production date by VIN?

[mitsumark]

Dear readers,

First of all i searched for hours to find out if it's possible to tell the production date by the VIN, but have not been lucky so far.

If anyone could tell me the date it would be VERY appreciated.
VIN: JT1LBMA7000048028


Background information:
In the Netherlands we have this crazy tax system for older cars, you don't pay any if the car is older then 25 years ?nd manufactured before 01-01-1987.
If the supra is newer, the taxes would be very high and there is a big chance the beauty will have to go to the scrapyard

Regards,
Mark

[cre]

EDITED. Corrected an error about the manufacture location.


It should be on the sticker inside the door jamb. If not, ask your local Toyota dealership.

From all the info I have (and from what you should have been able to find online yourself), that's not a valid VIN number... JT*1* CORRECTED: The 1 is incorrect. The Supra is classified as a Passenger car, as such it's a 2... JT2. The year code is *0* which would indicate it was built in 2010. The LB after the JT1 isn't valid by any stretch.

Either the car's not legit (stolen), it's been retitled by the governing authority in that are with what they feel to be an appropriate VIN, or Netherland is using VIN assignments that are contrary to the international standards but something close enough that it's guaranteed to screw with everyone.... these are the only thing I can think of.

Your VIN should look more like JT2MA70xxxxxxxxxx

[mitsumark]

Thank you for your quick reply.

I think the number is valid, because the number looks untouched and i find similar VIN's with google for the supra mk3 (just with higher number at the end which indicates mine is older).

I do know it has been imported from germany to the netherlands in 1996, but i think it should not matter.

Also i can find spare parts for it.
http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/q?vin=JT1LBMA7000048028

[cre]

Ok, I see... they're including one of the chasis options in there... The standard that was determined with is slightly different then. I didn't realize the agreed upon standards left options with regard to the inclusion or omission of data.

If it's not printed in the door jamb of the car you're going to need to check with a dealer in Europe; possibly one in Germany. You may have luck with CarFax... I don't have a subscription and no work access anymore otherwise I'd have already run it for you.

The following is from a Ford wiki, but it shows where the subtle differences are. The 11th and 12th digits are year, month, respectively. The year and date codes are still invalid according to what I'm able to find..... call a dealer.
European VIN format

Position Sample Description 1 W World Manufacturer identifier 2 F 3 0 4 p Body type 5 x XX 6 x 7 G Model line 8 c Factory ID 9 d Model 10 p Body type 11 8 Year 12 a Month 13 6 Sequential number 14 7 15 8 16 4 17 4

American VIN format

Ford does not directly encode the platform name in the VIN, although much other information is included there. Instead, the company uses a series number to identify a vehicle type. Ford's VIN format is as follows:
Position Sample Description 1 1 World Manufacturer Identifier 2 F 3 M 4 Z Restraint type or GVWR class 5 U Model 6 7 7 3 8 E Engine type 9 0 Check digit 10 4 Model year 11 Z Factory ID 12 A Sequential number 13 6 14 9 15 1 16 0 17 1