Discussion
I have a 53 plate MY04 car. vdp1 said:
I can usually work most things out but cannot fathom what MY means in relation to a car year eg. 2005MY.
I know it must be so obvious and I am being thick, but what is it.
Thanks for asking the question. I'd been trying to work out what it meant as well. Seems to have increased in usage recently.I know it must be so obvious and I am being thick, but what is it.
vdp1 said:
Ok thanks, by why the need, surely 2005 or 05 or 55 would tell you all you need to know.
Is is an American thing. Because yanks are so stupid the manufacturers make tiny tweaks to all of their cars in about June of each year and call them by the next year's number and the whole population runs out and upgrades to the latest model. Somewhere in the states today an MY11 car was launched with one new colour option, or a redesigned big-gulp holder. It is all pretty pointless really but perhaps has it's origins in the fact that american cars are never quite right when they're launched, so need immediate upgrades and continuous improvements.
Like the increasing use of manufacturer model codes such as 'Corsa B' to describe 'an old Corsa' it is probably going to take hold.
Edited by Hitch78 on Monday 21st June 21:03
Hitch78 said:
vdp1 said:
Ok thanks, by why the need, surely 2005 or 05 or 55 would tell you all you need to know.
Is is an American thing. Because yanks are so stupid the manufacturers make tiny tweaks to all of their cars in about June of each year and call them by the next year's number and the whole population runs out and upgrades to the latest model. Somewhere in the states today an MY11 car was launched with one new colour option, or a redesigned big-gulp holder. It is all pretty pointless really but perhaps has it's origins in the fact that american cars are never quite right when they're launched, so need immediate upgrades and continuous improvements.
Like the increasing use of manufacturer model codes such as 'Corsa B' to describe 'an old Corsa' it is probably going to take hold.
Edited by Hitch78 on Monday 21st June 21:03
If you want a part for an American car, you can find it straight away. Try finding brake rotors for a Golf and see how many variants there are because "they didn't quite get it right".
Then again, constant change is not an American thing. It has been the same since time immemorial. The 1967 Cortina GT was different to the 1968 Cortina GT. It's called evolution and yes, even the VW Beetle did it.
Besides which, it's actually a very good way of ensuring you buy the right parts for your car because your 2007 registration could be a 2005 car. The model year is in the VIN number too so you can't get it wrong. If I'd bought 1996 brake rotors for my Golf, they would be the wrong ones because it's a 97 MY. See how that works.
Edited by LuS1fer on Monday 21st June 21:18
t though for continuities sake.LuS1fer said:
What a ridiculous post. I have a 1996 Golf GTI which is a 1997 model. So if anyone is guilty of bringing it over here, it's the Germans. I suspect this started happening when they stopped having one letter a year for new models which, you will recall, came out on August the 1st in the good old days when a new car alone was something special, even if it's design hadn't changed for ten years.
The Americans have been doing this for years, Jay Leno had a thing on his web site about how his family would make a point of seeing the new model XYZ every year 
Hitch78 said:
Like the increasing use of manufacturer model codes such as 'Corsa B' to describe 'an old Corsa' it is probably going to take hold.
I can't for the life in me fathom out what people don't understand about this. Its not bloody rocket science.
Edited by Jonny_693 on Monday 21st June 21:30
LuS1fer said:
Hitch78 said:
vdp1 said:
Ok thanks, by why the need, surely 2005 or 05 or 55 would tell you all you need to know.
Is is an American thing. Because yanks are so stupid the manufacturers make tiny tweaks to all of their cars in about June of each year and call them by the next year's number and the whole population runs out and upgrades to the latest model. Somewhere in the states today an MY11 car was launched with one new colour option, or a redesigned big-gulp holder. It is all pretty pointless really but perhaps has it's origins in the fact that american cars are never quite right when they're launched, so need immediate upgrades and continuous improvements.
Like the increasing use of manufacturer model codes such as 'Corsa B' to describe 'an old Corsa' it is probably going to take hold.
Edited by Hitch78 on Monday 21st June 21:03
If you want a part for an American car, you can find it straight away. Try finding brake rotors for a Golf and see how many variants there are because "they didn't quite get it right".
Then again, constant change is not an American thing. It has been the same since time immemorial. The 1967 Cortina GT was different to the 1968 Cortina GT. It's called evolution and yes, even the VW Beetle did it.
Besides which, it's actually a very good way of ensuring you buy the right parts for your car because your 2007 registration could be a 2005 car. The model year is in the VIN number too so you can't get it wrong. If I'd bought 1996 brake rotors for my Golf, they would be the wrong ones because it's a 97 MY. See how that works.
Edited by LuS1fer on Monday 21st June 21:18
The MY thing is, in fact, American terminology. Developed by marketeers to give an excuse to 'launch' the same car every year. If you ever spend any time in the US, and I have, you will notice how ridiculous this is; new MY models are actually launched with a new colour option, or a redesigned seat fabric. I believe that this dates back to the 1950s and it is taken very seriously by the septics.
In the UK we have always traditionally referred to a models age by the registration plate. "I had a D reg Ford Orion" was common parlance, not "I had a 1986 Ford Orion" or a "MY86 Ford Orion B" if you take it to it's unfortunate Yank-Jap conclusion. The first use of the year of registration came in from 2001, when people stopped understanding how registration plates could be used to (roughly) tell the age of a car. People would then say "it's a 2003 Golf". The use of 'MY' in discussing these things is much newer in my experience, being adopted in maybe the last three to four years in the UK by people who like cars. If you still said the words 'model year' to the average person in the street they wouldn't know what you mean.
Of course it is useful, but we got on fine before. Most cars are launched and then refreshed, or 'facelifted' and to break that down to an annual ritual seems a little too far for me.
Bring back prefix registrations I say - we'd now be getting into the realms of "it's an A reg mate" with a response of "but is it a new A reg, an old A reg or a really old A reg". Wonderful.
Edited by Hitch78 on Tuesday 22 June 07:04
Jonny_693 said:
Hitch78 said:
Like the increasing use of manufacturer model codes such as 'Corsa B' to describe 'an old Corsa' it is probably going to take hold.
I can't for the life in me fathom out what people don't understand about this. Its not bloody rocket science.Edited by Jonny_693 on Monday 21st June 21:30
Hitch78 said:
I understand it, I just don't like it. There's something terribly cringy about the use of non essential technical jargon, especially when referring to mass produced euro or jap hatchbacks.
How is it technical? All Opel/Vauxhall models have a sub letter to denote the model revision. Corsa B is to Corsa C as an E30 3 Series is to an E36. It's simple, it works and it's exactly the same as saying Mk1 Ford Escort. Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff