What year is my car really?

[loccusst]

The door sticker says 07/02 but my car is supposed to be a 2003. If you do the production math my car is like close to the last ones made in 03 so that would make it a 03.5 I guess. i'm just confused. There has to be a way to figure out if my car is a 03.5 or not.

[zmepro]

you you have a factory spare tire sub?

if you do, its a 03.5 if not its and 03

[loccusst]

No spare tire sub but was wondering if they didn't include it. I bought my car in october on the show room floor. If you go to the Mazda website it says that all 2003 come with the spare tire sub. It doesn't say anything about 2003.5 only.

[zmepro]

im guessing its prolly an 03

[zmepro]

i got my 03.5 in march it was built for me in febuary, i ordered it in january and it has a trunk sub

[loccusst]

I just bought it this october though so wouldn't it be a 2003.5?

[zmepro]

not if you bought it off the showroom, it could have been sittin there for a while

[loccusst]

True, i guess when the temp is above 3 degrees I could look in the tire area and see if the wires are there for the sub.

[zmepro]

all you gotta do it pull the little string in the middle of your trunk and look at ur spare, you said the door sticker says 07/02 that is probley the month/year it was made

i believe they start making 03s around september of 02

i think you have a 03, bit it doesn't matter, you arn't missing much

oh, another thing, do you have a rack? or the filler strips? my 03.5 has strips

[LapisBlueProteg]

look at the vin i believe that the 10 digit is the month made

[TwinHead]

Went to the dealer for an oilchange. I was curious and asked since I got my P5 in May2003 if it was the 03'.5. Asked if there was a sub in sparetire comp. Dealer said No. no such thing on the P5. Only on the Speed. ???

Is this a Canadian thing?

[zmepro]

no, its a dealer bein a dipshit thing, its really easy to find out if you have a sub, find the little string int the middle of your trunk, pull it up to remove the false floor and look at your spare, if you have a sub, it will be sitting there in the spare tire, it doesn't look like a "normal" sub, its just a dish that says 100w sub or something on it

[matallama]

Canadian P5's seem to get slightly different standard equipment.

If a car was made in July 2002, it could well be a 2003, since car makers build cars a few months ahead of time, and the new model year cars go on sale usually in the fall before the actual year.

A car manufactured as a 2003 could still be modified to be sold as a 2003.5 - that's what they did to my car. This was the "mid-cycle re-fresh." If you didn't get the mid-cycle re-fresh, perhaps you should go back and ask for it. Basically it involved taking off the formerly standard roof rack and installing the sub-woofer.

The Mazda web site just lists the current specs for new cars, so you can't project backwards in time. In other words, what they list is for a 2003.5, and you can't assume it to be exactly the same for a 2003 or a 2002.

[TwinHead]

..or maybe go back and get my next oil change for free...

[loccusst]

But if the car that I just purchased this october has no sub in the trunk then how the hell do I tell if its a 2003 or a 2003.5? The door jam says jun 02. I know I purchased a 2003ish model just wanting to know how else to tell if its supposed to be a 2003 or 2003.5. I used to work at a dealership and know too well the robbing of one car for another one by the dealership. Also, if I purchased this car new from the dealership this october and if the mazda web site states all mp5s come with the spare tire sub standard then I wonder if i can convince the dealership that I was supposed to have one.

[matallama]

This is all it takes: Do you have the roof rack? It was standard for 2003, but optional for 2003.5. So no roof rack means you have a 2003.5, and they owe you a sub-woofer. If you do have the rack, then you probably have a 2003 that sat around a while and they did not apply the mid-cycle refresh to.

Going strictly by the date of manufacture, your car should be a 2003 (or 2002, which would be bogus if they sold it to you as a 2003).