DVLA Year of Manufacture

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Tue 23 Jan 2024 20:15
DVLA Year of Manufacture - New owner
I recently bought a car which was first registered in January 2024 but it was manufactured in Sep 2023. Basically came of the production in Sep. When I checked DVLA, it is also showing year of manufacture as 2024. Is this normal for cars purchased in January? Any problems if HPI checks are run down the line.
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Tue 23 Jan 2024 20:21
DVLA Year of Manufacture - elekie&a/c doctor
Not too sure what you’re asking . Do new cars have a sell - by date ? If a car came off the production line last week , don’t think you’ll get delivery this week.
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Tue 23 Jan 2024 20:45
DVLA Year of Manufacture - RT
I recently bought a car which was first registered in January 2024 but it was manufactured in Sep 2023. Basically came of the production in Sep. When I checked DVLA, it is also showing year of manufacture as 2024. Is this normal for cars purchased in January? Any problems if HPI checks are run down the line.

All manufacturers use a "model year" - it can vary but usually starts/ends with the summer shutdown so a 2024 model year is often September 2023 to August 2024.

I suspect that DVLA's "year of manufacture" simply uses the model year so quite normal for a car built in September 2023 to be quoted as year of manufacture 2024.

When buying spares for the car it's important to use the model year - not the year it was built and not the year first registered - in your example 2024 - also use that when selling as that should get a better price!

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Tue 23 Jan 2024 23:10
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Andrew-T

<< ... it's important to use the model year - not the year it was built and not the year first registered - in your example 2024 - also use that when selling as that should get a better price! >>

Sadly that is unlikely to work without possible accusations of sharp practice. A car's registration fairly clearly shows the half-year the car hit the road !

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 07:27
DVLA Year of Manufacture - RT

<< ... it's important to use the model year - not the year it was built and not the year first registered - in your example 2024 - also use that when selling as that should get a better price! >>

Sadly that is unlikely to work without possible accusations of sharp practice. A car's registration fairly clearly shows the half-year the car hit the road !

It works very well - a car like mine ordered in July 2015, built in September 2015, delivered/registered in October 2015 as a "65" reg has to be referred to as a 2016 model year for parts as there were significant differences with the 2015 model year.

Whether my car was registered straight away in 2015 or sat in a field until 2017 makes no difference when ordering parts so the registration year is irrelevant except for DVLA purposes.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 09:29
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Andrew-T

<< Whether my car was registered straight away in 2015 or sat in a field until 2017 makes no difference when ordering parts so the registration year is irrelevant except for DVLA purposes. >>

Quite so. But you were talking about getting a better price when selling !!

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Tue 23 Jan 2024 23:11
DVLA Year of Manufacture - New owner
I recently bought a car which was first registered in January 2024 but it was manufactured in Sep 2023. Basically came of the production in Sep. When I checked DVLA, it is also showing year of manufacture as 2024. Is this normal for cars purchased in January? Any problems if HPI checks are run down the line.

All manufacturers use a "model year" - it can vary but usually starts/ends with the summer shutdown so a 2024 model year is often September 2023 to August 2024.

I suspect that DVLA's "year of manufacture" simply uses the model year so quite normal for a car built in September 2023 to be quoted as year of manufacture 2024.

When buying spares for the car it's important to use the model year - not the year it was built and not the year first registered - in your example 2024 - also use that when selling as that should get a better price!

If that’s the case then it should be recorded as Model Year rather than Year of Manufacture. Will be good to know from someone who ever purchased a brand new car in Jan and what does the DVLA online record show in that case for Year of Manufacture field.
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Wed 24 Jan 2024 00:03
DVLA Year of Manufacture - elekie&a/c doctor
I’m all confused here . The vin number gives the year of manufacture, amongst other details. This can’t be changed . The dvla only records date of registration, not when it was made . Are you suggesting that you’ve been sold a 23 model registration in 24 ? In which case I would return the car for a refund as it’s not been sold to you as described.
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Wed 24 Jan 2024 01:18
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Terry W

Almost invariably cars are aged by reference to their registration as this is always going to be after they were manufactured. Cars built overseas may easily be 2/3 months old through shipping delays etc.

It will make a real difference when you come to trade in your car in a few years time to describe it as 2024, not 2023 (a year older)

If buying a car subject to a recent refresh, it is important to make sure the specification is what you expect - it is not uncommon for old spec cars to have been sitting around for a year before being heavily discounted to move them on.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 07:28
DVLA Year of Manufacture - RT
I’m all confused here . The vin number gives the year of manufacture, amongst other details. This can’t be changed . The dvla only records date of registration, not when it was made . Are you suggesting that you’ve been sold a 23 model registration in 24 ? In which case I would return the car for a refund as it’s not been sold to you as described.

