Caveat Emptor

[flynrider]

Looks like the law in Australia might vary from State to State, but it appears the onus is on the buyer to check:

compliance date: the year in which the vehicle met Australian Design Rules and was certified legal for Australian Roads,
year of manufacture (build date): the month/year in which the vehicle was actually manufactured, and
model year: it's not clear what that is, but I'd have thought it can't be after the build date.

However, it would appear it's illegal in Australia to misrepresent the model year and I'd be a bit surprised if that isn't also the case in NZ. If it's bugging you Tyke, you should definitely check with consumer affairs. On it's face, it's hard to see how Honda could legally sell you a 2013 model when it's unlikely that model year was ever imported to the country. It seems to me there's a misrepresentation there.

For what it's worth, I'd be pissed about it, but I'd try really hard to focus on how much I really enjoyed the bike before I had that bit of information. Nothing about the bike or how great it is to ride is changed by that.

Keep smiling.

It is possible for the year model to be later than the build date.

Model year is what the manufacturer uses to separate the features available from year to year. For example, standard CB11s in the U.S. will have the new instrument panel not available in earlier years. These will be called 2014 models and will have an "E" in the year model digit of the VIN (and U.S. VINs will have a large "2014" on the VIN plate).

Manufacturers often begin building new models prior to the official model year. In the U.S. cars for a model year usually start rolling off the assembly line beginning in October of the previous year. Honda does this as well. My CB750 is a '93 model, with all of the characteristics unique to the '93 models, but the build date is 10/92.

Thanks, Flynrider. That makes sense. I'm not sure Tyke's case meets that perfectly reasonable test: he bought a bike he believed to a 2013 model that was, in fact, manufactured in 2011. I don't know for sure, but I suspect NZ was like Australia and Honda imported the CB1100 in 2010 and 2011 and then stopped.

I guess the question is whether Tyke was misled. That's a discussion he might want to have with NZ's consumer affairs.

Tyke, this page has some pointers: http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/for-c...e-vehicle.

I'm no lawyer, but I suspect any claim will turn on whether you were misled and suffered some detriment from it. Maybe you could ride to the Consumer Affairs department. It might be enjoyable and you could ask your questions.

I agree completely. He posted his VIN in another thread and it is clearly a 2011 model. I'm not sure how these things would work in NZ, but in the U.S. if you had a sales contract that stated the vehicle was a 2013 model and it turned out to be a 2011 model, that would be proof that you were mislead.