Anyone know if there is a way to determine the year model of a truck besides the manufacture date on the seatbelt tag? Can it be determined by the chassis number or anything else? Thanks, -G
year model I get export certificates with my trucks. Some other dealers that I have talked to have indicated that they dont. If you bought it from a dealer that has his on buyer in Japan like I do, he should have that cert. That will have all the info. on that truck. It will be like a state title here in the U S A. Other than that we all need to read Japnese. Terry
So should I have recieved or asked for this info (cert.) when I purchased the truck. Besides the bill of sale? Thanks, Greg
This info may not be in your paperwork, but the symbol for year in Japanese is 年. (This may not show correctly on your computer though). The "Heisei" years began in 1989 and are usually shown as "H", followed by a number...for example year "H1" is 1989, "H2" is 1990...etc. This year is "Heisei 20"...2008. (H20) or 20年/2008年. Maybe something on some paperwork states this? The year on the seatbelt is an accurate one (if it has the factory belts).. I haven't found an inaccurate one yet. The computer number on the original Japanese title would contain all this info, but apparently it is not transferred to the new paperwork..
certificate of export When I sell a truck I give the buyer a bill of sale and that certificate of export from Japan on that matching truck. Some small dealers that buy trucks from the 1/2 dozen or so brokers here in the U.S. might not get that cert. The dealers that have thier on buyers in Japan should get those certs. befor the trucks arrive here in U.S. Most of the times I get my certs. about 2 weeks befor the trucks arrive here. All you can do is trace that truck back to the guy that impoted it first and ask him if cert. is available.
A point of interest here is that when an American vehicle is imported to Japan, the Japanese title reflects the year it arrived..not the year the car was made. We have the same problem here as well.
Except that the US standard VIN contains the Year of manufacture. Although... If I was native to Japan I guess I would have a hard time understanding what letter/number code was what year on an American imported veihicle. Anyway, this is all good information. I was just wondering how someone might prove what year their truck is (i.e. 1983) besides a handwritten BOS.
export certificates Vendors in Japan are not required to provide the certificates to the buyer in the US. However, it is our experience that if they aren't willing to pass this information along to the buyer you probably don't want to do business with them in the first place! The certificates do contain the serial number, engine model, weight ratings, etc. The year is given in the Japanese system mentioned in the above post.
Thanks Jeremy. At the time of this post I was trying to figure out how goverment officials determined the vehicle year. As you know Canada has a 15 year rule on importation. The US has a similar model on taging vehicles that are over a certain age without issue. I guess what I am saying is what stops a person from stating a truck is an certain year and getting it tagged. Does the DMV know how to determine the model by looking at the seatbelt tag?
Here's something else that is found once in a blue moon. I have a DD51T and the seat belt shows 1995. I think the truck is a early 90's. I also think the seat belts were changed out somewhere down the road. The reason I believe this, the two seat belts look brand new, like never been used, all shinny. The interior of truck still has the smoke stains on the roof and behind head rests. I got to looking around the truck and the air box connection coming from pre heat looks a little different, older school than a mid 90's truck. So the seat belt is not full proof of year. Correct me if I am wrong. On the Suz. you cant go by the round head lts. or the rectangle lts. Seems like they made both head lt. design though out the 90's. Greg has a good point. If the seat belt is used to determine year what would keep someone from having swapped seat belts from a older truck to a newer truck to make it fall within the Canada 15 yr. rule. I just looked at one of the Japanese export cert. and dont see anything that resembles what Don mentioned above as for year of truck on the cert. Guess its one of those things thats not to be.
Exactly what I was trying to say. For example. Lets say, this probably wont work in Canada, I have a very good friend of mine sign a bill of sale that states. "I [selers name] hereby sell a used 1983 japanese minitruck to [buyers name] vin# etc... for x amount of $$$$] bada bing I get the truck tagged because it falls under the 15 year rule for tagging imported vehicles in the US. Mabybe I cut the tag off the seatbelt just in case.
We are directly connected to the data base in Japan. We look at the same screen that they look at in Japan. I am not sure of the screen shots you are talking about. Our system will output more of a drawing schematic/blowup. It also makes it very easy to pic out the right part every time. Cory
Yeah, this kind of thing has happened Greg. In fact, I had an exporter send me trucks that were too new and fudge the papers to say it was older than it was. I had no idea this had happened until customers seized my shipment. Boy, that was a pain. Needless to say, no more orders from that guy. I dont know the other trucks as good as Suzuki, but there are some things to check for a very good educated guess. (For 90-98 anyway) - Rad under the seat = 90-91.5 - Rad in front bumper = 91.5-98 - 5 digit odometer = 90-92 - 6 digit odometer = 93-98 - Control arms stamped 50FL or 50FR = 91.5-94 - Control arms stamped 50FAL or 50FAR = 95-98 Round lights 90-98 Composite lights 91.5-98 So, on a Suzuki you can narrow it down pretty close just by peeking at a few things.
Mitsubishi how do you determine the year of a mitsubishi u42t? I have no paper work and the seatbelts have been changed. Mit
