How we test car products
With 125 years experience, you can trust our verdicts - but how do we come to them?
Autocar has over 125 years of experience in testing new and used cars – and now we’re bringing the same rigorous testing to a large range of automotive products. That means when our team of product testing experts deliver their verdict, it’s one you can certainly trust.
Our tests cover a wide range of automotive products, covering car care kit such as polishes and snow foam, tech including dashboard-cams and smart battery chargers, through to tool kits, pressure washers and much more besides.
-Which products are tested?-
An Autocar product test starts with our reviewers drawing on their own knowledge and experience to research the most important, latest and biggest-selling items are covered, which is especially important where there are hundreds – or even thousands – of some types of product. This is all in the interest of making it as easy as possible for you to select the very best product for your needs.
We start by using our experience and expertise to understand how motorists really use a product and the features. Only then can we start to plan out a robust testing regime, which vary enormously depending on the type of product being tested.
We’ll consider every aspect of the product, from the quality of construction to how comprehensive the instruction or safety information is. For example, it’s not enough to know how well an alloy wheel cleaner can shift dirt; to deliver our definitive verdict we’ll calculate how long it takes to work, the amount of wiping or rinsing required and even what it smells like.
Our product tests consider the features a product has, whether it’s worth paying a premium for them and how useful they are. And our final verdicts will always take price into account so you can trust us to recommend the best-value products.
-Where to buy-
We don’t just tell you whether an automotive product is any good, we’ll show you where you can buy it, too. That means it could be possible to read our product test in the morning and have it delivered to your door the very next day.
Where possible we’ll show you a range of retailers, allowing you to select the best price or the most suitable delivery or collection option for you.
We do this by using an affiliate link, which means that we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase at absolutely no cost to you. And rest assured, our product tests are delivered with the expertise, experience and rigour of any other test on autocar.co.uk, and are never influenced or driven by affiliate deals or commercial or advertising relationships.
