The Truckaurbus score, and the eight pillars under it

Every vehicle carries one score out of five, built from eight pillars: performance, mileage, cabin, reliability, service, resale, value and safety. The single number is there for a glance; the pillars are there because a truck that is wonderful to drive and expensive to service is two different facts, and averaging them hides both.

Each pillar blends our own assessment with the operators' voice from real comments, and the per-pillar arithmetic is shown rather than asserted. The voice is pooled across the family and pulled gently towards a neutral middle, so two glowing comments cannot outshout twenty measured ones. Where there is neither a voice nor an assessment, the pillar carries a provisional three and says so.

Our verdict is written by the desk, marked as ours, and kept beside what people say rather than mixed into it. You are entitled to weigh the two differently, and the page is laid out so that you can.