Long Live Niche Vehicles: Used Car Market Becoming Increasingly More Diverse

• Audi A6 receives the title for "Best of All Classes"
• Evaluation according to mileage – ignoring problems caused by owner
• Report available as a free app and online, also in a special edition of ams

The used car market in Germany is booming – and also becoming increasingly diverse. As a consequence, the DEKRA Used Car Report 2016, which was released today by the expert organization, again sees a larger number of vehicle models. A total of 474 models are listed this year whereas, five years ago, this number stood at 232. In addition, new special evaluations and vehicle classes are being added on a regular basis. The latest addition for 2016 is the special evaluation "Vintage Cars." As a result, the report, which gives used car buyers information about the reliability of individual vehicle models, gives an increasingly sophisticated view of the diversity that characterizes the market.

For the used car report, DEKRA experts evaluate the results of a total of around 15 million main inspections conducted over two years. Only faults that are relevant for evaluating vehicle models are included in the statistics. Typical maintenance faults that can more likely be attributed to the owner than the vehicle itself are not taken into account. Figures for a particular model are only displayed in the report if DEKRA experts have checked at least 1,000 vehicles of this model within a specific mileage range over the evaluation period.

The DEKRA Fault Index (DFI) has been the key figure for the holistic evaluation for many years now. It calculates the percentage of vehicles without relevant faults as well as the percentage of vehicles with significant faults. To calculate the DFI, the “without relevant faults” percentage value is deducted from the “with significant faults” value. This gives the faults classed as “significant” a greater weighting in the evaluation.

An effective comparison is made possible through a total of nine different vehicle classes, from small cars to vans. Furthermore, the vehicle tests for the DEKRA Used Car Report have always been evaluated in terms of mileage, as according to the experts mileage has more of an effect on a vehicle's susceptibility to faults than its age. The nine vehicle classes are differentiated into three mileage categories (0 to 50,000 km, 50,001 to 100,000 km and 100,001 to 150,000 km).

The vehicles with the best DEKRA Fault Index in the individual vehicle classes (normally in the 0 to 50,000 km mileage range):

Vehicle Class (Number of Models in Report) | Winner | DFI
Minis/Small Cars (56) | Toyota Yaris | 92,7
Compact Class (45) | Honda Civic | 94,8
Medium-sized Class (33) | Volvo S60/V60 | 96,6
Upper Medium Class/Upper Class (16) | Mercedes-Benz CLS | 98,3
Sports Cars/Cabrio (17) | Mercedes-Benz SLK | 98,3
Off-roaders/SUV (53) | Mercedes-Benz M-Klasse | 98,5
Hatchbacks (47) | Mercedes-Benz B-Klasse | 98,5
Small Vans (23) | Opel Combo | 84,8
Vans (15) | Renault Master | 80,4

The vehicle that achieves the best evaluation results on average across all vehicle classes and all three mileage categories receives the title “Best of All Classes”. This year, the title went to the Audi A6 (DFI: 94.4), beating the Mercedes-Benz E-Class (93.0) and the Audi Q5 (89.0). The basis for evaluation in this category is a comprehensive usage period from 0 to 150,000 km. This makes for reliable information over longer mileages.

The results of the DEKRA Used Car Report 2016 are now available online at www.gebrauchtwagenreport.com. The free app for iPhone and iPad as well as for Android devices is also available in the new version on the appropriate platforms. To mark the publication, a special edition of the magazine auto motor und sport devoted to the DEKRA Used Car Report is on sale in Germany from today.