backend/src/features/vehicles/domain/vehicles.service.ts

@@ -648,11 +648,12 @@ export class VehiclesService {
            engine_type = EXCLUDED.engine_type,
            body_type = EXCLUDED.body_type,
            raw_data = EXCLUDED.raw_data,
-           cached_at = NOW()`,
-        [vin, response.make, response.model, response.year, response.engine, response.bodyType, JSON.stringify(response)]
+           cached_at = NOW()
+         WHERE (vin_cache.raw_data->>'confidence')::float <= $8`,
+        [vin, response.make, response.model, response.year, response.engine, response.bodyType, JSON.stringify(response), response.confidence ?? 1]
       );
 
-      logger.debug('VIN cached', { vin });
+      logger.debug('VIN cached', { vin, confidence: response.confidence });
     } catch (error) {
       logger.error('Failed to cache VIN data', { vin, error });
       // Don't throw - caching failure shouldn't break the decode flow
@@ -741,6 +742,12 @@ export class VehiclesService {
     const sourceEngine = response.engine;
     const sourceTransmission = response.transmission;
 
+    logger.debug('VIN decode raw values', {
+      vin: response.vin,
+      year: sourceYear, make: sourceMake, model: sourceModel,
+      trim: sourceTrim, confidence: response.confidence
+    });
+
     // Year is always high confidence if present (exact numeric match)
     const year: MatchedField<number> = {
       value: sourceYear,
@@ -854,6 +861,26 @@ export class VehiclesService {
       return { value: containsMatch, sourceValue, confidence: 'medium' };
     }
 
+    // Try reverse contains - source value contains option (e.g., source "X5 xDrive35i" contains option "X5")
+    // Prefer the longest matching option to avoid false positives (e.g., "X5 M" over "X5")
+    const reverseMatches = options.filter(opt => {
+      const normalizedOpt = opt.toLowerCase().trim();
+      return normalizedSource.includes(normalizedOpt) && normalizedOpt.length > 0;
+    });
+    if (reverseMatches.length > 0) {
+      const bestMatch = reverseMatches.reduce((a, b) => a.length >= b.length ? a : b);
+      return { value: bestMatch, sourceValue, confidence: 'medium' };
+    }
+
+    // Try word-start match - source starts with option + separator (e.g., "X5 xDrive" starts with "X5 ")
+    const wordStartMatch = options.find(opt => {
+      const normalizedOpt = opt.toLowerCase().trim();
+      return normalizedSource.startsWith(normalizedOpt + ' ') || normalizedSource.startsWith(normalizedOpt + '-');
+    });
+    if (wordStartMatch) {
+      return { value: wordStartMatch, sourceValue, confidence: 'medium' };
+    }
+
     // No match found - return source value as hint with no match
     return { value: null, sourceValue, confidence: 'none' };
   }

frontend/src/features/vehicles/components/VehicleForm.tsx

@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ export const VehicleForm: React.FC<VehicleFormProps> = ({
   const [isDecoding, setIsDecoding] = useState(false);
   const [showUpgradeDialog, setShowUpgradeDialog] = useState(false);
   const [decodeError, setDecodeError] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [decodeHint, setDecodeHint] = useState<string | null>(null);
 
   // VIN OCR capture hook
   const vinOcr = useVinOcr();
@@ -524,6 +525,7 @@ export const VehicleForm: React.FC<VehicleFormProps> = ({
 
     setIsDecoding(true);
     setDecodeError(null);
+    setDecodeHint(null);
 
     try {
       const decoded = await vehiclesApi.decodeVin(vin);
@@ -588,6 +590,21 @@ export const VehicleForm: React.FC<VehicleFormProps> = ({
         setValue('transmission', decoded.transmission.value);
       }
 
+      // Check if decode returned data but matching failed for key fields
+      const hasMatchedValue = decoded.year.value || decoded.make.value || decoded.model.value;
+      const hasSourceValue = decoded.year.sourceValue || decoded.make.sourceValue || decoded.model.sourceValue;
+      if (!hasMatchedValue && hasSourceValue) {
+        const parts = [
+          decoded.year.sourceValue,
+          decoded.make.sourceValue,
+          decoded.model.sourceValue,
+          decoded.trimLevel.sourceValue
+        ].filter(Boolean);
+        setDecodeHint(
+          `Could not match VIN data to dropdowns. Decoded as: ${parts.join(' ')}. Please select values manually.`
+        );
+      }
+
       setLoadingDropdowns(false);
       isVinDecoding.current = false;
     } catch (error: any) {
@@ -671,6 +688,9 @@ export const VehicleForm: React.FC<VehicleFormProps> = ({
         {decodeError && (
           <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-red-600 dark:text-red-400">{decodeError}</p>
         )}
+        {decodeHint && (
+          <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-amber-600 dark:text-amber-400">{decodeHint}</p>
+        )}
         {vinOcr.error && (
           <p className="mt-1 text-sm text-red-600 dark:text-red-400">{vinOcr.error}</p>
         )}