Kia EV Forum banner

EVSIX stock/inventory/allocation/vin lookup tool

18K views 73 replies 26 participants last post by  BlueDish 
#1 · (Edited)
It's been a while since I started this project and I'm still far from done with everything I want to add to it, but I think it's currently "good-enough" to share with the community. It's a tough market out there and I hope this will help you level the playing field when working with dealers asking for ridiculous markups by giving you an idea of what is out there in terms of stock as well as what's coming soon. I had so many dealers assuring me that "this is the only one in the county/state/country/etc" when I was searching and it was almost never true, if ever.

Some background
I started this project back when I was looking for an EV6 of my own. As soon as EV6's started hitting the lots, I started collecting data on VINs around me up to a few states away so I could get an idea of what dealer had the exact configuration(s) I was interested in--we've all see the ridiculous markups so this info was essential for any attempt at negotiations. Although my early data set was pretty specific, eventually I transitioned to nationwide data as I tried to help others locate their own preferred configuration. At some point after I started collecting data, I came a cross a neat tool the Telluride folks put together; the mission seemed similar to what I was going for, but it was specific to Tellurides and we're looking for EV6's here. The EV Finder added EV6 support eventually as well and although it was similar to what I was working on, I still wanted more options to filter on (specifically... installed options), so I kept gathering data and continued to put the project off to when I had more time. While I putz around not doing anything more interesting than continuing to collect data, another website popped up that offered a peek at EV6 VINs that weren't in the Kia online inventory search yet, but kept the data behind a paywall--it was essentially the same data I had been tracking, but behind a paywall and it seemed like all you really got was a spreadsheet of VINs. Anywho, eventually I finally got to putting something together and here's what I came up with.

xisve.com (Search) (looks weird, but it's just "evsix" backwards, get it? ;))

What it is
  • EV6 search tool - looking for an EV6? Put in some search criteria and see if and where your desired configuration exists (or will soon)
  • VIN lookup tool (US only, for now) - enter an EV6 VIN, and get detailed info about it
  • FREEEEEE
How it's different than XYZ other tool
  • Search by installed options
  • See in stock, in transit, and even VINs that that haven't been loaded on a truck yet
  • A "best effort" is made to not overwhelm you with results and return cars that have likely already been sold
  • Did I mention it's free?
What it isn't
  • Reliable! Remember, this tool is free so you get what you pay for! Things may break, it may even disappear entirely someday, no warranty, guarantees, of accuracy, availability or otherwise are implied
    • On that note, an effort is made to provide accurate stock information, but this is all just data aggregated from different public sources so it's going to be as accurate as the sources--which I have found to often times not be that accurate
  • A window sticker lookup tool -- I am not planning on hosting window stickers for several reasons, but an effort is made to give you any info you might want from one
Other notes
  • Data is refreshed a few times a day, at random
  • Pre-transit means the VIN exists, but hasn't shown up as in-transit or in-stock yet. From looking at how long it takes for the average VIN to change to in-transit from this state, my best guess is that the car is at the port of entry by this point. I've seen some VINs go from this state to in-transit within a couple of days so there's a strong likelihood that it's several days after coming off of the production line.
  • In-transit likely means the VIN is on a truck and headed to it's destination dealer; again anecdotally, I've noticed the amount of time a VIN spends in transit is usually relational to the distance between the destination dealer and port of arrival.
  • In-stock doesn't always mean available for purchase... the car may already be sold or on hold well before arrival. Again, my best guess here is that in-stock means just means the dealer has received the car.
  • This is still a work in progress, but it's basically just a hobby for me that I work on when time allows (which isn't often). It's free and I plan on keeping it that way, but at the end of the day it costs me time and money to put it out there (domain name, server resources, etc.) so I do accept tips, but I do not and will not ever require it. The data itself is public and I don't claim ownership to it, thus I have no right to sell it in my opinion.
  • I will eventually open source this in a very generic form, but there's a lot of cleanup I have to do before I get there and working on my TODO list is a higher priority for me right now.
  • Feedback is welcome. If you have ideas on how to make this better, please feel free to let me know!

TODO (in no particular order of importance or priority)
  • Option to narrow down search to specific dealer Done
  • Ability to add multiple vehicle options to search criteria
  • Year support (2023 production hasn't begun yet, but once it does year will be included in results)
  • Better mobile view/support
  • Plot interesting statistics
  • FAQ
  • (Very) Basic support for non-US VIN decoding
  • In-general polish here and there, for example you may see a random ugly "File not found page" error, once in a while. You'll probably still get the error after the polish, but it'll at least be prettier!
  • Display average times for each state in detailed view
  • Option to "subscribe"/be alerted to status changes for any particular VIN
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Yeah those don't come from the JSON response. The dataset is a compound of several sources, the inventory site is one, window stickers and dealer websites are others. Each individual source has a part of the story and the intersection of multiple sources over time is what helps to get an idea of the current states in the pipeline. Having tracked the data for so long also reveals trends and patterns that helps the guess as well.
 
