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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.

Complaints concentrated in a single model year for the RAM 2500
Reliability

The RAM 2500 Has 14 Model Years. One of Them Holds 54% of All the Complaints.

Model-level reliability scores average everything together. Broken out year by year, some models turn out to be fine except for a single catastrophic season.

Aug 25, 2026 · 2 min
EPA vehicle size classes by interior volume thresholds
Ownership Costs

The EPA Calls the Acura Integra a Large Car and the Cadillac ATS-V a Compact

Every fuel economy comparison you read is grouped by vehicle class. The classes are defined by a rule that produces results nobody would guess from looking at the cars.

Aug 24, 2026 · 2 min
Used electric car mileage compared to petrol by vehicle age
Comparisons

A Ten-Year-Old Electric Car Arrives With 34,000 Fewer Miles Than a Petrol One

Electric cars are cheaper per mile to run, so you'd expect owners to drive them more. Every year of the used market says the opposite, and the gap never closes.

Aug 24, 2026 · 2 min
EPA five year fuel savings compared to average vehicle by brand
Ownership Costs

72% of New Cars Cost More to Run Than the "Average Vehicle" They're Compared To

Every window sticker compares the car to an average vehicle and shows what you save. For most cars that number is negative, which raises a question about what the average is.

Aug 24, 2026 · 2 min
Tyre complaints as a share of all car complaints by era
Reliability

Tyres Were the 7th Biggest Source of Car Complaints. Then They Went to Zero.

Whole categories of car defect don't usually vanish. This one did, in about five years, and the reason is a single scandal that reshaped how tyres are monitored.

Aug 24, 2026 · 2 min
Share of used car listings from private sellers by city
Buying Guides

"Buy From a Private Seller" Is Impossible Advice in Half of America

The standard tip for saving money on a used car assumes private sellers exist near you. In several major markets they barely do, and the reason isn't what you'd guess.

Aug 24, 2026 · 2 min
Owner complaints per car model by model year
Reliability

Cars Built Between 2000 and 2006 Generated More Complaints Than Any Era Before or Since

Reliability is supposed to improve steadily. Plotting owner complaints per model against the year the car was built produces a hump in the middle that doesn't belong there.

Aug 23, 2026 · 2 min
Number of engine options per car model by year
Ownership Costs

Choosing Your Engine Used to Be Part of Buying a Car. That Ended in 2025.

Trim levels multiplied, colours multiplied, driver assistance packages multiplied. The one choice that actually changed how a car drives quietly disappeared in about five years.

Aug 23, 2026 · 2 min
What sellers do with price when relisting an unsold used car
Buying Guides

When a Car Doesn't Sell, 73% of Sellers Just Post It Again at the Same Price

A car that didn't sell is telling you something about its price. I tracked what sellers do about it, and the most popular response is to do nothing at all.

Aug 23, 2026 · 2 min
Vehicle recalls issued for incorrect labels by brand
Reliability

1,383 Recalls Were Issued Over a Sticker. Toyota Accounts for 333 of Them.

A report showing three open recalls sounds alarming. Some of those recalls are about a printed label being wrong, and nothing in the report tells you which is which.

Aug 23, 2026 · 2 min
Car insurance premium change by state 2019 to 2023
Ownership Costs

Fifty States Saw Insurance Rise. Michigan Is the One Where It Fell.

The state with a reputation for the most expensive car insurance in America is the only one that actually cut the bill. What changed there says a lot about which half of a policy is expensive.

Aug 23, 2026 · 2 min
Diesel share of US car models by decade
Ownership Costs

Diesel Peaked in America in 1984. Dieselgate Killed Something That Was Already Dead.

The story everyone tells is that Volkswagen's emissions scandal destroyed diesel in America. The share numbers say the collapse happened thirty years earlier and the scandal arrived at a funeral.

Aug 22, 2026 · 2 min