Car and parts prices today: Pride, Peugeot, Samand, and spares

Four things that turn one model into several prices

When you see several different numbers for "Pride 131, model 90", you are looking at several different goods. First the model year: on high-volume Iranian models a single year makes a real difference. Second mileage: between two otherwise identical cars at 120,000 and 300,000 km the gap runs to tens of millions of toman. Third body condition and repainting, which listings express as phrases like "no repaint" or "two paint spots" — the single largest source of disagreement between two apparently identical ads. Fourth whether the deal is cash or instalments.

The lower number is not always the price of the car

Instalment car listings typically headline the DOWN PAYMENT and leave the instalment amount and count in the body text, or outside the ad entirely. So an apparently cheap number is really the first half of a two-part price, and the total paid comes out well above a cash deal. Gheymatshenas flags these listings and never crowns one as the cheapest price — but when you read a raw price list yourself, look for the word instalment before you compare any numbers.

The same pattern shows up in other categories; how to spot a fake discount works through it with examples.

Parts: read the price together with brand and origin

• For tyres the full size (e.g. 165/65 R13) is part of the product name, not an option — two sizes are two prices.
• For engine oil the grade and container volume make the number; 5-litre and 4-litre are the same oil at two prices.
• Genuine, market-grade and Chinese parts are three separate markets at three prices, and a raw list puts them side by side.
• For consumables the date on a price matters more than the price: the parts market follows the exchange rate.

For how to approach car pricing, see the car price comparison guide; and for why the date on a price matters as much as the price, today's price vs a stale price.