chev has changed the logic

2) 7th Alphabet is the Month

3) 10th being the Year.

Hey Wildon mate,

One of my colleagues bought a Tata Safari EX 4x2 which was delivered to him at Noon today. The VIN number shows the manufacturing to be June 2011, which means just a month old car. Is he a lucky chap or what!

Attaching pic.

Here are a few pics of some chevy vehicles. ALL of them have placards. Most are under the hood. Only the Optra has it near the left front door.

Pre Feb 2011 have 9th char as the month, 10th as the Year.

Post Feb 2011 have 7th char as the month, 10th as the Year.

All the cars have Mfg Month and Year as 2 characters.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Optra Petrol (Look near left front door sill)



Pre Feb 2011
BA = Feb 2010


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.Spark (Look under the bonnet)



Post Feb 2011
CB = Mar 2011


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.Beat (Look under the bonnet)



Pre Feb 2011
KA = Oct 2010 (I is skipped)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Aveo UVA (Look under the bonnet)



Feb 2011 (found one!)
BB= Feb 2011
Here, both rules seem to apply (7th and 10th = BB, 9th and 10th also = BB, MFG Month and Yr = BB)

Wildon, what do you make of this one -
WBAVN370X0VR47755

Thanks!