News & analysis
Buying, fraud and the cars worth knowing about.
Long-form pieces from our analysts and editors. Updated weekly.
Buying guide
How to spot an odometer rollback in 90 seconds
Three things to check on a test drive that catch 80% of cases — without specialist tools.
Tomás Reilly·6 May 2026·6 min read
Read articleFraud watch
The Manchester finance loophole, three years later
We tracked 412 vehicles sold privately while still on outstanding HP. Here's where they ended up.
Helen Yu·28 Apr 2026·11 min read
Read articleModel deep dive
2018–2020 Civic: the cleanest used car on UK forecourts?
A look at 18,000 UK reports against the Civic of those years.
D. Markham·17 Apr 2026·8 min read
Read articleReference
Cat A, B, S, N — what each insurance write-off actually means for the buyer
Plain English on the four ABI categories, with worked examples and the questions to ask before viewing.
Helen Yu·8 Apr 2026·9 min read
Read articleFraud watch
Plate cloning is up 47% in 2026. Here's how to tell.
Cloned cars look right on paper. We walk through six tells, in order of cost to verify.
Tomás Reilly·2 Apr 2026·7 min read
Read articleBuying guide
The 12-point pre-purchase checklist we run on every car ourselves
What we ask the seller, what we check on viewing, and what we run before any money moves.
D. Markham·24 Mar 2026·12 min read
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