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can you tell the age of car by the number plate ?


yeahbutif

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There are always exceptions which would result in an "old" sign on a new car.

For Bangkok you can roughly guess the higher the leading digit (unique in Thailand) the later the sign has been issued.

I think they have reached "9" now?

Will be interesting what their next botch workaround will be instead of a basic reform. I doubt there are many countries with such a confusion of plate types and exhausted number ranges etc.

Edited by KhunBENQ
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16 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

There are always exceptions which would result in an "old" sign on a new car.

For Bangkok you can roughly guess the higher the leading digit (unique in Thailand) the later the sign has been issued.

I think they have reached "9" now?

Will be interesting what their next botch workaround will be instead of a basic reform. I doubt there are many countries with such a confusion of plate types and exhausted number ranges etc.

Seven years ago, my wife got a Bangkok number beginning with 3, but two years ago I got one beginning with 1.

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As other user stated, I think the easiest way is checking the date on the seatbelts.

1 hour ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

check the seatbelts, theyll  look new as Thais  dont wear them, theres a  manufacture  date  on a  small  tag  on them

 

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The Blue Book gives the date of first registration which could be a year or more after it was first used on the road… so be careful!

 

The VIN number will give you the date of manufacture and of course other information as well. Google will tell you how to read a particular VIN.

 

The warranty book will tell you the first date that the car could have been used… just look at the start date of the warranty. The dealer has to start the warranty if he uses the car eg demo. And of course when the car is sold new.

 

Cars like Mercedes now don’t have warranty books so you  need to ask the dealer to show you the electronic version.

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, MajorTom said:

The blue book has both year of registration AND year of manufacture in it.

I would say you are correct and believe as I do because it has a date and a VIN number in the blue

book. 

 

Cars must be similar to bikes my bike was manufactured in Japan 2 years before it was registered for the road in Thailand.

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6 hours ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

check the seatbelts, theyll  look new as Thais  dont wear them, 

My Thai wife and I always buy a new car about every 5 years and every time she tries to keep as much factory wrapped plastic intact as long as possible, to show it's a new car 555.  I swear on the last car we sold, the bar at the bottom of the seats (to slide front & back) was still wrapped in factory plastic after 5 years.   I jokingly told her she reminds me of a US actress from a while back named Minnie Pearl that like to keep the price tag attached to her hat to show off it's still new.

Minnie Pearl Jokes And Quotes. QuotesGram

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All sounds good . But the Reason I was asking was to find out what models secondhand cars of a type were brought out...as I was looking for a replacement.. don't think people will appreciate me looking at their seat belts ... was thinking more of an observation....lol

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On 10/29/2021 at 12:52 PM, MajorTom said:

The blue book has both year of registration AND year of manufacture in it.

Very true…The Blue Book has the year of manufacture and the day/month/year when it was first registered at the LTO.
 

But the only way to realistically know when it first went on the road, if you want to know, is the date shown in the warranty booklet.

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On 10/28/2021 at 8:14 AM, yeahbutif said:

can you tell the age of car by the number plate ?  

 

Yes and No... 

 

For many cars registered within a few months of their purchase date the number plate can be ‘relatively’ aged as the Thai letters are all sequential and over the past few years its even easier as they have a numerical prefix. 

 

BUT, aging a car by its number plate is not reliable, people can change plates, use old plates, choose a preferred number etc... 

 

The ONLY way to accurately age a vehicle is from the VIN number to obtain year of manufacture. 

Edited by richard_smith237
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On 10/29/2021 at 8:18 AM, Ombra said:

Seven years ago, my wife got a Bangkok number beginning with 3, but two years ago I got one beginning with 1.

for the first letter ก they went from 1กx - 9กx it's now up to 1ขx (the second thai alphabet)  this scheme stats around 2012, the new 1ข is only starting now for Bangkok car plate, so each number last around a decade so far



also the 3กx is well known to fade to white a lot 

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