mystery solved ...in 2010 they went back to letters , so it is possible that a 1980 car has the same VIN as a 2010 car

and when they run through the letters they are gong to have 9 years of digits and then .......

hang on ...world ends tomorrow ...why am I wondering about this ?

Model year is not the same as registration year - 2003 model year probably started sometime around Sept/Oct 2002

Why are we worrying about this AT ALL! When OldNick started this, I thought (as he is a French resident) that it was about Vin Rouge/blanc - not bloody vehicle numbers.

Just off to get outdoors a bit more..... :ROFL:

Exactly the point I was making. Mines a FL D2 (registered in 02) so I thought the model year would be for the start of the FL model introduction ('99).

Oh! I forgot, I am still supposed to be outside getting some air.....

model year is typically 1 after the year you are on as there are little changes every year...

afraid the terminology is a little fuzzy...in europe it is normally the PRODUCTION year , which commences after the summer shut down ; any minor tweaks are normally put in at that point if possible , any line changes can then be made during shut down

with american cars you used to be able to buy , for example , a 2003 model year vehicle from january 2002 !!! I think it's called marketing

don't know about the uk , but france is still here , as am I ! not for much longer though , fire up the hymer and off to somewhere warmer for a few months , maybe get as far as estepona :mad: [ she who must be obeyed doesn't like north africa ]

I know this is an ancient thread, but it came up while I was searching to try and check something out.
This relevant information was posted on another forum, by someone in N America re the "Model Year":

April 2002 = the last month of construction of the 2002 model year A8s and S8s.

Your VIN (In response to me saying my car was built in April 2002)..... will be something like:

WAUGU44D22N007697 (end of March 2002) to WAUGU44D22N020000 (end of April 2002).

The 2003 Model year started builds in May 2002 with WAUGU44D23N000001

It did occur to me that the 2003 Model Year might correlate with Final Editions, but information elsewhere suggests they first appeared quite early in 2002, well before April/May.

I can vouch for Estepona as I am here right now
Really warm here at the moment 30 degrees in the shade.
Dry, warm and sunny. Not a cloud in the sky.
Must go for a cold beer now as this typing is thirsty work :cool::ROFL:
Enjoy