VIN number gives the model year, not the calendar year of build.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 09:35
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Andrew-T

<< VIN number gives the model year, not the calendar year of build.>>

I wonder if this has been happening for decades. Many times I have noticed on MoT certs that a tester has entered the year after the actual year of registration - which would have been easily found from docs to hand.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 11:28
DVLA Year of Manufacture - RT

<< VIN number gives the model year, not the calendar year of build.>>

I wonder if this has been happening for decades. Many times I have noticed on MoT certs that a tester has entered the year after the actual year of registration - which would have been easily found from docs to hand.

I believe that's always been the definition of the 10th character in the VIN number - and remember that cars can have cherished numbers which are older than the true age of the car.

Since changes often occur in the summer, it's important to use the model year when selling a car otherwise it may be valued as the earlier version.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 15:37
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Andrew-T

<< VIN number gives the model year, not the calendar year of build.>>

I believe that's always been the definition of the 10th character in the VIN number -.

I suspect different makers use different conventions. I can only speak for VINs on Peugeot cars, which show VF3 (for Peugeot) followed by 6 characters identifying body and engine types, and finally 8 digits, which from 1989 until 2008 seem to be steadily increasing numbers, seemingly vehicle number leaving the various factories.

In 1989 a typical number was about 23300000, by 1993 it was 25100000. By early 2008 it had reached 34200000. So even if we assume two digits (not one) indicate the year, your theory still doesn't apply.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 07:59
DVLA Year of Manufacture - mcb100
Surely DVLA only become aware of the car when the supplying dealer or manufacturer first registers it?
I shouldn’t imagine they have an interest in when it was manufactured.
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Wed 24 Jan 2024 08:36
DVLA Year of Manufacture - RT
Surely DVLA only become aware of the car when the supplying dealer or manufacturer first registers it? I shouldn’t imagine they have an interest in when it was manufactured.

That's correct - but DVLA is also interested in recording the Type Approval reference and the Euro emissions status, both of which are tied to model year and manufacturing date.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 13:14
DVLA Year of Manufacture - daveyjp
Surely DVLA only become aware of the car when the supplying dealer or manufacturer first registers it? I shouldn’t imagine they have an interest in when it was manufactured.

That's correct - but DVLA is also interested in recording the Type Approval reference and the Euro emissions status, both of which are tied to model year and manufacturing date.

I was also once told by a dealer who had an unregistered vehicle bought as an investment, as it was last of the line, that he had three years to register it, after which the Type Approval and Certificate of Conformity would be invalid.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 08:35
DVLA Year of Manufacture - John F

This really should read 'year of assembly.' Unlike a cup or a coat, the various components of a car can be made at different times in different places. There are usually date stamps on the inside of plastic items and the wheels.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 08:38
DVLA Year of Manufacture - daveyjp

I once viewed a '6 month old' car at a local car supermarket due to the keen price.

I'd done my homework on specs and as soon as I saw it knew it wasn't the latest model. It was actually 18 months old, but had only been registered 6 months previously.

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Wed 24 Jan 2024 12:48
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Bromptonaut

This really should read 'year of assembly.' Unlike a cup or a coat, the various components of a car can be made at different times in different places. There are usually date stamps on the inside of plastic items and the wheels.

Both the Skoda and the Citroen have those.

Given the 'just in time' nature of modern manufacturing logistics it's likely to give a good indication.

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Mon 5 Feb 2024 01:08
DVLA Year of Manufacture - Miniman777

As someone whose car was built in one year, registered in another here's my take.

In June 2020 at the end of lockdown we bought a new Mini Cooper S which was registered on a private plate from new.

In June 2021, a service warning light appears, car wants an oil change. Given it had only done 2900 miles, it was a WTF moment. Investigations showed the car was manufactured in June 2019, and this was shown on a sticker in the engine compartment, Further enquiries showed the car was very high spec (£7ks worth of extras) but then the order cancelled and it sat in a dealer compound until we bought it through another Mini dealer via CarWow.

Mini told me that as regards the fluids, the clock starts ticking from the day the car rolls off the production line even if it sits in a dealer compound as ours did. Unfair I felt, but the situation has now normalised. and as via CarWow we saved £3600 on what my local dealer wanted for the same car, not really complaining. Local dealer was stupid enough to give me the configuration code so I could pass it to the CarWow dealer and play one against the other and get a much better deal.

As for DVLA, a check shows June 2020 as date of first registration and 2020 as year of manufacture, which obviously is not correct, but nothing can be done. It's a minor niggle on what has been a brilliant car.

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