Registration year

[MikeSimon]

Here is a question for the community:

My 280SL has never been titled and registered in the U.S. I plan to do this next spring or summer.
It is still on the original German paperwork. It was built in November of 1970 and first registered in December of 1970.
What is your opinion about what will happen at the Ohio BMV? Will they register and title it as a 1970 or 1971 ?
Does anyone have a car that was built after - lets say - September of any given year and how is it titled/registered? As a model of that year or the next (model) year?

[49er]

 from my own experience here in CA, my car was built in July '68 but registered as a '69 when I took delivery in September. My bet is yours will be a 71

John

[Vander]

Here is a question for the community:

My 280SL has never been titled and registered in the U.S. I plan to do this next spring or summer.
It is still on the original German paperwork. It was built in November of 1970 and first registered in December of 1970.
What is your opinion about what will happen at the Ohio BMV? Will they register and title it as a 1970 or 1971 ?
Does anyone have a car that was built after - lets say - September of any given year and how is it titled/registered? As a model of that year or the next (model) year?

Any time a vehicle is brought into Ohio to be titled from out of state it requires an out of state inspection to be performed, also accompanied by a completed BMV form # 4334.  They are going to pull the year that is stated on the German title/registration. Ohio will not bump it forward a year just because it was produced in a certain month. Ohio does not care what month it was built at the factory.

[mbpaul]

I cannot tell you what happen when you try to register your car but this is what I saw in 1966 at the local Albuquerque dealer.  I had already bought my 230SL in February, 1966.  My car was built in August/September timeframe of 1965 but it was registered as a 1966 model year.  I was at the dealer for service in September, 1966.  While waiting for the service to be completed, I went to visit the salesman that sold me the car.  He was busy collecting serial numbers of all the unsold Mercedes in the dealership.  He told me he would send those serial numbers to Mercedes and Mercedes would issue new Manufacture's Statement of Origin (MSO) for those unsold cars with the model year being !967 even though that had been built in 1966 (or maybe even earlier?).  I think this is what happened in those years but I have no idea what might happen now.

Paul

[Jordan]

I agree with Vander in that your car will be registered as a '70, the same as your German registration.  My car was originally registered in Germany as a '66 since it was built in October '66.  When it got imported into the US it remained a '66.  They did not change it to a '67 even though it was built in October.

[rwmastel]

I agree with Vander in that your car will be registered as a '70, the same as your German registration.  My car was originally registered in Germany as a '66 since it was built in October '66.  When it got imported into the US it remained a '66.  They did not change it to a '67 even though it was built in October.

Agree.  When my Oct 1966 230SL came from Italy to California, it stayed a 1966 and has to date.

[ejboyd5]

Attached is a "Service Letter" from M-B explaining their practice regarding "years."  M-B issued similar letters prior to and after this 1961 example. Please remember, if ordering parts or trying to tie down mechanical or trim details, it is the chassis, engine or body number  that remains paramount regardless of what "year" may have been assigned to the car for sale purposes.
Since the car in question was built and delivered in the same year, there is no reason that any state would register it as one year "newer." This was an internal M-B policy only and designed to spur sales of leftover vehicles. In any event, what benefit would one today (54 years later) be seeking to have a car registered with a different year from when it was built.

[MikeSimon]

So, it seems there is no consensus. We have some who speculate that the car will be registered as a 1970 280SL in Ohio, others have cars that were built late in one year and are registered as the next year model. I have quite a few vintage motorcycles which were built in one year, according to VIN tags and are officially titled and registered in Ohio as a following year model.

[neelyrc]

I also agree with Vander.  If you present the German registration, I feel sure they will register your car as a 1970 model.  I can’t believe they will abide by a rule established by Mercedes Benz for their commercial convenience at the change of model years. 49er came under the MB rule at the time because he was buying new. I don’t think DMV offices are interested in applying this MB rule to used cars now even if they are aware of them.

My car would have been a 1969 in any case as it was produced and originally titled after the beginning of 1969. I did present the international registration which came at factory delivery when the car was imported into the States in 1970 and it has always been a 1969.

[MikeSimon]

This is the VIN plate of one of my motorcycles. In the right upper corner is the date of manufacture. What did the BMV title it as?

[707dieseldean]

They should Register it as a 1982 model. The new model year normally starts in September. Lines are retooled for the up coming model year and manufacturing starts for the new model year. You can not sell a 2024 model in January if you have not made it prior.

[ejboyd5]

Idle speculation gets us nowhere. Why would Ohio suddenly register a car as a 1971 when it was previously registered as a 1970 in another jurisdiction? In any event, why would anyone care to change the year of a 55 year old car? Mercedes-Benz was able to employ this trick as a sales gimmick to unload unsold cars only because their cars' appearances did not change from year to year unlike American cars where yearly model introductions were a big selling point. Model years were never that important in the European market. Through the cited "Service Letter" M-B was trying to pander to the affluent American market by mimicking the model year concept which did not previously exist for their products.

[Bonnyboy]

I just had a look at my data sheet and my european car was delivered to the German dealership with the delivery date on the data card as December 8, 1969.  It was then exported to California in 1982 and registered as 1969 car.  Then it came to Canada in 1984 and it is still a 1969.   

Another car a friend has was a US delivery car and was delivered in November 1969 and his car was registered as a 1970. 

I don't think the year of your car should change by registering it in a new State or country.

[MikeSimon]

I just had a look at my data sheet and my european car was delivered to the German dealership with the delivery date on the data card as December 8, 1969.  It was then exported to California in 1982 and registered as 1969 car.  Then it came to Canada in 1984 and it is still a 1969.   

Another car a friend has was a US delivery car and was delivered in November 1969 and his car was registered as a 1970. 

There you go. I don't think there is an answer for me until I will title my car in Ohio. One thing, this is not a transfer from a different state, with previous US identity and the German paperwork does not identify the car as either a 1970 or 1971 "model". It just shows the day of first registration. I wonder what grounds there are for the BMV to consider a car a certain "model year". What if I claim the title was lost? Do they use the VIN number to register the car?