Motor Vehicle Maintenance & Repair Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for mechanics and DIY enthusiast owners of cars, trucks, and motorcycles. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I know this is a pretty basic question, but I'm not very used to working on cars: my specialty is small motors and tractors. My brother left his Chevrolet Cobalt with me for repairs on the electrical systems. However, the Cobalt has been made for several years, and there are differences between electrical systems on the various year models. Unfortunately, he neglected to leave me the registration papers.
How can I tell which year his Chevrolet Cobalt was made in?
The easiest way to determine the year of the vehicle is through the Vehicle Identification Number or VIN. There is a ton of information in the VIN and part of that is the year code. VINs since 1972 have been 17 digits. They tell not only the year, but the manufacturer, where it was made, the model, and lots of other goodies. Break it down as such:
This is the breakdown for the 2012 GM model year. You can see in the 10th position is the year code. The year codes are as such:
