The Best Used Car Blue Book Value You Can Get
When you're looking to sell your used car, it's important to get the best blue book value you can. Yet few people understand how Kelley Blue Book calculates its values for different cars. If you don't understand why your used car gets the blue book value it does, and you don't educate your prospective buyer to why it gets the value it does, then you'll have difficulty selling the vehicle.
Understanding Kelley Blue Book's Default Rating
When researching your used car's value, the first place you'll want to start is Kelley Blue Book's "Suggested Retail Value" tool. The amount you'll receive is based on your car being in "Excellent Condition," in addition to the information you input. This is the absolute most Kelley Blue Book believes anyone would buy your used car for. So what exactly does "Excellent Condition" mean?
According to Kelley Blue Book, a vehicle is in excellent condition when it has had absolutely no paint or body work done, and is free from blemishes and scratches. It is in excellent mechanical condition and needs no reconditioning. The vehicle must have a clean title history, pass smog certification, and the engine compartment must be clean with no fluid leaks or visible wear/defects.
But as if that wasn't "excellent" enough, the vehicle must have complete and verifiable service records. Therefore, less than 5% of used vehicles fall into this category. Yet most used car sellers immediately assume that the suggested retail price for their vehicle is the bare minimum they should request when selling their auto.
You Need to Get a More Accurate Kelly Blue Book Value
The next step to getting the best and most realistic value for your used car is to use all of Kelley Blue Book's valuation tools. Your choices are "Dealer Trade-In Value," "Private Party," and "Suggested Retail."
What you'll discover is that dealers offer far less for your used car, even if it happens to be in "Excellent Condition" compared to Kelley Blue Book's suggested retail value. You'll also see that though a private party will likely offer more than a dealer, it's still below the suggested retail value.
So why would Kelley Blue Book give a "suggested" value, then tell you to expect far less from either a dealer or a private party? Well, in our more than 20 years' experience working in the auto industry, we've discovered that the suggested retail value is actually representative of what a dealer will ask for the used vehicle when selling it on the lot. That's why the price is higher than most people can actually sell the vehicle for--the price is inflated due to the dealer's overhead and other costs he must recoup.
How to Still Get a Good Value for Your Used Car
Using Kelley Blue Book's valuation tools, you can estimate that you can get roughly 15% more money from a private buyer than a dealer depending on the condition and type of vehicle. However, the effort and cost involved in advertising, showing, and negotiating a private sale can overshadow any benefit that extra money delivers.
Sort of takes the wind out of your sail, doesn't it? Well, don't panic just yet. The excellent alternative to this Catch 22 is to sell your used car, truck, or SUV to an auto buying service. They'll appraise your vehicle at your earliest convenience, and then give you a cash offer on the spot. In our case, we guarantee to offer more for your vehicle than any dealer will, and more importantly, we handle all DMV paperwork, smog certification, and transportation of the vehicle. That way, you get that extra 5-15% over dealer trade-in value without paying out of pocket for advertising, smog check, etc.
Sounds like something worth looking into, doesn't it? Find out, right now, exactly how much money you can get for your vehicle and get that cash in your hand today. Just click here, fill out a brief form, and one of our Trusted Valuation Experts will phone you shortly.
