What's a fair price when buying a used car?

Question

I'm looking at a really nice Malibu at the moment with some very minor cosmetic damage. Kelley Blue Book prices it at $6360 in "excellent" condition. My question is how much below or above KBB would be fair to the seller & myself?

Answer 1

depends on the condition, if its in good condition kbb might be fair, if its been in accidents and not well kept, a little lower than kbb. i also believe there is another type of prices other than kbb, you might want to try them (sorry can't remember their name).

Answer 2

Both Kelley and Edmunds give options of listing good or fair (or even poor) conditions. Cosmetic damage will make the car excluded from the "excellent" condition which is very strict. It's uncommon to find a used car that even fits in that category. Ultimately, it comes down to which category the buyer (which wants it to be lower) and the seller (which wants it to be higher) think it falls into.

That being said, the fair price would be closest to that category. Other things need to be taken into consideration such as having more or less than what an average car would have of that year would have as well as repairs you will have to perform to meet safety regulations such as new tires.

Answer 3

as a general rule, on a used car, deduct immediately 15%k off of KBB just to get into the actual bank value of the vehicle. If the damage is minor, it could only be a matter of $200-$500 to have it repaired at a reputable shope.

Answer 4

Get a carfax for the vehicle and try to negotiate a discount for the amount of money you are going to need to fix the car. Edmunds is the value you want to check when you are buying, because usually kbb has higher prices.

Answer 5

I would find out how much the cosmetic damage would cost to fix and then deduct that from the purchase price. The damage could be something that you could live with but you should not have to pay full price for a perfect car that isn't.