Methodology
How the prices, the risk levels and the issue records are produced — and where the current data is honest about being a placeholder.
Prices
Four figures per variant per model-year group, each with a fixed definition:
| Figure | Definition | What it means to a buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Low | 10th percentile of asking prices | High mileage, needs work, or a story. Sometimes the good buy with repairs pending. |
| Average | Median, not mean — the mean is dragged by outliers | What the market asks for a typical example. |
| High | 90th percentile | Low mileage, exceptional history, rare spec, or dealer-priced with a warranty. |
| Good buy | ~30th percentile, conditional on passing the variant's must-check list | The number this site exists to provide. |
Good buy is not cheapest. A car below the good-buy price with a €2,500 failure still owed is priced correctly, not cheap — and every variant page says so in those words, with the conditions attached. Where a sample would be under 30 cars the figure is flagged low confidence; today every figure here is flagged illustrative instead.
Prices are asking prices, not transaction prices. In the European used market, transaction prices typically sit a few percent below asking depending on segment and season. Region: Central EU, currency EUR, window rolling 12 months to 2026-07, last updated 2026-07-30. Anything older than 90 days would carry a staleness marker.
Price vocabulary
Four words, used identically across every page, tied to the bands above:
- cheap — below the low band. Assume a reason and find it.
- fair — within the band. Normal money for a normal car.
- good buy — at or under the good-buy figure, with the conditions met.
- overpriced — above the high band without the spec, history or warranty to justify it.
No synonyms. No “bargain”, no “priced to sell”, no “represents excellent value”.
Risk levels
Defined by money and probability rather than adjectives, and never shown without a written reason.
| Level | Label | Definition | Variants |
|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | Low risk | No common failure over €800. Normal wear items only. | 0 |
| R2 | Manageable | One or two known failures under about €1,500, documented and checkable before purchase. | 43 |
| R3 | Demands diligence | Multiple known failures, or one over about €2,000 that is common but detectable and often already fixed. | 73 |
| R4 | High risk | A common failure that is both expensive and hard to verify at viewing, or one that recurs. | 43 |
| R5 | Avoid unless documented | A failure that can total the car economically, with a high hit rate. Only buy with proof of the fix. | 12 |
Running cost is a separate axis, because a variant can be reliable and expensive, or fragile and cheap. Conflating the two is how buyer's guides end up recommending the wrong car.
Issues
Every issue is authored once against the part that carries it — engine, gearbox, chassis or shared component — and inherited by every variant with that part. Nothing is copied between variants; if it is being copied, it belongs a level up. That is why the 79 records here cover 171 variants without duplication, and why every issue page can list every car affected.
Each record carries an evidence tier:
- manufacturer — a recall, technical bulletin, extended coverage programme or revised part number.
- documented — workshop data or multiple independent sources.
- reported — owner consensus without hard confirmation. Never sets a risk level on its own.
Repair costs are ranges with a stated labour assumption (independent specialist, EU rates) and a date. The most operationally useful field is detectable at viewing — a €2,500 failure you can hear on a cold start is a negotiating position; a €900 one you cannot detect is a lottery ticket.
Issues are ranked by expected cost — likelihood × mid repair cost, doubled for walk-away items — rather than by how much attention a failure gets on forums.
What this is not
Estimates and general guidance. Not an inspection, not a valuation, not a warranty, and not a substitute for looking at the specific car with a scan tool and a lift. There are no listings, no affiliate links, no dealer partnerships and no accounts.
Corrections are welcome and get a dated note on the page. See coverage for what is in the database today and what is deliberately missing.