# What's a fair price for a certified pre-owned civic? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [March 19, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969 "2009-03-19T01:44:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pafisher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@pafisher](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pafisher)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969/1 "2009-03-19T01:44:06Z")
I’m currently shopping for a car in california and as part of my research, I’m using [kbb.com](http://kbb.com)’s trade-in value as the starting point for making an offer. Given that the dealership is offering a price at least $2000 more than what the trade-in value is listed as, am I still getting a fair deal? ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969/2 "2009-03-19T03:58:57Z")
Since nobody is buying new cars, used car prices are skyrocketing. Civics, for reasons unknown to me, have ALWAYS been overpriced. Dealers charge whatever the market will bear. “Book” prices mean nothing really…Don’t lock yourself into only one choice. ---
**Author:** ![twotone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@twotone](https://community.cartalk.com/u/twotone)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 4:17am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969/3 "2009-03-19T04:17:56Z")
Check NADA, Kelly Blue Book and Edmund’s True Market Value. I would not pay more than the lowest trade-in value in today’s market. Twotone ---
**Author:** ![oldschool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e19adc/32.png) [@oldschool](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldschool)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969/4 "2009-03-19T05:33:43Z")
Have you researched just what qualifies a car to be in Honda’s CPO program? Is this a actual CPO car or just a “oil change and washer fluid” car? Does it include a extension of Factory warranty? ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969/5 "2009-03-19T22:58:31Z")
Trade in price is as far away from CPO pricing as you can get. It is completely unrealistic to think that you can get a CPO car for trade-in value. The car is traded and then goes through a significant evaluation. These cars are cherry picked for the program. If they are selling it for $2000 over trade-in, you are getting a fabulous deal. It’s more like $2000 more than their usual dealer price for a CPO Civic. ---
**Author:** ![Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/joseph_e_meehan/32/21_2.png) [@Joseph\_E\_Meehan](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Joseph_E_Meehan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/whats-a-fair-price-for-a-certified-pre-owned-civic/27969/6 "2009-03-20T00:38:24Z")
What a willing buyer is willing to spend and what a willing seller is willing to sell at. It will vary somewhat from place to place and certainly with the condition of the car. I might add that since you did not tell us what year or model or condition the car is in, there is little to go on.