Car date worksheet

For a used car whose decoder, advert and papers show different years. Fill in one box per date you have been given. Anything left in the last column is a question to settle before paying. Boxes grow as you type, and printed copies keep room to write by hand.

VIN as read on the car

VIN on the registration certificate (field E)

Year in the advert

10th character of the VIN

The dates

1. Model year

The maker's label for the model. On US-market cars, VIN position 10. In Europe only if this maker codes it there.

Claimed date and who claims it

Evidence that supports it

Still unresolved

2. Build (manufacture) date

When it left the factory. Ask the maker or a franchised dealer by VIN. US-market cars: certification label. Not required on the EU statutory plate.

Claimed date and who claims it

Evidence that supports it

Still unresolved

3. First registration anywhere (field B)

First road registration of the vehicle, in any country. Field B on an EU-format certificate; earlier foreign certificate, export or deregistration papers.

Claimed date and who claims it

Evidence that supports it

Still unresolved

4. Registration in this country

When an imported car was registered here: a separate date from field B. If field B is as recent as this date but other papers show earlier use, ask the registration authority to check it.

Claimed date and who claims it

Evidence that supports it

Still unresolved

5. Earliest dated record

Shows the car was in use by then: dated service invoices, official inspection or mileage records.

Date and record

Matched how? (VIN, plate)

Years with no record

Message to the seller

Hello, before I go further I'd like to confirm the year. The advert says [year]. Is that the model year, the year it was built, or the date it was first registered? Was it registered in another country before? Could you send a photo of the registration certificate showing fields B and E, plus any earlier foreign registration papers and service records with dates? Thank you.

Decision

The VIN on the car matches the registration certificate. I know which date each year in the advert and papers refers to. Every gap is explained by a document, not only by the seller's word. Anything still unresolved is in writing, and I accept it or will walk away.

Remember: a mismatch is not automatically fraud, and it is not automatically harmless. A large or unexplained gap is a reason to get documents before paying.