Hey guys,

I am really sorry if this is not the place to post this but i have no idea how to navigate this problem nor do i have a person to ask about this.

The problem:

On thursday i bought a car from a car dealership in Herning [https://www.procars.dk/](https://www.procars.dk/). I found the car on bilbasen and it was advertised as a 2021 model registered on 18.06.2021.

It’s a Kia Niro PHEV. It was advertised as a 2021 model. It was advertised as new and it only had 13 km on board. I have test driven it and after that i decided to buy.

After i checked that everything was ok i went home and i decided to check the VIN number of the car.

Apparently according to the VIN:
KNACD81DGL5401721 the model year of the car is 2020.

The 10 letter of the VIN being the model year.

i checked a lot of other 2020 cars on Biblasen and all of them have the “L” if they are advertised as 2020.

Every 2021 KIA or other cars have “M”.

In the contract that i signed with the dealership the model year stated is 2021.

https://preview.redd.it/0zw80sfn8iz81.png?width=381&format=png&auto=webp&s=42063a1bcd5eea4be75c2df3808147748044eed4

This seems like either a complete lie and false contract or something that i maybe am missing.

What would be the way to proceed with this ?

Much appreciated !

8 comments

  1. Model year != calendar year of manufacture.

    Basically, the model year of a car does not follow the calendar year. Most often, the model year change will be in the fall – but already now due to supply chain issues, many car manufacturers are already selling Model Year 23 cars. Some of them might not get delivered until 2023, but it’s often simply due to a rework of the standard equipment list etc.

    This is completely normal! (but confusing)

  2. Not directly what you’re asking for, but might be helpful anyways.

    I recently went shopping for a car, and ended in a similar situationen as you where the model nummer seemed to be one year newer than it actually was.

    Fortunately I didn’t buy it, since I noticed the mistake based on a missing feature. What I got from the experience was:

    1) The issue didn’t seem to be intentional.
    2) They used the first reg. date as the model year, which is not necessarily the same.

    I would suggest reaching out to the seller and see if you can negiotiate something, prehabs a compensation in cash. Given it’s a dealership, they might care to avoid a bad review (not that you should head in first with that)

    Best of luck!

  3. >What would be the way to proceed with this ?

    If it was me, the first I thing would do is to reach out to Kia Denmark.

    They will be able to confirm whether it’s a 20 or 21 model.

  4. A car can be produced the year before and the dealer can still advertize it as new. It depends on when it is registered or taxes paid.

  6. Not 100% sure, but it might be that there is a difference between the date the car left the factory and the date it was enter the local registration system.
    Again, if the car had 13 km I would assume it’s a new car.
    Bottom line, I think it’s ok .

  7. Just a heads up. There isnt any difference in the 2020 and 2021 models. It had a face lift in 2019 and after that they only changed it for the new 2022 model.

  8. 2021 models are produced in 2020. The first date of registration is in June 2021.

    Absolutely nothing wrong or anything to complain about. Congrats with the car – go enjoy it.

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