Do you remember those videos of car dealerships left intact years after closing up shop? Well, this is far from a time capsule, even though there are plenty of vehicles in and around the building. Located somewhere in Germany, this showroom originally sold Ladas before upgrading to Kias. It was also a multi-brand service shop, hence the Volkswagen Passat V6 diesel wagon and a Nissan Almera hatchback.
The folks over at Forgotten Buildings on YouTube went inside this abandoned dealership. Legend has it that this was a family-owned business, but the two brothers had a brawl some 15 years ago and decided to part ways. The car dealership was allegedly shut down immediately, but the service shop continued.
There's a calendar dating back to December 16, 2019, which suggests customers were still fixing their cars long after the showroom had closed its doors. This would explain the discrepancy between the dealer-owned 2000s Kia Carnival minivan advertised as new and the more recent cars such as the Cee'd hatchback that didn't go on sale until 2012.
Although all cars have been vandalized, these abandoned vehicles haven't been dismantled. Thieves could've gotten a lot of spare parts to make a fast buck but that somehow didn't happen. We'll admit the video looks like an invitation to theft, but the warehouse has been largely emptied since the footage was shot. In addition, the location of the building is not known.
It's quite puzzling the owners didn't just sell everything and cut their losses. Chances are we'll never find out the full story behind the reason why the business was left for dead all of a sudden.
Food was still in the fridge while posters were hanging from the wall, including one of a glorious Kia Elan (Vigato in Japan). That promo image was taken in 1995 at the earliest since Lotus sold Kia the rights to the roadster after it ended production that year. The Kia-badged Elan was produced as a nearly identical car in South Korea until 1999.
There are also marketing materials for the Kia Clarus, Magentis, and Sorento, but also for the immortal Lada Niva, which is rather strange to see under the same roof.
