Japanese chassis code lookup: which model, and when it was on sale in Japan

A Japanese chassis number, such as BNR32-012345, is a model code, a hyphen and a serial number. The code tells you which model the car is. It doesn't tell you the month the car was built. This table gives, for each code we've checked, when the maker says that model went on sale in Japan, and when it ended, where the maker says so.

How to use it

1. Find the chassis number. It's on the Japanese registration papers, the export certificate and the plate on the car. Where to look is on what a Japanese chassis number tells you.
2. Type the code into the filter box above the table: the letters and numbers before the hyphen in the chassis number (BNR32, not BNR32-012345). Use the chassis number, not the model code: our car's model code is DAA-ZVW41W, but its chassis number starts ZVW41, and ZVW41 is what the table lists.
3. Read the row. It gives the model, the dates the maker gives, and a link to the maker's page, so you can check it yourself.

A worked example: our own car

Our Toyota Prius α has a chassis number starting ZVW41. Toyota announced the Prius α's launch in Japan on 13 May 2011. Our car's papers show it was first registered in Japan in August 2012. The table tells you the earliest point the model was on sale. It doesn't tell you the month our car, or yours, was built: the Japanese papers usually don't show that either. See proving a Japanese car's build date.

The table

Notes on some rows

• BNR32. Nissan's page: the R32 Skyline was rolled out in May 1989 and the GT-R was brought back three months later.
• BCNR33. The R33 Skyline itself was launched in August 1993; the GT-R followed in January 1995.
• BNR34. Nissan's FAQ 972 gives the GT-R as January 1999 (full model change) to August 2002 (production ended). Nissan's heritage page adds that the Nür models were made in 2002, 1,000 of each.
• ER34. Nissan's FAQs give the R34 Skyline (not the GT-R) as May 1998 to June 2001, when the next generation took over. ER34 is one of the R34 Skyline codes; the GT-R is BNR34.
• RS13. Nissan's page names the 180SX 'RS13', rolled out in 1989 and manufactured until 1998. Other 180SX codes (for example RPS13) aren't named on Nissan's pages, so they aren't listed. Nissan's FAQ titles give the 180SX period as March 1989 to January 1999.
• EG6. The release's specification table gives the model code as E-EG6 for the SiR and SiR II.
• EK9. Honda's archive specification page gives the model code as E-EK9.
• EP3. Built at Honda of the UK Manufacturing and exported to Japan; Honda's archive specification gives the maker as Honda of the UK and the model code as ABA-EP3.
• FD2. Honda's archive specification page gives the model code as ABA-FD2.
• DC2. The release's specification table gives E-DC2 for the 3-door and E-DB8 for the 4-door Type R.
• NA1. Honda's 2005 specification lists both ABA-NA1 and ABA-NA2. We haven't found a Honda page giving when the NA2 code started, so NA2 isn't listed.
• FD3S. Mazda's release writes the code as FD-3S.
• JZA80. Toyota's page gives the model number JZA80 and says production ended in August 2002.
• SW20. Toyota's page gives the model number SW20.
• JZX100. Toyota's pages for the 6th Chaser, the 5th Cresta and the 8th Mark II all list JZX100 and were all released on 5 September 1996, so the code alone doesn't tell you which of the three a car is. Toyota says the Chaser was discontinued in June 2001; it doesn't give an end for the other two.
• JZX90. Toyota's pages for the 5th Chaser and the 7th Mark II both list JZX90, released on 29 October 1992, so the code alone doesn't tell you which a car is.
• ZVW41. The code comes from our own car's shaken certificate (Prius α, first registered August 2012). Toyota's release doesn't print model codes, so other Prius α codes aren't listed.

What the table can't tell you

• Your car's build month. A model being on sale from a given month doesn't mean your car was built then. Most chassis numbers are a code and a running serial, with no date in them.
• Whether the papers match the car. On a viewing we photograph the plate and the chassis number as they are on the car. We don't certify that they match the papers, or that the car is genuine.
• Which model, when a code is shared. Some codes were used by more than one model at once: Toyota lists JZX100 for the Chaser, the Cresta and the Mark II of 1996. The plate and the papers will say which.
• Grades and special editions. A code covers every version of a model. For one example of why that matters, see R33 GT-R grades.
• Whether a car can be imported. That's for the authorities in your country. How the age rules are counted is on our USA and UK pages.
• Codes that aren't listed. We only add a code once the maker's own pages give when it started. Some well-known ones, such as the S15 Silvia and the NSX's NA2, aren't here for that reason. Not in our table? A Remote Check can ask the dealer for a photo of the model plate.

The code tells you what the car should be. Whether this car matches its papers, and what state it's in, can only be checked at the car: send us the listing.

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Why some rows say "not confirmed"

Makers' heritage pages and press releases give the month a model arrived far more often than the month it ended. Where a maker doesn't say, we leave the end as not confirmed. We don't fill the gap with the next model's launch date, because the old model often stayed on sale for a while after it.

Written by Yoshiaki Sagara, a paintless dent repair and detailing technician in Japan. He looks at cars for overseas buyers through Ninja Desk Japan. About us

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