Yo! I have a weird situation here. I'm trying to gather up some parts to fix this Civic LX sedan up for my uncle but something is off. The car's title, registration, all vins, vin decoder says the car is a 1999. But the car looks exactly like a 1998. The bumper, headlights, tail lights all match up to a 1998, but the car has not been ever in an accident or replaced any body parts. Clean carfax, 2nd owner. He had this car for many years so what gives? Am I missing something with the trim model or is it the fact that it was manufactured in canada? It's been a long day so I'm sort of stumped.

 

Maybe it depends on what Month the actual 99 roled out the assembly line.

 

Is there actual proof that it CAN be because of assembly date? I know some other cars can be like that, but I can't find any other info about this.

It lables the Month and year as XX which shows up as unknown.

 

Your VIN should tell you what month of that year. Usually its after the first quarter of the year the actual year car roles out . i read that somewere so dont quote me on that .

 

But I will quote you hahah
I understand that, and when I did decode my vin, it says unknown. 10th and 11th digits tell the month and year. The letters were X X. There is no label for X for that to my understanding.

 

That usually happens at the end of a production run as they try to use up some existing parts stocks. My '67 Mustang, for instance, was a very solid survivor, but the front end was a mess of various Ford parts from other cars which worked and fit but were not strictly speaking Mustang parts. As they all had OE Ford part numbers on them and the car had a nicely-kept 92k miles on it when I bought it, I can only think it was the same kind of situation, switching over to the new '67 revision and using whatever was available to get the volume out.

 

Sure that happens. But, I have never encountered this in a civic or any honda besides an accord in my years of working on them. The accord still had the same body parts it is designed to have. But the problem was with the suspension. Considering civics were mass produced, I would like to know of any others were found this way. I'm searching through countless threads and sites. An unknown year/month date plus unknown manufacture plant in the Vin makes this case for me interesting. Would be cool if it were a rare find, but I believe there is a better explanation for this that someone out there might know.

 

Someone could very well have swapped it to a 96-98 front end.

Look at VIN number stickers, if they don't match the VIN plate on the dash, they weren't original.

 

All Vins match up for 1999. Body parts, dash, door sills, everything looks unmolested. Vin stickers are undamaged and legible.

 

Post the actual production date, and while you're at it, the VIN minus the last 4 digits.

 

2hgej667xxh50----

 

So a Canadian-made 99 LX sedan. That XX in the VIN at the check digit though...that can't be right. Take a picture of that part of your VIN. Post it. Something's fishy there.

 

Mfg date 10/98 was found as well

 

Interesting. There should be a VIN stamp under the glass as well, at the firewall in front of the driver, are the numbers all the same on that one? It should also be engraved on the firewall inside the engine bay, are the numbers all the same there? I'm by no means a VIN genius, but I've never seen XX's in the check digit spot like that. Might be worth a call to your local dealership to ask them about it. Also, 10/98 would indicate a model year of 99, like you're thinking, so you aren't going crazy there. If I could bug you for one more shot, could you take a front end shot?

 

Yes ALL the Vins match.


Excuse the Pterodactyl poop...

 

Huh, well what the ****, I'm at a loss. Let me do some more digging on this.

 

LOL I know right!? Same here.

 

Yeah, so I've tried looking at that VIN from a few different directions, and can't make heads or tails of it. The check digit is wrong. Even if you transpose it (which would make it a 7) it's wrong. The year digit is wrong. The front end I'm not 100% sure on, but looking at it a second time, it looks like you have the wrong bumper. The headlights seem to have the sharp inner point of 99-00, and the lines of the bumper don't match the lines of the hood or headlights. Someone who didn't know better may have done a botch job in replacing it. I'd call your local dealership when you get the chance and talk to them about it, see what they can tell you. If you get an answer, let us know!

 

In to see WTF is going on.

 

I'm so confused.

I also have no ideas how the VIN could match based on how poorly everything seems to fit on the front end.

 

I've asked him countless times, but the only thing he says is that him and his family has been in minor fender benders that have probably warped it a bit, but I was telling him it seemed like someone replaced the bumper and/or messed with the hood or did a good job switching Vins, but no that doesn't seem plausible here. Considering it's a 18 year old car they don't care too much about, he still says the car has been like this ever since. Just used to be a lot cleaner and straighter. I'm not sure about the side differences in 98 and 99 but they seem to look like a 98 too if that's possible. Maybe a hack job from the manufacture, and they made the vin like that for no trails lol I don't know...lol

 

VINs work mathematically. They wouldn't just "fudge" a VIN to cover a fuckup, because 1 - that would be caught way too fast, and 2 - car manufacturing is all automated, so something like that wouldn't really happen in the first place. At this point I'm fairly comfortable saying that your car has the wrong front bumper on it. Whatever led the car to that point is beyond my guessing, all I can tell you is the state it sits in as of now.

That still doesn't explain the VIN, and I would call your local dealership to see what they can tell you. Maybe it's a re-issued VIN. Maybe there's some weird history behind the car. If anyone can give you a hint, it would be them. Also, it wouldn't hurt to check the title of the car and see what the VIN is according to that paperwork. Then you could backtrack that, and see if that was ever changed or re-issued.

 

That's definitely a 96-98 body.

When did VIN stickers on the fenders/panels become a thing? 99? or was it 00?

I'd pull a carfax on it and see what that brings up as well.

 

You don't think those headlights are 99-00?

 

Checked the title, same on that too. I agree with the bumper at this point, even though another friend said the head lights look 98 also cause they aren't as small as the 99. I'm stumped. The rear is also a 1998 look, not just the front. Keys work for all doors, trunk, etc.. going to try calling honda and see what's going on tomorrow.
I've seen this civic like this for the longest time and always thought it was a 96 to 98. Hopefully I can shed some light to this.