Methodology
How we work
Cars Like exists to be the most accurate vehicle comparison in Australia. A wrong spec, or a price attached to the wrong variant, destroys the whole point of a comparison, so accuracy is the standard everything else is built around. This page explains how the data behind every page is sourced, checked and corrected.
Where our data comes from
Specifications and pricing come from official, primary Australian sources: manufacturer websites and spec sheets, ANCAP for safety ratings, the Green Vehicle Guide for emissions and energy figures, and government and regulator data. Prices are captured as New South Wales drive-away figures (postcode 2000, private buyer) so that like is compared with like across brands, rather than mixing recommended retail with drive-away. Where a manufacturer publishes only a recommended retail price, we say so.
How we verify it
Every figure passes through a gated pipeline before it reaches a page: it is extracted from the source, staged, validated, and only then published. Facts are matched to the exact variant they belong to with strict confidence. If a value cannot be tied unambiguously to a specific variant, it is held back rather than guessed. Where a figure cannot be verified against a trusted source, we flag it instead of publishing a number we are not sure of. The aim at every step is to fail loud rather than ship a bad number.
How corrections work
When a value is wrong or out of date, it is logged with the correct figure and an Australian source, then applied through the same gated pipeline that governs every other fact. Corrections follow a clear source hierarchy: the Australian manufacturer or regulator comes first; market-invariant geometry such as dimensions, weights and angles may draw on the international manufacturer where the Australian source is silent; and independent Australian motoring press is used only as a last resort, only when two independent outlets agree, and never over an existing manufacturer figure.
How comparisons and verdicts are made
Comparisons put variants side by side on the same, consistently named fields, so a spec means the same thing whichever brand you are looking at. Verdicts are editorial judgements: we commit to a pick, say why, and name the boundary where a different buyer should choose differently. We take no payment to rank one car above another, and we are plain about what each car is good and bad at. Every page is scored for how much genuinely useful, first-hand information it adds before it is published; pages that do not clear that bar are not shipped.
Independence
Cars Like is independent. We accept no payment to influence a ranking or a verdict, and any commercial relationship that could affect content would be disclosed. The founder and Editor of Cars Like is Yuri Cartland, who is responsible for these standards, and whom you can read more about on our About page.
Accuracy, and its limits
We hold every figure to the standard above, but no comparison this size is ever perfect. A single vehicle can carry well over a hundred separate specifications, and across the catalogue we track tens of thousands of individual facts, all while manufacturers keep changing prices and specs. Despite our checks, some numbers will be wrong or out of date at any given moment.
So treat Cars Like as a strong, well-sourced starting point rather than the last word. If you’re making a purchase decision, confirm the details that matter to you with the manufacturer or dealer before you buy. And if you spot something wrong, or want to flag anything at all, email us at info@carslike.com.au and we’ll check it against the source.