It is not the date of manufacture that is entered into the export documents, but the date of registration of the car.
That is date of the start of operation, since the deterioration of the car begins from that date.
In other words, a car can be produced in December 2016, then it is delivered to a car dealership and sold, for example, in January 2017.
After the sale, the date of the start of operation will be entered in export documents - January 2017 (not December 2016).
The big difference between the year of manufacture and the year of registration is usually noticeable in re-export vehicles.
For example, in 2003, a car from the USA (2000 year of manufacture) was imported to Japan. It is registered in Japan right after import (in 2003). If this car sells outside of Japan, then the year in export documents will be 2003, although in fact the car was released in 2000.
Therefore, we strongly recommend you to check the date of manufacture through your auction access before buying a car. Alternatively, you may send us a request so that we do this for you.
Please note that for Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Hino trucks we have to send a special request, and this process takes a little longer time than for other brands.
For most other brands such as Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, etc. you can check the year of manufacture yourself through our online catalogue.