What's the best resource to find the true value of your used car?

Question

There are so many resources out there, but what's the most reliable to know what your used car is REALLY worth?

Kelly Blue Book? NADA? Edmunds? Galves? Parkers?

Our cars are usually well under typical mileage and in better than used condition. (We work from home, have no kids, and we only put about 6K-7K a year on our cars, and never use the back seat.) People who get in our car freak out and think we just bought it. We're in the South too (Atlanta) so there's no wear and tear from snow and salt.

E.g., our Honda 2003 CRV w/ 36000 on it, really clean... supposed trade-in is around $14,150, dealer retail $16,600. Should we expect $14,150 or even more?

Are we simply better off selling it on our own, or can we get a good deal for it as a trade-in because of its condition?

Answer 1

car dealers go by NADA, if trading in they give you wholesale price, if your selling the car yourself go by book value.

Answer 2

from my experiance Edmunds is on the highside of what you can expect to recieve on trade. Kelly Blue Book (www.kbb.com) usually has pretty fair prices all the way around.

With all the incentives that automakes have been giving lately though it has really kileld the used car market (bought a new truck in 2006, traded it in 6 months later ebcause I no longer needed a pickup and the insurance and as for it were killing me and lost 10 grand in the time I owned it).

For the time and effort it takes to sell a car privately I rarely bother with it any more, either way you go though best of luck.

Answer 3

Your problem is your are trying to sell your car to the wrong people. Car dealers will only offer you the absolutely lowest possible price for any car. I don't care if it's a brand new Corvette. They will insult you with their offers. Car Dealers are looking for one thing only, and that's maximum profit and they can't achieve that unless they buy very low and sell very high. What you need to do is try to sell your car in the newspaper, online or in the Autotrader. Those are the places where people like you and me shop for cars.

Answer 4

The NADA book is the best source and the one car dealers use. You can go on line and feed in your info and get an answer in seconds. Kelly Blue Book has inflated prices.

Answer 5

I have always used Kelly Blue Book and it is very close to what I find the dealers charge for used cars or offered me for my trade in.

Answer 6

The one I use is Kelly Blue Book. I think it gets the closest.