Seems very straightforward to me. Most people search for cars newer than, not older than.

The first box is the minimum year - I want it to be newer than XX. If I am searching my default is almost always max price and minimum year.

Choosing the year, surely would be in reference to the age of the car. In which case minimum year, to me, equals the youngest you want the car to be, not the oldest (as it is with Autotrader).

I guess, at worst, this would qualify as a 'first world problem though'!

Lots of things I find illogical about computers

Nothing illogical about a computer. But the programmer is usually human......

I've noticed no difficulty with Autocar's 'min' & 'max' interpretation.