How we estimate prices and check cars
AskCar brings together UK dealer adverts, price history and recorded MOT information to help you assess a used car.
Market coverage and updates
We cover over 99% of UK dealer used-car listings, monitoring over 10,000 dealership locations daily. This coverage figure refers to listings, not the percentage of dealerships. It excludes private sales and cars not advertised for sale.
Our dataset dated 18 October 2026 contains 584,444 live listings from 13,038 identified dealership locations. Each identified location is counted once, regardless of how many cars it advertises. Locations without a confirmed identity are excluded from this location count.
We refresh our stock data daily. Each update is checked before it replaces the previous dataset. The stock observation date records which dataset a listing uses. A dealer may change a price or sell a car between updates, so confirm the current details with the dealer.
What the price estimate means
We estimate a market asking price using UK dealer adverts. This is an advertised price, not a confirmed sale price or a promise of what a car will sell for.
The calculation accounts for make, model, trim, version, age, mileage, fuel, gearbox, body type, driven wheels, engine size and power. It learns how age and mileage affect different makes and models, and uses broader market patterns where a specification has few examples.
The listing count in an overview is the number of adverts of that make and model used by the pricing calculation, across different ages and specifications. They are not all exact matches. We only show a model-based estimate where there is enough supporting data.
We filter unsuitable prices and avoid counting the same car repeatedly in market comparisons. Condition, service history, optional equipment and dealer extras may still affect an individual car's price. The estimate does not directly assess those details.
Other matching cars
This comparison uses cars with the same make, model, year, trim, gearbox and fuel. Their mileage and other specifications can differ. We show their mileage alongside their prices where it is available. Two high-mileage cars asking less do not, by themselves, establish the right price for a low-mileage car.
Mileage and MOT checks
We compare mileage with other cars of the same make, model and year. The typical mileage is the middle reading in that group. We only make this comparison when there are enough records.
Separately, we compare the advertised mileage with the latest recorded MOT reading. We flag an advertised reading more than 500 miles below that record, allowing a small margin for rounding and data-entry differences. A consistent reading is not proof of the car's complete mileage history.
An MOT expiry date comes from the recorded test information. A current MOT is not a guarantee of the car's condition. Missing information is not treated as a passed check.
Advert dates and price history
We use the advert dates available in our records to calculate how long a car has been advertised. Price history shows the asking prices recorded on each observation date; a change may have happened between observations. The reduction in an overview is the difference between the first recorded asking price and the current asking price. It is not the sum of every price cut.
A long advertising period and a price reduction may give you a reason to discuss the price. They do not mean the dealer will accept a lower offer.
How the overview is written
Our overviews use factual templates filled with each car's data. Wording can vary, but the facts and checks stay the same. Missing facts are omitted and concerns are included.