Buy, hold or wait?
The verdict reads the shape of a model's depreciation curve at the age you're looking at. The key number is the forward annual loss — how much value the car is still shedding each year from that point on, not the steep early drop a previous owner already absorbed.
- Buy — the steep drop is over and the annual loss is small, on a model with decent reliability. Most of the depreciation is behind it.
- Wait — value is still falling quickly at that age. A slightly older example is usually the better value.
- Hold — fair value, with the sweet spot flagged where the curve flattens.
A shrinking UK parc (the model getting scarce) and a strong reliability score both nudge the verdict toward Buy; a growing parc with fast losses nudges it toward Wait.
Best Buys & Best Sells
The homepage leaderboards rank the whole catalogue on one honest axis: each model's forward annual depreciation. Best buys are dependable models that have stopped falling — the smallest annual losses, on cars with a reliability floor and a healthy parc. Best sells are still-wanted models with the steepest fall still ahead — if you own one, the data says now is a sensible time to sell.
Which cars become reports
The weekly report picks its subject by archetype. For a reliability piece we deliberately favour dependable, well-evidenced mainstream cars — weighted by reliability score, real MOT test history and UK parc — rather than letting an electric or multi-powertrain bonus float a niche model to the top.