Price Predictor Report Explained: What Should You Pay?

A valuation tells you what a car is worth in theory. What you actually pay depends on what similar cars are being advertised for near you, right now. A dealer in one part of the country can hold out for more than a dealer in another, and a car that has sat unsold for two months is priced differently from one that arrived last week.

The Price Predictor answers one question: what should this car sell for at a dealer in my area, at this mileage, based on live market listings? This guide explains the two levels of the report, what each shows, where the data comes from, what a prediction cannot do, and how to use it when you make an offer.

1. What the Price Predictor Report Is

It is a paid report inside the SortedCars Paid Check builder. You enter the registration, tick the level you want, and the report is built while you wait and shown on screen. There are two levels, and you can buy either or both:

• Standard — £1.99. A single predicted retail price.
• Enhanced — £2.99. The predicted retail price plus the comparable adverts behind it: cars on sale now and cars recently advertised, each with price, mileage and days on market.

The card is headed “Price Predictor — What should you pay?” on the Paid Check page. It has one required input: a postcode. The prediction uses your area, so the builder will not run without it.

The prediction also uses the mileage you give. Enter the true odometer reading, because a car with 30,000 miles and a car with 90,000 miles are not the same car to the market.

2. What the Report Shows

The finished report opens with the vehicle details from the DVLA and DVSA, then the Standard section, then the Enhanced section if you bought it. Every screenshot below is sample data from our test environment: the registration is an official DVLA test number and the prices, mileages and days-on-market figures are fixed test records, not a real car and not real adverts.

Standard gives one figure: the predicted retail price, described in the report as what this car should sell for at a dealer, based on live market listings for your area and the mileage you entered. Nothing else — it is the quick answer.

Enhanced gives the same predicted retail price, adds how long similar cars take to sell, and then shows its working. Two lists follow:

Retail means a dealer forecourt price. It is not a private-sale figure and not a trade-in figure. If you are buying privately, expect to pay less than the prediction; if you are part-exchanging, expect to be offered less.

3. Why It Matters

Sellers price by looking at what other sellers are asking. Many buyers do not, so the seller starts the conversation knowing more than you do. The Price Predictor closes that gap. It tells you what the market in your area is asking for this car at this mileage, and with Enhanced it shows you the actual adverts, so you can see for yourself whether the asking price is in line, generous or hopeful.

It also tells you something about time. If similar cars take a month to sell, a seller who has had the car up for six weeks is more likely to move on price than one who listed it yesterday. Days on market is negotiating information you cannot get from the advert itself.

The other side of the coin: a car priced well below the prediction deserves a harder look, not a faster decision. Run the history checks in Car History before you assume you have found a bargain.

4. Where the Data Comes From

The prediction and the comparable adverts are provided by Marketcheck, built from live market listings for the area you give and the mileage you enter. The vehicle details at the top of the report come from the DVLA and DVSA.

SortedCars does not hold or create price predictions or advert data. We ask Marketcheck for the prediction at the moment you build the report and show you every value we receive. The report reflects the market as it stood when it was built.

5. What It Cannot Tell You

A prediction is a model of asking prices, and it has limits.

• It is not an offer, and it is not a valuation. Nobody is offering to buy or sell at the predicted figure. It is an estimate of what a dealer in your area should be asking, drawn from live listings.
• It is a retail figure only. It does not predict a private-sale price or what a dealer will give you in part-exchange. For those, the Current Valuation report gives a fuller ladder.
• It cannot see condition. The comparable adverts are matched on the car and the mileage, not on bodywork, service history or tyres.
• Asking prices are not selling prices. The lists show what sellers advertised, not what buyers paid. A car that came off sale may have sold for less than its advertised price, or not sold at all.
• It is a snapshot of one area. Change the postcode and you may get a different answer. The market moves, so run it close to the day you negotiate.

6. What To Do With the Result

Step 1 — Compare the asking price with the prediction. If the seller is above it, you have a figure to quote. If they are well below it, ask why before you get excited.

Step 2 — Read the comparable adverts (Enhanced). Find the cars closest to yours in mileage. Note their prices and their days on market. Two or three comparable cars at a lower price, still unsold, are a stronger argument than any single number.

Step 3 — Adjust for the type of seller. A dealer price includes consumer rights and usually a warranty. A private seller offers neither, so the prediction is a ceiling for a private deal, not a target.

Step 4 — Make the offer and show your working. “Similar cars in this area are advertised at X and have been on sale for Y days” is a reasoned position. Sellers respond to it far better than to a round number pulled from the air.

Whether you buy from a dealer or privately changes your rights if something goes wrong. GOV.UK sets out what to check when buying a vehicle, and Citizens Advice explains what you can do if a car you have bought turns out to be faulty or misdescribed. Our Buyer Tips cover the negotiation itself.

7. Price and Where It Sits

The Enhanced level is not included in any Car Check Pack; it is bought on its own from the Paid Check page. Prices are as shown on the site at the time of writing; the page price is always the price you pay.

Final Thoughts

The seller has looked at the other adverts. The Price Predictor lets you do the same, for £1.99 or £2.99, built while you wait, without spending an evening trawling listings. Enter the right postcode and the true mileage, and the answer is about the market you are actually buying in.

Treat the figure as a starting point, not a verdict. Read the comparable adverts, notice the days on market, adjust for the seller and the condition of the car, and make an offer you can explain.

This guide provides general information and is not legal or financial advice. Price predictions and comparable adverts in the Price Predictor report are provided by Marketcheck from live market listings for the postcode and mileage entered when the report is built; they are estimates of dealer asking prices, not offers and not valuations, and advertised prices are not the same as prices paid. Disputes with a dealer after a sale are a matter for the dealer first and then Citizens Advice. SortedCars resells the data named above and has no other connection with the providers, dealers or sellers mentioned.