Every verdict on this site is computed, not written. This page is the complete formula.
Complaints, recalls, investigations: NHTSA public APIs. Fuel economy, range and annual fuel cost: EPA fueleconomy.gov. Raw responses are cached and versioned; every page links its sources.
score = 100 − complaint_penalty − recall_penalty. complaint_penalty = min(60, 60 × (complaints per year on road) ÷ 95th-percentile rate across our index). recall_penalty = min(30, 6 × severe_recalls + 2 × other_recalls). A recall is "severe" when its NHTSA summary matches fire / crash / injury / stall / brake-failure / steering-loss patterns.
BUY ≥ 70 · CAUTION 45–69 · AVOID < 45. Where complaint data is unavailable the verdict is DATA PENDING — never guessed.
Annual cost = EPA annual fuel/energy cost + an age-indexed maintenance band from industry averages (AAA "Your Driving Costs", CarMD Vehicle Health Index). Bands are labeled estimates. EV battery replacement ranges are researched per model and always labeled "estimate" with their source.
No fabricated numbers, no paid placement in verdicts, no AI-written filler prose. If data is missing we say so.
Questions: see about.