I'm still jazzed about finding out. For some parts, you need to know the production date as there are changed made during the year. And currently..I needs one of those parts.

Paul...it'* no wonder why your car was dying on it'* own and nearly went up in flames. Geez..I'd be afraid to drive in anything that was built during the worst hangover of the year. Best wishes.. eeeek

Being mid November..the workers were in the holiday spirit and giving mood. They gave me all kinds of extras. Like extra rust protection (aka..no rust underneath), extra care in building my car.. all that extra TLC shows. As for being slightly before 1/1/97.. that'* about mid production year and perfect. The guys on the lines know what they are doing and not guessing at things.

BTW.. I'm production number 233145 (IIRC)

Matt, Greg, Travis, Bob, Mike and all my other 97 friends...what are the last 6 digits of your vin? (aka production sequence number)

in 96 all the SSE'* and the SSEi'* had the letters "SSE" in the front bumper where the licence plate would be

the early production 97'* had this "SSE" in the bumper, and later production 97-99 Cars didnt have anything on the front bumper

Mine has the SSE bumper. Maybe I will remember and check the #'* when I get home.

So is there anyway at all to find the build date other than the door tag? Mine has one, but you can't read anything off of it.

My production number is 201213... :? How can it be lower than Boosty'* '97.....must have been some heavy hangover.
Might indicate a change in body style in '00 or yours was made in a different plant.
Plant Location was Lake Orion. They aren't allowed to have hangovers there.

My car did not almost burn up. :?
I believe that I may have had something to do with the loose fuse connection.

The only date on my drivers door reads 01/00 but the LIM had a Nov.16/99 date stamp and the rear valve cover has a tag that says Jan.3/00.
The rad support has white paint marked 1/7 near the rad cap.

Paul...the production number is possibly the total of all cars produced from that plant that model year.

my '96 SSEi doesn't have the SSE in the bumper cover, then gagin it could possibly have been replaced at some point in time.

I'm now wondering about this one haha... gonna havta go down and see if theres any obvious replacement of the bumper...

My car is about 7 months older than I am

Heres the weird thing though. All the accessories in my car, all the underdash components and such are all dated 11/16/88, but on the door it states it was manufactured 12/88 So I guess they do have an inventory of electronics and things. I believe my transmission had a metal tag and it said something about 12/88 as well. So who knows. As far as how long mine sat...carfax says 06/06/1989 and that at the time of first registration it had 162 miles. Wow, I wonder how many people test drove it! Dang!

So it was driven an average of 13,200 miles annually for the first 100 months of its life (06/06/1989-10/10/1997 162 mi - 110,076 mi)
Then it was driven an average of 976 miles annually for the next 86 months (10/10/1997-12/27/2004 110,076 mi - 117,200) When I got the car, it had been sitting for about 2 years only being driven maybe 10 miles in that whole time. When I got the car, the oil was probably about 4 years old I was told, the thermostat was stuck open...the throttle body blade was stuck in place, it was leaking coolant, leaking transmission fluid. So then I replaced the thermostat, changed the oil...twice, and replaced the radiator. The car then ran normally around 220*F at full op temp. Gee, I wonder why, cause the coolant was worn out I actually drove it like that with the bad coolant for umm... 9 months.

Anyways. Now it runs perfectly, but haha, my subframe is failing!!!! YAY FOR SALT!!!! WOOH!!!

I'm not sure if the "just in time" manufacturing system was used as far back as 88 (although I think it was), but your electronic components are not fabricated in the assembly or stamping plants. Electronic components are (almost always) sourced out to a GM subsidiary (AC Delco back then) or some other supplier. Those components will almost always sit around a little bit b/c the supplier has to have them ready for quick shipment ahead of when the car the part was ordered for hits the assembly line. Each part has to be programmed into the assembly distribution system.

Other things like your seats may also come from a different supplier, but not always. Grand Am seats weren't made in the assembly factory, then were, then weren't. Production of cars is a fascinating topic. I'd love to go to a BC meet and then try to arrange a factory tour.