How can I check the age of my car?

I recently viewed a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C-Class with 70,000 on the clock. The dealer selling the car claims to have bought it from a main dealer, but a history check suggests the car was sold at auction. How can I confirm the history and age of the car?

Asked on 6 February 2016 by Diamonds14

Answered by Honest John
No surprise there. Entirely possible that a Mercedes dealer sold off surplus stock via auction. The V5C will tell you the date of first UK registration, but it is possible that when the car was first registered it was old stock. You can check the windows and the plastics for date stamps that will tell you when it was built to within a month or so.
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