[Lucia]

How can one find the month and year of manufacture of a Prius ?

 

[nmrickie]

It's on a sticker inside the driver's side door jamb.

 

[john1701a]

It's on the driver's door-jam, in the upper-right corner of the black label.

If you want the exact day, look on a work manifest from the dealer. It's usually printed with the other info automatically included when they enter the VIN number.

 

[Sanny]

How can one find the month and year of manufacture of a Prius ?

You can "decode" your VIN using the information at 49 CFR 565.6. The model year of mfg is the 10th digit in the VIN. A "5" is 2005, a "4" is 2004, etc. The 11th digit is the plant, and the 12-17th places are the car's sequence in the assembly line (1098th car the plant made that year, etc.). This won't give you an actual month/year, though, unless you have the information from the plant.

HOWEVER, I think an actual month/year might be on the plate on the door jamb. It is on some vehicles.

 

[mrv]

It's on a sticker inside the driver's side door jamb.

Here's a photo of the first 2004 Prius in New England (photo in Oct. 2003), manufactured 09/03:
http://www2.kluge.net/2004/hg-Pages/Image14.html

and here's a photo of my mother's Nov. 2003 delivered 2002 Prius, manufactured 09/01:
http://www.kluge.net/~felicity/pics/Blu ... 250403.jpg

otherwise, you can get the vehicle's year from the 10th position of the Vehicle Identification Number. Here's some VIN decoding for 2004+ Prius: http://www.vfaq.net/FAQ-misc.html#VIN

you can also get the week/year of manufacture of the tires, by reading the last 4 digits of the DOT code (usually found in an embossed oval on the sidewall).

 

[efusco]

The code on the VIN will tell you the model year, but the original question asked the year of manufacture. That can, if I understand the VIN coding properly, only be found on the door jam as originally explained.

 

[Sanny]

The code on the VIN will tell you the model year, but the original question asked the year of manufacture. That can, if I understand the VIN coding properly, only be found on the door jam as originally explained.

Yup, that's why I said "This won't give you an actual month/year, though, unless you have the information from the plant." And then I added the information about finding it on the door jamb.

Imagine that - so many of us with the right answers, all in one place.

 

[efusco]

The code on the VIN will tell you the model year, but the original question asked the year of manufacture. That can, if I understand the VIN coding properly, only be found on the door jam as originally explained.

Yup, that's why I said "This won't give you an actual month/year, though, unless you have the information from the plant." And then I added the information about finding it on the door jamb.

Imagine that - so many of us with the right answers, all in one place.

Wasn't trying to correct you Sanny, but rather to clarify the issue b/c one could easily misinterprety Michelle's post to suggest that the info could be found either place. I like things to be neat and orderly such that it averts later confusion.

 

[Sanny]

Yup - best to account for all the sponges BEFORE closing the patient. Otherwise, the oil rag may end up in the air intake!

 

[mrv]

The code on the VIN will tell you the model year, but the original question asked the year of manufacture. That can, if I understand the VIN coding properly, only be found on the door jam as originally explained.

Yup, that's why I said "This won't give you an actual month/year, though, unless you have the information from the plant." And then I added the information about finding it on the door jamb.

The VIN does include the car's serial number (last several digits), so with that info you could find out from other owners with a serial number near yours about delivery and the manufacture month/date on those cars other cars, and suppose what the manufacture date is on the car whose VIN you do know (assuming that you don't have physical access to the car to read the plate). But to really know the manufacture date from the VIN you'd need access to some Toyota documentation to correlate the serial number to a manufacture date.

I'll also note that for our European friends, the VIN may not even have the model year listed on it. The VIN plate most likely will not be in the driver's door jamb, but placed under the hood/bonnet.