Car Checker started after trying to buy a used car myself and finding it harder than expected to tell the difference between a real known weak point and forum panic. This page explains how I try to make that judgment more systematic.
Every report is built for a specific engine variant and generation — not just a model name. A BMW 320d E90 and a BMW 320i E90 are different cars with different problems. We treat them that way.
Each report includes:
We estimate what a car costs per year assuming 15,000 km/year and a purchase point around 100,000 km. Costs are split into two parts:
Fixed costs cover the routine things an owner should expect to pay for: scheduled servicing, one set of tires, and a brake service. These are based on parts pricing and typical workshop rates in Germany.
Risk buffer covers the unexpected repair side of ownership. It is meant to reflect what might break beyond routine maintenance. Oil changes, tires, and brake pads sit in the fixed-cost side of the model, not in the risk buffer.
Every report shows a LOW and HIGH risk estimate:
These are not worst-case scenarios, and they are not a prediction that every listed issue will happen. The point is to show the spread between a car that is usually manageable and a car where the downside can get expensive quickly. Severity matters more than item count.
Each report is researched individually. The goal is not to repeat one forum thread or copy one database, but to cross-check the same issue across multiple places before it appears in a report.
Sources typically include:
These reports are not built from star ratings, reader votes, or a single crowd-sourced score. They are built from research and comparison.
One of the easiest ways to get this kind of site wrong is to treat every car in isolation. In reality, engines, gearboxes, and platforms often appear across multiple models. A shared engine should usually lead to broadly similar risk expectations unless there is a clear reason otherwise.
That is why new reports are checked against related cars from the same engine family, segment, and era to catch obvious outliers.
We do not test-drive every car or inspect every example in person. These reports are built from research, pattern-matching, and comparison — not from hands-on workshop inspection of each model covered on the site.
Cost estimates are based on German market pricing and workshop assumptions, so they will not map perfectly to every country. Individual car condition, service history, mileage, climate, and driving style can also move real-world costs up or down significantly.
Reports are snapshots. New recalls get issued, parts prices change, and owner communities uncover new failure patterns over time. We update reports when meaningful new information emerges, but we cannot guarantee that every page is always fully up to date.
If you find an error in a report — a wrong engine code, an outdated recall, a cost that seems off — please let us know at bram@percept-tech.com. We review and correct reports based on evidence.
If you want the backstory behind why this site exists, see the About page.