Re: Can you tell the model year from the VIN ?
Could be my British terminology again.
The auto dimming rear view mirror on my first xfire used to irritate the heck out of me because you couldn't switch it off as you can in other cars that have this feature.
At night if a car comes up behind you the rear view mirror automatically dims itself to stop you being dazzled by the headlights.
Sounds great until you're trying to work out whether the person driving close behind is:
A - Interested in your car because they think it's cool and they want to know what it is.
B - A nutter wanting to race you.
C - A police car trying to check if you're speeding.
As all you can see are two very dim headlights in the rear view mirror it's easy to make the wrong call (although in the UK it's usually A as there aren't that many Xfires about).
Anyway my new Xfire has a manually dimming rear view mirror and I'm happy.