#4 ·
It's been a while since I started this project and I'm still far from done with everything I want to add to it, but I think it's currently "good-enough" to share with the community. It's a tough market out there and I hope this will help you level the playing field when working with dealers asking for ridiculous markups by giving you an idea of what is out there in terms of stock as well as what's coming soon. I had so many dealers assuring me that "this is the only one in the county/state/country/etc" when I was searching and it was almost never true, if ever.

Some background
I started this project back when I was looking for an EV6 of my own. As soon as EV6's started hitting the lots, I started collecting data on VINs around me up to a few states away so I could get an idea of what dealer had the exact configuration(s) I was interested in--we've all see the ridiculous markups so this info was essential for any attempt at negotiations. Although my early data set was pretty specific, eventually I transitioned to nationwide data as I tried to help others locate their own preferred configuration. At some point after I started collecting data, I came a cross a neat tool the Telluride folks put together; the mission seemed similar to what I was going for, but it was specific to Tellurides and we're looking for EV6's here. The EV Finder added EV6 support eventually as well and although it was similar to what I was working on, I still wanted more options to filter on (specifically... installed options), so I kept gathering data and continued to put the project off to when I had more time. While I putz around not doing anything more interesting than continuing to collect data, another website popped up that offered a peek at EV6 VINs that weren't in the Kia online inventory search yet, but kept the data behind a paywall--it was essentially the same data I had been tracking, but behind a paywall and it seemed like all you really got was a spreadsheet of VINs. Anywho, eventually I finally got to putting something together and here's what I came up with.

xisve.com (Search) (looks weird, but it's just "evsix" backwards, get it? ;))

What it is
  • EV6 search tool - looking for an EV6? Put in some search criteria and see if and where your desired configuration exists (or will soon)
  • VIN lookup tool (US only, for now) - enter an EV6 VIN, and get detailed info about it
  • FREEEEEE
How it's different than XYZ other tool
  • Search by installed options
  • See in stock, in transit, and even VINs that that haven't been loaded on a truck yet
  • A "best effort" is made to not overwhelm you with results and return cars that have likely already been sold
  • Did I mention it's free?
What it isn't
  • Reliable! Remember, this tool is free so you get what you pay for! Things may break, it may even disappear entirely someday, no warranty, guarantees, of accuracy, availability or otherwise are implied
    • On that note, an effort is made to provide accurate stock information, but this is all just data aggregated from different public sources so it's going to be as accurate as the sources--which I have found to often times not be that accurate
  • A window sticker lookup tool -- I am not planning on hosting window stickers for several reasons, but an effort is made to give you any info you might want from one
Other notes
  • Data is refreshed a few times a day, at random
  • Pre-transit means the VIN exists, but hasn't shown up as in-transit or in-stock yet. From looking at how long it takes for the average VIN to change to in-transit from this state, my best guess is that the car is at the port of entry by this point. I've seen some VINs go from this state to in-transit within a couple of days so there's a strong likelihood that it's several days after coming off of the production line.
  • In-transit likely means the VIN is on a truck and headed to it's destination dealer; again anecdotally, I've noticed the amount of time a VIN spends in transit is usually relational to the distance between the destination dealer and port of arrival.
  • In-stock doesn't always mean available for purchase... the car may already be sold or on hold well before arrival. Again, my best guess here is that in-stock means just means the dealer has received the car.
  • This is still a work in progress, but it's basically just a hobby for me that I work on when time allows (which isn't often). It's free and I plan on keeping it that way, but at the end of the day it costs me time and money to put it out there (domain name, server resources, etc.) so I do accept tips, but I do not and will not ever require it. The data itself is public and I don't claim ownership to it, thus I have no right to sell it in my opinion.
  • I will eventually open source this in a very generic form, but there's a lot of cleanup I have to do before I get there and working on my TODO list is a higher priority for me right now.
  • Feedback is welcome. If you have ideas on how to make this better, please feel free to let me know!

TODO (in no particular order of importance or priority)
  • Option to narrow down search to specific dealer
  • Ability to add multiple vehicle options to search criteria
  • Year support (2023 production hasn't begun yet, but once it does year will be included in results)
  • Better mobile view/support
  • Plot interesting statistics
  • FAQ
  • (Very) Basic support for non-US VIN decoding
  • In-general polish here and there, for example you may see a random ugly "File not found page" error, once in a while. You'll probably still get the error after the polish, but it'll at least be prettier!
Thanks for that. Looks like a lot of work.
 
