How do I find a car's year of manufacture?

Year of manufacture can differ from the year of first registration, especially for cars that sat in dealer stock before being sold. It's not always shown on the V5C directly, but a vehicle history check typically includes it as part of the full vehicle specification details.

If you need to confirm it precisely, the manufacturer or a dealer can usually look it up from the VIN, which encodes the build date within its structure.