I suppose one wouldn’t expect the two rating services in Subject to be the same, and that’s true in my case. But by almost $2000!
There certainly are differences in the choices to appraise a vehicle. I don’t see power steering, power brakes, camper shell, and a few others for Edmunds. Edmund has several not found on KBB. They have color, oddly. Kelly has 3 categories and Edmund 5 for condition.
Comments on the two services?
Both are rough estimates. As for power steering and power brakes, all cars have them now, so no need for them to be checked as ‘options’. When I want to get an estimate of what vehicles are actually selling for, I go to ebaymotors, pull up the model I’m interested in, and look at ‘completed listings’.
I look at edmunds, kbb and nadaguides.com to get a rough feel for pricing, and then go my own way. None agree closely, most of the time, so if I am buying, I make my bid low and go from there. Depending on age of car, items like color and camper shell are irrelevant. The single most relevant figure seems to be number of miles on the car, and true condition of the car.
Of the two I find Edmunds to be closer to the real world. KBB seem high to me. Basically, these are estimates and your car is worth what someone who shows up with a valid check will pay for it.
Frankly, I’d stick with KBB for the reason it probably is the most used, and likely where a buyer would look. I’m trying to sell at this point. I had never heard of Edmund or any other of the competitors until a week ago. http://community.cartalk.com/posts/list/2239794.page#