How to find a fair used car price from the data

You can't tell whether the price in an ad is fair from one ad, or even from three. You need to see what similar cars are offered for, ideally across all marketplaces at once. Carnado stores listing prices from European marketplaces, so it can show the price range and how it changes over time. Here is how to work with it.

Where to find the numbers.

• The used car market shows the overall picture: how many cars are on offer, the middle price, year and mileage, prices by country and fuel, and the models that get cheaper most often. The figures are recalculated every six hours.
• Price trends show how the price of a specific model develops in a chosen country, optionally with a fuel filter.
• Model pages, for example used Škoda Octavia, have statistics right next to the newest listings.

How to read the median and the P10–P90 band. The middle price is the median: half of the cars are cheaper, half dearer. Unlike an average, a few extremely expensive or suspiciously cheap cars don't throw it off. The grey band in the chart is the P10–P90 range, meaning the middle 80 % of listings. A car below the lower edge deserves the question why (an accident, an import with an unknown history, high mileage, a typo in the ad). A car above the upper edge should have a reason, such as equipment, low mileage or a documented service history.

Compare like with like. The median for a whole model is only a starting point. In search set the same range of year and mileage, the fuel, gearbox and, if needed, power, and only then look at prices. A 2.0 TDI automatic estate and a 1.0 TSI hatchback are two different cars as far as price goes.

Watch the share of price cuts. In the trends you see what share of cars was cut in price during the period. If a model gets cut often, sellers are shifting it more slowly and you have more room to negotiate. In search you can switch on the Price dropped only filter and see the cars that have already been cut.

What the data can't tell you. An asking price is not a selling price: we don't know what a car finally sold for. Prices in other currencies are converted at an approximate rate, so for foreign cars allow for import costs. We leave listings without a price and obvious typos out of the statistics. And no table shows the condition of a specific car, that is what the pre-purchase checklist is for.

How far back the history goes. With a free account you see trends for the last 30 days. Plus and Dealer have a longer history, or you can unlock it for one model with credits. Details are on the pricing page.

Have a specific ad and aren't sure the price is right? Post the car's details (model, year, mileage, engine, equipment) and the price here, so others can take a look too.