I checked that plate but I cant find any date written on it. (maybe I'm just blind?) I see the vin number and some vehicle weights and some other random numbers and letters.
I was looking through the repair manual and It describes whats on the compliance plate. The euro plate doesn't show the production date but the Australian ones do.
J = Japan DA = Daihatsu L880 = Modell (here: Copen right) K001 = build 1 (Osaka) 000431 = your car (No. 431) mine JDAL880K001000431 orginal build date you can get from your next daihatsu/toyota station..example 2003.. if you can translate german....Welche Copen-Serien-Nummer? - Sonstige Themen um den Copen - forum.micro-roadster.de
I watched an old episode of Wheeler Dealers and MB reckoned you could tell from the tab at the base of the seatbelt. I checked mine today and it’s 10/08. The car was registered in the UK 09/09 so there’s a bit of leeway between build and registration.
That just tells you when your seatbelt was made. Remember too that our Copens were built in Japan, so they had to be shipped here before they were registered, that's 38-40 days sailing time.
Yes @Vin Petrol But I guess seatbelts are a high turnover item and although MB is usually full of BS, it does give an indication of the age. I’d be worried with a 2005 car with a 2007 belt though !
I wouldn't be worried about a Copen with a 2 year younger belt - I'd assume the original owner had it replaced trying to fix the retraction issues
