Frequently asked questions
What is Rightcar?
Rightcar is a website developed by and administered by the NZ Transport Agency. It provides people with comprehensive searchable information about vehicles sold in New Zealand since 2005. The website provides safety and environmental impact information for each vehicle. A star rating system is used to evaluate fuel economy, driver safety, the safety of other road users, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and air pollution. The website also supplies information on the effects of car use and driving behaviour.
What is the aim of Rightcar?
Rightcar aims to supply potential car buyers with the decision-making tools to purchase better, safer vehicles. Rightcar is designed to help upgrade the national fleet and reduce the negative effect of cars on the environment.
Why can’t I find my own car on this site?
If you can’t find your vehicle, it’s probably because this site only lists cars, 4WDs, SUVs, vans and utility vehicles that have been sold in New Zealand since 2005 when regulations started requiring importers to supply fuel economy information.
Over time, more models will be added to the site as they enter the country. You should be able to find most new cars as their information is added to the site as soon as it is supplied by the manufacturer. If a new car can’t be found it may be that it’s too new - the manufacturer or importer haven’t provided the information yet, or it hasn’t yet been uploaded into the database.
Ex-Japanese domestic vehicles built since 2000 are also listed if they’ve been imported since 2005. Apart from the distinction between new and old, cars are not searchable by year.
Another reason that you may not be able to find your car may be that you are not using the official title of the model you are searching for e.g. a Toyota Surf is officially a Toyota Hilux Surf so the model will be ‘Hilux’ not ‘Surf’.
If you have difficulty finding your vehicle, you can try using the number plate search option.
The information you have for a vehicle is incorrect or incomplete. Why is this? What can I do about it?
The vehicle information hosted on this site comes directly from the manufacturer. We value your comments and continue to make improvements and add information to the site. If the vehicle information displayed on this site differs from that published by the manufacturer, please contact us and provide a link or reference to the manufacturer’s material so that we can bring it to their attention.
How does the Rightcar site link with the existing Fuelsaver website?
Fuelsaver.govt.nz is a website that provides information about the fuel consumption of vehicles available on the New Zealand market. The fuel consumption figures on Rightcar are obtained in the same way as on Fuelsaver. The two sites are linked and provide complementary information.
The fuel consumption figure shown for my vehicle on this site is different than my experience of its fuel consumption in real life driving. Why is this?
The fuel consumption figures used on this site are supplied by the manufacturers who test new vehicles as they are produced. Standardised fuel consumption tests are carried out under laboratory conditions where all outside influences, such as driving style, weather, gradient and road condition, are controlled. Because these tests are standardised for all vehicles, fuel consumption figures can be compared for different vehicles. For more information, see http://www.fuelsaver.govt.nz/explain.html.
The amount of fuel your car uses in ‘real life’ may differ from the test results. This is because there are a number of variables that can significantly impact on fuel consumption including driver behaviour, tyre pressure, weight of load and vehicle maintenance.
You can use Fuelsaver.govt.nz to obtain a more personalised fuel consumption figure for your vehicle. The website has a calculator that lets you work out the fuel running cost of vehicles. The calculator has four categories: car, distance, fuel, and driving habits. Under each of these categories are a number of variables, which you can manipulate to find the fuel consumption and fuel running costs of a specific vehicle.
Why should people be concerned about fuel consumption?
Cars are not cheap to run. The less fuel you use, the more money in your pocket. Transport accounts for around 44% of New Zealand’s energy use (with passenger transport making up 57% of that) and 40% of its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and it’s growing fast. There isn’t an endless supply of fossil fuels. Also, the more fuel efficient your vehicle is, the less carbon dioxide it produces. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. It makes financial and environmental sense to own a fuel efficient vehicle, maintain it and drive it well.
What does the star rating system mean?
A six star rating system is used. Basically, the more stars, the better the vehicle performs in that category. The process of assigning star ratings first requires vehicles to be ranked based on their test results, adherence to standards or design features. In general, star ratings attempt to reflect the position of a model relative to the vehicle fleet in New Zealand. Therefore, the rules that translate rankings into ratings may be re-assessed from time to time.
If a vehicle has lots of stars for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, does this mean it has high emissions?
No. More stars means better, so the more stars a vehicle has for carbon dioxide emissions, the lower its emissions will be.
How do you work out the top five models?
The top five models are those which have the highest ratings averaged across all the categories — fuel economy, driver safety, others’ safety, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and air pollution. If a model doesn’t have a rating for a particular category, then the average rating for all vehicles in that category will be used in working out its overall rating.
Why is it important to know about vehicle safety features?
Your chances of being hurt in a crash — or having one in the first place — are dramatically reduced if your car has safety features. The car you drive can also have an effect on what happens to pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and the driver of the other car in a collision. Research suggests that ESC (electronic stability control) can reduce your chances of crashing by around 30%. Airbags have reduced injuries and saved the lives of thousands of people in serious crashes. (Of course, a safe and in-control driver is still the most important safety feature!)
Are you going to add vehicle information on whole of life costs/CNG/biogas?
We are continually working towards improving the site and adding new information. At the moment, there is insufficient information available on whole of life costs, CNG economy and biogas economy and compatibility to add it to the site. If and when information is available in a useable format, adding these options will be considered. Biofuels are becoming increasingly available at the fuel pump – check with the manufacturer whether your car is compatible.
Is it possible for the NZ Transport Agency to supply me with personalised reports on different data sources and variables used in the Rightcar and Fuelsaver websites eg. a spreadsheet showing fuel economy for all new cars?
No. The websites are made up of thousands of pages from different sources and it is not possible to provide personalised reports. Both Rightcar and Fuelsaver are updated regularly so the most accurate and up-to-date information will be what is current on the websites.
Why can’t I print out fuel economy labels from the Fuelsaver website?
The most likely reason that you can’t print out a label is that fuel economy information is not available from the database. This may be because the car is not in the database (it’s too new, or too old, or outside the range covered) or because there isn’t adequate fuel economy information on it. For more information, see http://labelling.fuelsaver.govt.nz/allfaq.html
The fuel economy labelling programme is administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) in consultation with the NZ Transport Agency. To contact EECA with any queries, please phone 0800 749782 or email fuel.economy@eeca.govt.nz.