#9 ·
Who knows, maybe?! :) Save the VIN and look it up daily, while new VINs get added throughout the day, statuses get updated once a day.
Amazing.. If it's right I see the exact one that I ordered 2 weeks ago destined for my dealer, same color combo and options. It would make sense it's in Pre-Transit. But I see a VIN so I'm happy. Thanks! I wonder how long it will take from here, and yes I hope it's mine.
Unless it's at Brunswick, on average most VINs seem to change to in-transit within a week. Brunswick VINs on the other hand, well some have been there for over a month. 😶
 
#6 ·
Amazing.. If it's right I see the exact one that I ordered 2 weeks ago destined for my dealer, same color combo and options. It would make sense it's in Pre-Transit. But I see a VIN so I'm happy. Thanks! I wonder how long it will take from here, and yes I hope it's mine.
 
#12 ·
If you have a VIN, share it with me here or via DM and I'll dig into it. If you don't have a VIN, tell me the dealer and car details and I'll do a manual search. I had an early bug that led to several unshipped VINs getting marked as sold, that specific bug has since been fixed but I didn't correct the statuses on VINs already affected as they'll be updated automatically once they're in-transit.
 
#14 ·
It's also possible your configuration matched a build that was already being built for no dealer in particular and ended up getting sent to your dealer because of the match. I don't know how Kia handles this specifically, so I can't say with certainty that you got that lucky, but I can fill you with false hope!
 
#19 ·
...
What it isn't...
  • A window sticker lookup tool -- I am not planning on hosting window stickers for several reasons, but an effort is made to give you any info you might want from one...
Kia DTLA loads Window Stickers. It seems that VINs that are very new don't load, but those that have been around for a few days? (I'm not sure the exact timing) should load.

Here's the link with a vin they currently have on their site. You just replace this vin with whatever VIN you're looking for:
 
#29 · (Edited)
Even better, if you search for "api legacy pse windowsticker" you'll find you get results from several car dealership websites of all sorts of makes... pick one, and if you just change the make at the end, say "/windowsticker/ford", to "/windowsticker/kia" and provide a VIN for that make, you'll get a window sticker back :) . I noticed this when another Kia dealer website had a similar url for their window stickers as a Volvo dealer, and a Ford dealer, and a Toyota dealer (redirects to a Toyota api that seems to require authorization). Here's an example from a Ford dealer with the same Kia VIN you provided: https://www.hallmotorcompanyford.com/api/legacy/pse/windowsticker/kia?vin=KNDC44LA5N5061495
 
#20 ·
Any idea on how long from pre-transit to transit or other status? Just curious, ordered one last week and see a pre-transit matching those order specs for the dealer we ordered from. The info coming from the dealer is non-existent, not sure if they truly don't know, don't care, or are misleading. Anyway, thanks this is a great tool.
 
#21 ·
Check your dealer’s website to see if there is a unit listed matching the specs. As apollo mentions dealer sites are part of the data too. I think there is an NHTSA listing as well
I’m wondering how these “at sea” allocations work where dealers have no idea and it shows up …
 
#28 ·
Yeah that's a good call out. I settled on the term "pre-transit" because I noticed that the stage the car is in when a window sticker is available for it varies; sometimes it's available while the car is still on a ship, but close, and other times it's been much closer to the day that it seems to get on a truck and headed towards the dealer. I don't have insider knowledge of Kias operations so it's all speculation from my perspective. The in-transit and in-stock data comes directly from Kias inventory search but pre-transit is a blanket term I chose to cover any VIN that I haven't "seen" before/yet.

The stats I'd like to someday add are more like how many EV6s are coming in W color with X option and to Y state or Z dealer--something to give you an idea of how rare or common a combination is--for example it was interesting to see how many of the 1500 First Editions were what color and what state had the most sent there.

I also want to show an average of how long each leg of the journey might take from a VINs "date first seen" to "date first in-stock" based on relevant trends from past data, but that was originally a separate thought from the the general "interesting statistics" and something that I'll probably prioritize over general stats since it's likely of more value to more folks.

I do want to reiterate though that any of the info on xisve should be taken with a grain of salt if not just considered for entertainment value... It's not intended to be a source of truth, the idea behind it is to ultimately just provide easier access to some more or less crowd sourced and public info so that folks a better chance against shady dishonest dealers.
 
#41 ·
After doing a bunch of shopping around I found a dealer four hours away from me who is taking order at MSRP. I placed an order with $500 non-refundable (applied towards down payment) for a yacht blue wind RWD. My only concern is that hopefully by the time I get the car (4-6 months) the $7500 tax credit is still there.
 
#43 ·
Sorry about the slow progress, life has been busy... While I get around to adding full "search by dealer" support, I've added some very basic support for it as of today (but it's a manual approach right now)--add "&dealer=[dealer code]" to the URL (or "?dealer=[dealer code]" if you have no other filters set) to see results for a specific dealer only. For example: Search

Keep in mind that if you add the dealer code to a URL that already has some filters applied, you may end up with no results of there's nothing in stock or inbound to that dealer that matches your filter criteria (or if the dealer is just unfortunate enough to have no new allocation yet).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top