How can i tell if my Scion tC was made in 2005 or 2006?

It should be on your registration and also on your pink slip.

If you no longer have your registration or it is not handy your VIN number will tell you- most specifically the tenth placement.

How to read a VIN:

1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured.
For example: U.S.A.(1or 4), Canada(2), Mexico(3), Japan(J), Korea(K), England(S), Germany(W), Italy(Z)

2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. For example; Audi(A),
BMW(B), Buick(4), Cadillac(6), Chevrolet(1), Chrysler©, Dodge(B),
Ford(F), GM Canada(7), General Motors(G), Honda(H), Jaquar(A), Lincoln(L), Mercedes Benz(D), Mercury(M), Nissan(N), Oldsmobile(3), Pontiac(2or5), Plymouth(P), Saturn(8), Toyota(T), VW(V), Volvo(V).

3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.

4th to 8th characters- VDS – Vehicle Descriptor Section. These 5 characters occupy positions 4 through 8 of the VIN and may be used by the manufacturer to identify attributes of the vehicle. Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.

9th Character – The check digit “character or digit 9” in the sequence of a vehicle identification number (VIN) built beginning with model year 1981 (when the 17 character digit format was established) can best be described as identifying the VIN accuracy.

A check digit shall be part of each vin (since 1981) and shall appear in position
nine (9) of the VIN on the vehicle and on any transfer documents containing
the vin prepared by the manufacturer to be given to the first owner for purposes
other than resale. Thus, the vins of any two vehicles manufactured within a 30
year period shall not be identical. The check digit means a single number or letter
“x” used to verify the accuracy of the transcription of the vehicle identification
number.

After all other characters in the VIN have been determined by the manufacturer
the check digit is calculated by carrying out a mathematical computation
specified. This is based on vin position, sample vin, assigned value code,
weight factor and multiply assigned value times weight factors. The values are added and the total is divided by 11. The remainder is the check digit number.
The correct numeric remainder – zero through nine (0–9) will appear.
However, if the remainder is 10 the letter “X” is used to designate the check
digit value/number.

10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994®, 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)———2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)

11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.

12th to 17th characters- VIS – Vehicle Identifier Section. The last 8 characters of the VIN are used for the identification a of specific vehicle. The last four characters shall always be numeric. Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled off the manufacturers assembly line.

Here is my source for the above. It has a lot more information worth looking over too.
——

Typically you will find a vehicle information label or plate stuck either to the inside edge of your passenger door or the door pillar. It will include your VIN, date of manufacture, place of manufacture, recommended tire size, recommended tire pressure, among other things. You will be surpirised that some model year vehicles have a manufacture date of as much as 10 months earlier. For example, a MY2005 Scion may have a manufacture date of April 2004 on said label.

You can’t always depend on registration to tell the model date of a car. My 1961 M-B 190D is actually registered as a 1962 model, despite the obvious differences (‘62s are “tailfin” models). The car wasn’t registered in the US until 1962, my uncle bought it new in Germany in 1961.

There is usually a sticker on the driver side door or door jamb that can tell you what the year of manufacture is.

Just use a VIN Decoder. toyotavindecoder.com has a pretty good one on their page: http://toyotavindecoder.com/vincheck/