Age of "new" vans

[Geoff Beasley]

Hi, is there any way of knowing how old a new van is or when it was actually built? I know that there is a date on the tyres but it doesn't mean a lot and I've seen vans that seem to have been stood on dealers forecourts for a considerable time. One I've seen advertised as new is a 2009 model!

I believe I'm right in thinking that the base manufacturer's warranty starts the day vehicle is delivered to the converter, I know my Renault Master did, so it seems possible that half the warranty could have expired before the vehicles sold!

Geoff.

[dshague]

my local fiat dealer told me the age of my new van by the vin number. the three years warantee started from date of taking delivery from motor-home dealer .fiat started on same date when i sent them a copy of order . 

[Keithl]

Hi Geoff,

 

If you want to get a rough idea of a vehicles age then try looking for tell tale clues such as labels on seatbelts, moulding marks on plastic items (ash tray?) or anything else you can see.

Dates on items will normally be the same as for tyres and will be in the form of week number and year so you should be able to get a very good idea of it's age by looking at a few items.

The other option is of course to contact either the manufacturer or dealer for them to check on their computer systems but they may require proof of ownership before they'll do this.

 

HTH,

Keith.

[Guest JudgeMental]

yes the VIN contains the info, call a service agent with it and they should be able to tell you if not obvious. Or look on chassis forums. and they usually have threads explaining how to read or decipher a VIN :-D

[Steve928]

There are plenty of '08s sitting on the 'forecourt' at my local vendor.

No scuttle mods, no gearbox mods..

[Rosbotham]

The base vehicle warranty should be reset to date of first registration which is when an end user buys it...at least it was on my previous Peugeot (purchased new) and current Fiat (purchased 2nd hand). The converter should reset the warranty start date with the manufacturer, but I have heard of cases where it's not been done so owner has to negotiate with Fiat or whoever.

 

Others have commented on VIN plates and tyres for when the base vehicle left the factory. As to when the conversion was done, take a look at the consumer unit to see when it was tested.

 

Paul

[Robinhood]

For Ford, input the VIN number to the Ford ETIS system (available officially on the web to end users but with limited access). This will give a good summary of the vehicle features, including the build date.

 

For FIAT, doing the same thing with an online copy of the ePer system (unofficially available on the web in various places, but somewhat difficult to access a recent copy if you're looking up recent vehicles) will do the same.

 

Friendly main dealers will often give you info if you pass on a VIN.

 

On new vehicles, the easiest way I've found to get a ball-park estimate is from the labelling round various bits of the wiring loom, which usually have the manufacturing date in clear text - and not many parts are held in stock for a long time during manufacture nowadays, so the date is usually pretty close to the manufacturing date.

[David Dwight]

If its a new vehicle you will have all the paperwork from the converter etc, giving dates of import into UK, when it was converted, gas and electric checks as they are all signed off.

Warrenty should start from the day the vehicle is first registered.

 

That is how its been with our last 2 new vehicles, if there was problem you even have a name to use re checks etc.