When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Actually, I think that JDM cars DO have a model year designator in their VIN. This is based soley on the JDM S2000 recall information. https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.ph...=85405&hl=1999
- Cars made from March 1999 through April 2000 have a VIN of the form AP1-10xxxxx.
- Cars made from May 2000 through September 2001 have a VIN of the form AP1-11xxxxx.
- Cars made from August 2001 through May 2002 have a VIN of the form AP1-12xxxxx.
Therefore, the second numerical digit after the dash appears to be the model year designation. Notice that it spans calendar years so it's not a date of manufacture indicator. (I find it strange that the recall shows MY01 cars still being produced in Sep 2001 even though MY02 cars started the month before...)
Anyway, here's my summary:
- In the North America market, there are no MY99 cars.
- In the European market, US style VINs are used by Honda and there are no MY99 cars. However, the car industry there does not use the concept of Model Years, so cars made/registered in 1999 are considered 1999 cars.
- In Japan, different VINs are used but they contain model year information and there are no MY99 cars.
- We're waiting to hear from Australia about their VIN structure. (They do have them, us yanks just don't know what they look like. Click here. )
So at the moment, my conclusions are:
- Given the concept of what "Model Year" means, there is NO such S2000 in the entire world.
- Other countries legitimately say they have 1999 S2000s, but that's NOT the same as saying Model Year 1999. For example, I have a MY00 1999 S2000.
Originally Posted by 2kturkey,Jan 12 2006, 08:39 AM
Just a thought for the uninitiated. The probable reason Japan does not include a year designation as part of vehicle VINs is because their calendar is not a christian based one. The year starts every time an emperor dies and is known as year X of emperor Y's reign.
The current emperor (Akihito) is now in his 18th year and his reign is known as the Heisei era, so instead of calling this year 2006 it is instead known as 18 Heisei.
Imagine if you had two succesive emperors die one year after the other, each of their reigns would be year 01 - prettty confusing in a VIN designation eh!
Hope this helps.
As a final point, here in Australia it is illegal for anyone to promote a new or used vehicle as any year other than the year of manufacture. A car manufactured in 1999 must be advertised as a 1999 model. It is also considered ignorant and foolish (frankly we think you yanks are a bunch of wankers ) to refer to a vehicle as anything other than it's model designation (e.g. our top selling vehicle is a Holden Commodore (4 door equivalent of a Pontiac GTO) - the current series was introduced in late 1997 and has gone through 4 major incarnations - VT, VX, VY and VZ with mid life updates designated as a Series II, e.g. VX series II).
In situations where you need to order parts for a car that does not have model designations (such as an S2000) the dealer will ask you for the month/year manufacturing date and the VIN in order to ascertain precisely which parts are required.
thanks for helping prove what I was trying to say!!
honda's DO have the model year, however it is NOT on the VIN number.
there is a VIN plate on each engine, where there is a number called the "applied model" code that states the model year. the decoding below is for an impreza, however, things like the model year indicator, etc, remain the same format for Hondas:
The 7 digit "applied model" code found on the vehicle identification plate inside the engine bay is decoded in the following way.
1.Series code G=Impreza S=Forester B=Legacy etc.
2.Body type F=Wagon C=Sedan
3.Engine type 8=2.0L Turbo
4.Year code A=MY93 B=MY94 C=MY95&96 D=MY97 (facelift) E=MY98 F=MY99 G=MY00
5.Number of doors 2=2 door coupe 4=4 door saloon 5=5 door wagon/hatch
6.Model type 8=WRX 7=RA type E=Sti D=Sti Type R & RA
7.Transmission D=5 Speed Manual AWD P=4 Speed Automatic AWD
an example:
this here indicates this particular impreza is a MY 95 or 96 car. what's interesting is that you'll notice MY 99 in japan is indicated by an "F" and MY 2000 is indicated by a "G".
so now all we need to do is find someone who's car was manufactured in 1999.4 or so, and have them post the numbers from their "applied model" VIN plate.
the first year this series came out was 1993. with an applied model indicating model year, such as "A" for the model year 1993, has an actual manufacturing date that continues all the way until Sept/Oct of that year.
in other words, the very first models of these cars that were manufactured before September of 1993 are stamped with the MY 1993 letter (A in this case). cars manufactured after september are stamped with the MY 1994 letter, even though no actual physical change on the car was made.
in other words, this DOES support a case that a model year 1999 S2000 could exist in japan. if Honda follows the "applied model" coding for japan, all S2000's manufactured BEFORE October of 1999 would have to be stamped with a Model Year 1999 indicator on their VIN plate. even if there were no changes made from the "1999" model year to the "2000" model year vehicle.
Wisconsin S2k you need to chill out and grow up. There was NO call for your remarks to Beardie, nor your condensending attitude to SenderGreen.
As far as I can see so far no one has proven anything definitively with respect to Japan, however, I would be inclinded to agree there is no MY. According to the Japanese VINs provided there were breaks in the first two digits after AP1 on March 18, 1999 (10s), May 10 2000 (11s), and August 10, 2001 (12s). There does not seem to be a pattern tied to MY.
Wisconsin S2k you need to chill out and grow up. There was NO call for your remarks to Beardie, nor your condensending attitude to SenderGreen.
As far as I can see so far no one has proven anything definitively with respect to Japan, however, I would be inclinded to agree there is no MY. According to the Japanese VINs provided there were breaks in the first two digits after AP1 on March 18, 1999 (10s), May 10 2000 (11s), and August 10, 2001 (12s). There does not seem to be a pattern tied to MY.
chill out and grow up?? wtf are you on? my remarks to beardie.... oh you mean this horrible immature flaming:
not true. honda blatently has cars listed using their model year nomenclature. ie, 1999.4 or 1999.6, etc.
yeah, you're right. i should be banned forever from s2ki.
and as for SenderGreen, pardon me if I get irritated when people read over my posts, and then make me repeat myself because they ignore the points that I make. so i guess if that puts me at fault for getting a bit testy, then sorry.
Click here. )
) to refer to a vehicle as anything other than it's model designation (e.g. our top selling vehicle is a Holden Commodore (4 door equivalent of a Pontiac GTO) - the current series was introduced in late 1997 and has gone through 4 major incarnations - VT, VX, VY and VZ with mid life updates designated as a Series II, e.g. VX series II).
