How do people tell different versions of the same car apart?

Posted by Alternative-Hall1719@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 6 comments

This might be obvious, but I keep running into this when looking at cars. A car can have the same name for years, but the design changes a lot. Sometimes the old and new versions almost look like different cars, but listings still just call them the same thing. Do people usually go by the year, the shape, generation or just the photos? for ex toyota prius or hyundai santa fe

Reply to Post

6 Comments

[-]

ObjectiveOk2072@reddit

Autism

[-]

Talentless_Cooking@reddit

This

[-]

Alternative-Hall1719@reddit (OP)

heheh..maybe

[-]

ObviousAlias7@reddit

Enthusiasts sometimes will keep track of model year changes and different trim and engine and performance packages. It's just one of those things they they do while learning about other aspects of the vehicles they are interested in. Because they "study" the differences, they can tell a specific model by the type of wheel on eh vehicle, or a visible external feature that only one trim has, and can narrow it down. The manufacturer might change the grill one year, or have certain colors available. Some folks just learn all these little changes, memorize it, and can ID a car based on it.

[-]

sosik66@reddit

Car people usually use the manufacturer codes to specify. These can carry many information and even allow to specify engine or body style. So a 3 series bmw can be specified to be a E36, E46, E90... A miata can be a NB1 or a NC2.5 (the numbers her being facelift/refreshes in a single generation,this being the B/C letters). Some car manufacturers specify engines in the codes, like toyota there are MA70 and JZA80 supras where the 70/80 is the generation and M/JZA is the engine-family code. As for the body style a e90 is a generation of the 3 series bmw, e91 is a wagon, e92 is a coupe...

[-]

Successful_Piano8118@reddit

2 major ways. The year and the trim levels. Cars generally have this particular method of progression Model introduced. After a few years, they refresh it with a new look (new lights or different bumper) but it's still platform.wise the same car After another few years, becomes 2nd generation..this will be a new or highly updated platform with different engines, interior and body. This repeats To further change things for a model, they will have different trims that range from the low budget to the ultra high performance/luxury of the model. Take the c8 Corvette. It's the 8th generation (hence C8). It ranges from 2020-2026+ There's several trim levels. The base stingray, Eray(recently replaced with refresh), Z06, ZR1, ZR1X with the ZR1x being the highest level and the stingray being the lowest . You can tell the differencez between them from details like the body panels (big wing) to the exhaust and brakes( zr1s have huge alcon brakes)