ForCar Blog — real data on buying used cars

Which years to avoid, what holds its value, how to read a VIN, the cheapest cars to insure — no fluff, backed by our own reliability, value and NHTSA data.

Average used car price by model year showing depreciation floor
Depreciation & Value

Cars Stop Losing Value at About Sixteen Years Old. Then They Start Gaining.

Depreciation is described as a curve that flattens towards zero. Plotted against actual listings it doesn't flatten — it turns around and goes back up.

Aug 30, 2026 · 2 min
Used car models with the highest branded title rates
Buying Guides

One in Five Subaru Crosstreks for Sale Has Been Written Off and Rebuilt

Branded titles cluster on specific models rather than spreading evenly. The four at the top of the list got there for four completely different reasons.

Aug 30, 2026 · 2 min
Owner complaints per production year by warranty length
Reliability

Brands With 10-Year Warranties Get Four Times More Complaints Than Brands With 4-Year Ones

A long warranty reads as a statement of confidence. Lined up against the complaint record, the relationship runs the other way, and there's a reasonable explanation for it.

Aug 29, 2026 · 2 min
Average age and price of used cars by paint colour
Depreciation & Value

Silver Was the Colour of the 2000s. It's Now the Oldest Paint on the Market.

Paint colours don't disappear overnight, they age out. Sorting the used market by average vehicle age turns a colour chart into a timeline of what was fashionable when.

Aug 29, 2026 · 2 min
VIN world manufacturer identifier codes by country and brand
VIN & History

By Its VIN Codes, Chrysler Is a Mexican Brand

The first three characters of a VIN say who built the car and where. Counting them by brand produces a map of manufacturing that doesn't match any brand's marketing.

Aug 29, 2026 · 2 min
Cars with the longest single production generation
Comparisons

The Nissan GT-R Went 15 Years Without a New Generation

Cars normally get replaced every five to seven years. A few stayed on sale essentially unchanged for over a decade, and what they have in common isn't neglect.

Aug 29, 2026 · 2 min
Number of distinct models per brand in VIN lookups
VIN & History

BMW Sells 104 Different Models. RAM Sells 10. Both Get Checked the Same Amount.

Two brands can command the same amount of buyer attention and organise it completely differently. One sells a catalogue, the other sells a handful of things very hard.

Aug 29, 2026 · 2 min
Vehicles with the lowest rollover crash test ratings
Reliability

One Vehicle on Sale Today Has a One-Star Rollover Rating. It's a Van People Buy for Work.

Nearly every vehicle scores four or five stars on everything. Searching for the exceptions turns up exactly one, and it's not a sports car or a supermini.

Aug 28, 2026 · 2 min
Car insurance premium volatility by state 2019 to 2023
Ownership Costs

Every State's Insurance Whipsawed Through the Pandemic. Hawaii Didn't Notice.

Insurance premiums fell when nobody drove, then jumped when repair costs exploded. One state sat the entire cycle out, and its reasons are worth understanding.

Aug 28, 2026 · 2 min
GMC Sierra versus Chevrolet Silverado price premium by model year
Depreciation & Value

In 2015 the GMC Badge Was Worth Nothing. By 2025 It Was Worth 75%.

The Sierra and the Silverado are the same truck with different grilles. What that grille costs has changed completely in a decade, and only in one direction.

Aug 28, 2026 · 2 min
Used car price by mileage band around 100000 miles
Depreciation & Value

Crossing 100,000 Miles Costs $882. The Next 10,000 Cost Nothing.

Mileage should erode value smoothly. Around one specific number it doesn't — the price steps down, then stops moving, and the number turns out to have six digits.

Aug 28, 2026 · 1 min
Motorcycle recalls per model by brand
Reliability

Motorcycles Get 2 Recalls per Model. Cars Get 30. Triumph Gets 8.8.

Bikes are subject to the same federal safety system as cars and appear in it far less. The gap says something about how the system works, and the spread between brands says something else.

Aug 28, 2026 · 2 min