Why are Edmunds.com total market value estimates consistently lower than Kelly's Blue Book? for Questionland Seattle

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Why are Edmunds.com total market value estimates consistently lower than Kelly's Blue Book?

Just as an example, a 2002 Civic EX automatic with 60,000 miles, in 'good' condition:

Edmunds.com:
Private Party: 6,400
Dealer: 7,800

Kelly's:
Private party: 9,300
Dealer: 11,400

Am I doing something wrong, or is it that these two sources' estimates mean different things? Trying to figure out what is reasonable to aim for.

Follow up: I read that I should negotiate for the private party plus $500 even with a dealer. Thoughts?

Thanks!

Bion Satir asked in Cars & Motorcycles 10 months ago | Report

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The CHZA

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KBB values are easy to make screwy. They have an assigned value for trim levels, but then they also assign values for those equipment boxes you can check and uncheck. Even if any given piece of equipment is required or unavailable for any given trim level. So you can have an artificially high or low price depending on how much the standard equipment is being stacked on by those you-choose-it equipment toggles - that's part of it.

KBB also sells products for dealers to put on their own web sites, so their non-private values are inherently skewed in the dealer's favor. Edmunds doesn't sell any kind of on-site widgety things like KBB does (if they do I've never seen it here in my work), so their pricing is probably more realistic.

Either way, your best bet for actual used car values is the final selling price for similar cars on eBay. Look at completed listings for cars at a similar mileage and equipment level. This is a solid number to stand on - it's what real people have actually paid for that given car.

The CHZA answered in Cars & Motorcycles 10 months ago | Report

3 comments by Bion Satir, The CHZA, and Bion Satir…

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Thanks for the tips. I'll check out Ebay, although is there somewhere easy to see sales prices for cars (as opposed to those in the auction process?)

Your saying Edmunds is more realistic matches other sources I've seen on-line, but I'm finding that dealers are unwilling to negotiate that far, so I'm wondering if they are behind the current prices. For instance, a dealer recently told me that he couldn't go below a price that was $2000 above the Edmunds dealer value...

Bion Satir commented 10 months ago | Report

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Dealers get their stock either from trade-ins or auctions. If they made a dumb buy at an auction, they'll prefer to hold out for an unwitting buyer rather than take a loss off of you. Scour Craigslist, Autotrader and Cars.com for private listings. It's much more tedious work but you can get a much better value and (usually) sellers that will be a lot more flexible on price. I'd only buy from a dealer if I was in a pinch.

This article also has good tips on used car buying:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/07/how-to-buy-a-used-car-%E2%80%93-pt-1-first-contact/

BECU should be able to look up an MMR for you if you ask (and if you're financing, definitely go through them - they gave me a 4% loan for a 44 year old car without blinking an eye)

The CHZA commented 10 months ago | Report

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Thanks, I think you are right that dealers flexibility on price depends a lot on the vehicle. They make their money on the people who care more about monthly payments than car price. I had been getting kind of desperate, which is why I was visiting dealers, but I ended up spotting an ad on craigslist that was a great deal, private party. Bought it at a little above Edmunds trade-in value. Had it checked out before buying and it was fine. KBB was $1500-2000 more than I paid. So the lesson, if anyone else comes along with the same question, is that if you want to save money try to hold out for a private seller and aim for the Edmunds-level estimate.

Bion Satir commented 10 months ago | Report

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I've bought only used, and bought both of the Stranger's vans. Considering that I don't really know jack about vehicles, it has aided me in the sense that I've only used either party's number as the most basic of starting points. For me, it's all about the seller. If they seem honest and fair, I'll pay their price. If you know what you need to make, it will either be reasonable or not. I just want to know what I am buying and if it matches what I am getting from the seller. I had a dealer one time trying to hard sell me on a stupid ford diesel van that had 385K on it and spewed so much smoke that you could have hid the Graf Spee in the cloak it choked out. It was the world's most embarrassing test drive, and not a ride that a guy with a ton of dead trees in the back wants idling in the PAWS parking lot. Be honest and the person who looks and looks and looks (like me) will trust you and pay what you think is fair.

Kevin Shurtluff answered in Cars & Motorcycles 10 months ago | Report

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