Why is it that Kelley reports a private party price of $11,565 while Edmunds says $7,900, for exactly the same car in exactly the same localtion? I’ve noticed this before - Kelley is almost always higher - but never have they been this far apart.
Have you checked NADA yet? It’s used by a lot of used car dealers and banks/credit unions when determining value. A vehicle is only worth what someone will pay for it regardless of the what an evaluation report says. It’s more of a guessing game than most people realize.
Kelley and Edmunds are always high in their prices. NADA is what the dealers use. Now in add’s they will so much off Kelley or Edmunds. But if you check NADA that price will be right on NADA’s or real close. NADA numbers come from the auctions and dealer reports. They also used data from add’s.
I don’t put much faith into Kelley BB or Edmunds. The only one I’ve ever gone by is the N.A.D.A. guide and even that should be used only as a general guideline.
You might check eBay Motors, poke in the type of vehicle, and then use the “Completed Auctions” prompt. This will show you what similar vehicles actually sold for and in the case of auctions in which the bidding did not meet the reserve price it will show you just how much people were actually willing to bid on that vehicle.
It’s more real world so to speak.
A fairly new one on the market is Autotrader.com.
They will guarantee their price quote for a trade in price. Their quotes are only used for trade-in…NOT if you sell it on your own. But it gives you a much more accurate picture of what your car is worth.
@Mike, they only guarantee the price becaue they are putting your vehicle out there and getting a quote from a dealer. Not a lot different from walking into a dealer and asking them whet they’ll give you for a trade-in. Besides, private party values are very different from trade in values, as you know.
As for the OP’s question, can’t say why the values tend to differ, but the reality is that neiteher one is “right”. Your car is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it, not a penny more or a penny less. Check craigslist and eBay to see what people are selling theirs for (eBay will have more dealers so you should paln on selling for less) to get an idea. Chances are if the listing has been out for a long time the price is too high.
What kind of car do you have?
they only guarantee the price becaue they are putting your vehicle out there and getting a quote from a dealer. Not a lot different from walking into a dealer and asking them whet they’ll give you for a trade-in.
Actually NO…They are guaranteeing the price…The dealer will GIVE you the price you were quoted from auto-trader. The dealer has a contract with AutoTrader to honor the quote. Autotrader backs it up. They will BUY the car from the dealer at the cost that was quoted to you if the dealer can’t sell it at an auction.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t do better.
Funny, when I bought my Mazda last year, I found NADA to be the highest of NADA, Kelly, and Edmunds for the value of my old Taurus…
And the dealership only offered a tad over 1/4 of the NADA trade-in value.
Me too, have always gotten higher quotes from Nada, then it is KBB and lowest is edmund’s. The latter has been closest to the real price. Around here you can take your car to carmax and get a price that they will pay to you right there. It is always lower than the kbb or edmund’s price, but then it is a real offer with cash to back it up, and no other BS about a new car purchase to complicate the deal. At the end of the day when I want to sell a car I put an ad on craigslist with a lot of pics, price the car a bit higher than what I think I can get for it and see what happens.