Is there a way that I would be able to check the build date of a vehicle by its door tags or VIN without relying on dealer provided information? There is an EQS SUV that matches my configuration in the area, but based on a lot of reviews dealer seems to be a really bad one (pushy sales, misleading information) so I wouldn't trust a word they said in this case.

Is the build date listed somewhere on the door tags or in VIN decoders? Feel free to say "obviously"

 

Build month and year is listed on the door plate

 

In general, you can tell by the last 6 digits of the serial number. I’d probably avoid a car with a serial number less then 1000. I’ve seen build 149 which was a May production, vehicles in the 400s and 500s which were June, and then cars around the 1000s in July. It goes up from there. I remuer seeing 18000 something was March of this year.

 

for example
https://www.calstarmercedes.com/new/...dc0543866c.htm
2nd from the last picture, you see the sticker, right top is the build month and year. 08/2022
just ask dealer to take this picture and show it to you.

it also tells you the maximum weight 7100 lb but that is not the real car weight. that is maximum load + car weight. next to this sticker has another tire pressure sticker it will tell you maximum load. so max car weight - max load = actual car weight for this vehicle.