What people say: pillars, the board and our verdict

Each vehicle page carries what owners and drivers say about it, scored by pillar rather than as one star rating: pulling power, mileage, cabin and comfort, ride, service and parts, build, resale. A pillar only shows a score once it has five or more comments behind it, so a single loud opinion never becomes a number.

The board ranks every vehicle with enough comments this month by the mean of its scored pillars. It is refreshed every month and each month is kept as its own issue, so you can see whether a vehicle is improving or slipping rather than only where it stands today.

Beside what people say sits our own verdict, written by the desk and marked as ours. The two are kept apart on purpose: one is the road's opinion, the other is ours, and you are entitled to weigh them differently.