Criteria · Buying a Car
Narrow first.
Score second.
Decide last.
Six pass/fail gates that rule cars out before you compare anything. Then 80 questions across four weighted criteria, scored across up to five cars.
- Gates first — one fail and the car is out, not scored lower
- 80 questions, written to be asked out loud at a viewing
- What to check yourself, free, before you speak to a seller
- One weighted score per car, calculated for you
13 PAGES + 8 TABS
The problem
You cannot compare hundreds of cars. So stop trying.
There are hundreds of models on sale, times trims, times model years once used is on the table. Scoring works on a shortlist. It does not work on a market.
So the first job is elimination, not comparison. That is what the gates do. They are pass or fail, they remove whole categories, and they cannot be outweighed by something else that scored well.
Only then does scoring make sense, and only across the cars that survived.
Start here
Six gates.
A gate is not a preference. One fail and the car is out. Not scored lower. Out.
Charging
No charging where it sleeps and none at work? An EV is out, however much you want one.
Repair exposure
A surprise repair bill would genuinely hurt? Older used is out.
The monthly ceiling
One number covering payment, insurance, fuel and maintenance. Written down first.
Title status
Salvage or rebuilt. Walk away. Every time, at any price.
Inspection
An independent pre-purchase inspection is refused? The car is out.
It fits
It physically fits your parking space and garage. Measured, not guessed.
What you get
Two files. One method.
The printable workbook
13 pages, US Letter, built to be printed and written on at a viewing.
- Six gates with pass and fail boxes, before anything is scored
- All 80 questions, grouped by criterion, with 1–5 scales
- The signs to walk away from, in every section
- What you can check yourself from public records
- A scoring box per criterion and a full scorecard page
The auto-calculating scorecard
Eight tabs. Name the cars once on the Gates tab and they flow everywhere.
- Pass/fail dropdowns that flag a failed car as OUT, in red
- Rate every question 1–5 for up to five cars
- Averages calculate themselves, with a judgement override
- Change any weight and every total updates instantly
- Ranked totals that exclude cars which failed a gate
Inside the spreadsheet
A failed gate still shows a score. It is still out.
That is deliberate. You can see exactly what you are giving up, and it does not change the answer. The ranking skips it.
Yellow cells are yours. Everything else works itself out.
| Criterion | Weight | 2022 Hybrid SE | 2019 Wagon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gates | CLEARED | OUT | |
| The money | 5 | 20.00 | 10.00 |
| The reliability | 4 | 20.00 | 12.00 |
| The fit | 4 | 12.00 | 20.00 |
| The deal | 3 | 12.00 | 12.00 |
| Weighted total | 16 | 64.00 | 54.00 |
| Rank | 1 | — |
The weights
Four criteria, and what each one is worth.
A starting point, not a verdict. Both files are built for you to overwrite them.
| Criterion | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The money | The only one that can end the decision | |
| The reliability | A year and an engine, not a badge | |
| The fit | You live in it every day | |
| The deal | How you buy, not what you buy |
How it works
Six steps, then get on with it.
Run the gates
Pass or fail. One fail and the car is out.
Print one set per surviving car
Or open the spreadsheet. Either works alone.
Ask the questions and rate as you go
1 to 5, in the moment, before you talk yourself round.
Give each criterion one overall score
Your judgement, not an average. One alarming answer should not get averaged away by nineteen fine ones.
Compare the totals
A gap of two or three points is noise. A gap of eight is telling you something.
If the winner is a car you do not want, the list is wrong
Go back and find the criterion you underweighted. It is usually the money.
Who this is for
Not for you if
- You want someone to tell you which car to buy
- You are looking for reviews, rankings or road tests
- You have already decided and want reassurance
- You want a valuation tool or a price guide
Built for you if
- You have three to five cars and viewings coming up
- You want to walk in with better questions than the seller expects
- You are buying used and want to know what to check
- You would rather argue with a number than with a memory
Straight answers
Questions
What exactly do I get?
Two files. A 13-page printable workbook with six pass/fail gates and 80 questions across four weighted criteria, plus the signs to walk away from and what you can check yourself. And an Excel scorecard with eight tabs that scores up to five cars and calculates the weighted totals.
What is a gate, and how is it different from a criterion?
A gate is a pass or fail condition that removes a car entirely and cannot be outweighed by anything else. A criterion is scored one to five and traded off against the others. Salvage title is a gate. Fuel economy is a criterion. The workbook runs six gates before you score anything.
Does this work for new cars, used cars and EVs?
Yes. The gates cover the EV question directly, since home charging is treated as pass or fail rather than a preference. The money section covers financing and depreciation for both new and used. The reliability section is written mainly for used cars, where it does the most work.
Do I need Excel?
The workbook opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers. All formulas are standard. If you would rather work on paper, the PDF stands alone and includes its own scorecard page.
Can I change the weights?
Yes, and you should. They are pre-filled as a starting point and both files are built for you to overwrite them. In the spreadsheet, changing a weight recalculates every total instantly.
How many cars can I score?
Five in the spreadsheet. The PDF scorecard has three columns, and you can print extra copies for more.
Is this financial or mechanical advice?
No. It is a decision framework: the questions to ask, what to verify independently, and a way to score what you find. It does not tell you which car to buy, and it is not a substitute for a mechanic or a financial adviser.
The second largest purchase most people make
The list is not the decision.
It is how you find the one
or two things that are.
Six gates. Four weighted criteria. Five cars. Two files, instantly.
Get the workbook — $19
