Who are AA Cars and what do we do?
You might think the AA is all about roadside assistance. While we're experts at that, we're much more! We provide a complete motoring solution, supporting drivers at every stage of car ownership. From buying a car and insuring it, to servicing and maintenance, breakdown cover, and even selling when the time comes.
AA Cars is backed by a growing network of approved dealers who meet our strict quality standards. This means you can buy with confidence, knowing there are no hidden surprises.
When you buy through AA Cars, you also receive free 12 months' AA Breakdown Cover and a £75 MOT & Service voucher. We believe buying a car should be enjoyable, straightforward, and stress-free.
Why you can trust AA Cars reviews?
There are plenty of car reviews available, often packed with technical data and specifications. Our reviews are different. We've designed them to be practical, trustworthy and genuinely useful:
AA Mechanic Review
Unlike most car reviews, ours offer a unique perspective on reliability from our expert AA patrols. Some reviews feature a Mechanic Review section, covering what to look for when buying a used car, common reliability concerns and preventive maintenance. It gives you practical information you may not find elsewhere. Think of it as an experienced mechanic assessing the car in clear, simple language.
We're still working to include this section to all our car reviews.Editorial Expert Review
Experienced automotive journalists write our editorial reviews after testing each car in real-world conditions. We cover everything you need to know, from pricing and running costs to interior quality, comfort, technology and how the car drives.
We test cars on a range of roads to reflect everyday use. We highlight both strengths and weaknesses, giving you a balanced and transparent view to help you decide whether a car is right for you.
How we test and rate the cars
1 Engine and performance
This is where we give you an overview of engine/gearbox options (battery/motor for EVs) followed by how the car performs. Our road tests evaluate numerous aspects of a car such as performance, refinement, and efficiency to give you an accurate picture of how the car drives. We extensively test a car over different roads including B-roads and motorways before sharing our findings with you. Rather than relying solely on figures, we explain how the car feels from behind the wheel, because numbers don't always tell the full story.
2 Ride and handling
Here we assess ride comfort, handling, body control, grip, steering, and braking. Using jargon-free language, we explain how the car copes with bumps, how stable it feels at speed, how confident it is through corners, and how strong the brakes feel. We also evaluate steering feedback and how easy the car is to manoeuvre in tight spaces, such as car parks and urban streets.
3 Interior & Features
Before we even turn the wheel, this is the first thing our experts go through. We spend hours inside the cabin poking around to find the good and bad bits. We also check for cabin quality, and the all-important space and practicality tests. Numbers rarely tell everything, so we judge the interior space and boot space and let you know how it stacks up against rivals as well.
4 MPG, emissions and tax
In this section, we provide clear information on fuel economy, emissions, and vehicle tax. For petrol and diesel cars, we assess whether real-world efficiency matches manufacturer claims. For electric vehicles, we take a closer look at real world driving range, charging times, and overall usability.
5 Safety and reliability
Safety is paramount for a car, and we take this section seriously. Apart from looking at the crash test data, we also evaluate the safety features on the car to check if everything works in the real world.
6 Our Motoring Journalists score it out of 5
Based on all the pointers above, our editorial experts give the car a score out of 5. We rarely hand out 5 stars, but if we do, that means the car has really impressed us and aced all our tests.
7 Mechanic review
This is where our expert AA patrols share their views on the car's reliability. For car reviews that feature this, we score the car out of 5 based on their assessment. The more reliable and trouble-free the car is, the higher its score.
8 Final AA Rating
We give the car a score out of 5 combining scores from editorial and mechanic reviews.
Editorial independence statement
Some manufacturers featured in our reviews have commercial relationships with The AA or AA Cars. Others do not. These relationships do not influence our editorial content, vehicle scoring or opinions. All reviews are produced independently by the reviewers.
How we keep our car reviews up to date
Our car reviews are regularly reviewed and updated. We strive to keep the reviews up-to-date and cover all the mainstream cars available today. There is a dedicated editorial team that audits content for relevance, updating the content as we go.
