How much faith do you guys put in KBB when shopping for a used car. Going to look at a 1997 Honda CR-V in the morning. Private party in excellent condition has this vehicle at around $2100-2200. They are asking $4000 for the one I'm going to check out, it appears to be in superb condition with complete maintenance records. Not sure where to begin on the negotiations. Tips? Thoughts?
Kelley Blue Book
- Thread starter redsox1975
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good luck dealing with those dreamers.
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Print out the Kelley page and offer them in-between the high and low values.
Every vehicle I've bought and most friends/family that talks about it paid below KBB, if not way below.
Those people must be in love with that n don't really want to sell.
Those people must be in love with that n don't really want to sell.
WiskyBadger
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I have found NADA to have higher values of vehicles. Check that out, that might be where they came up with their price. It said my truck was worth something like 3,000 more. I would show them a copy of KBB in negotiations.
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The used car market is highly variable and in many ways will differ from location to location. KBB is a guide; nothing more. At best, KBB is a lagging indicator of what folks HAVE been paying for vehicles. Same with Edmunds' True Market Value. Truecar.com is another resource.
In the end, a vehicle is worth what someone will pay. If someone will pay $4,000 for that old CR-V, then it's worth $4,000. If your offer of $2,200 is the best offer they get and sell it to you, then it's worth $2,200.
Buying used vehicles for "good" prices involves a lot of luck. For example, how long have they had this CR-V for sale? If it's only been on the market for a week, they may not be ready to accept a lower price. If they've been trying to sell it for 3 months, maybe your cash offer is the one that breaks them down and they concede to a lower price. You have to be the guy standing in front of them with cash when they decide they were asking too much. If you're too early, they may not be ready. If you're too late, your buddy's already bought the car.
In the end, a vehicle is worth what someone will pay. If someone will pay $4,000 for that old CR-V, then it's worth $4,000. If your offer of $2,200 is the best offer they get and sell it to you, then it's worth $2,200.
Buying used vehicles for "good" prices involves a lot of luck. For example, how long have they had this CR-V for sale? If it's only been on the market for a week, they may not be ready to accept a lower price. If they've been trying to sell it for 3 months, maybe your cash offer is the one that breaks them down and they concede to a lower price. You have to be the guy standing in front of them with cash when they decide they were asking too much. If you're too early, they may not be ready. If you're too late, your buddy's already bought the car.
Well I wasted a 100 miles of gas on the CR-V, lowest he would come down was $3750. Needless to say he still owns it. Let the search continue.
Kelly Blue book is too high. (Private party value is what I am normally looking at). Years ago I found it spot on. Now I find that their private party value is basically an ok or decent price from a dealer. It can be really wrong for low priced cars. I was trying to sell a 2002 or so Chevy Venture and didn't realize how bad KBB had gotten and was relying too much on their pricing- it was something like $3800 by their #s and $2200 by Edmunds. I ended up selling on ebay for around the Edmunds price. I actually find it offensive because they have to know that they are high to the real price. Edmunds is much closer to reality.
Originally Posted By: redsox1975
How much faith do you guys put in KBB when shopping for a used car. Going to look at a 1997 Honda CR-V in the morning. Private party in excellent condition... Tips? Thoughts?
I know you were discussing buying from a private party but just in case you end up considering a dealer "special"....here's my take on that...
Dealers nearly always point out why they can't give "top-dollar" for a trade..."sir/ma'am" we'd love to/we wish we could give you $X for your car if it were in excellent condition, but we have to fix "this and that" to prep it for resale and that's our cost....
So look at the trade-in values and know that "good" condition is likely as high as dealers would pay for a trade, and more often, "average" condition is their best offer....so consider "average" trade-in value as your suggested retail price and work DOWN from there, as that's the price dealers would likely be happy to take to flip it and get it off their lot.
How much faith do you guys put in KBB when shopping for a used car. Going to look at a 1997 Honda CR-V in the morning. Private party in excellent condition... Tips? Thoughts?
I know you were discussing buying from a private party but just in case you end up considering a dealer "special"....here's my take on that...
Dealers nearly always point out why they can't give "top-dollar" for a trade..."sir/ma'am" we'd love to/we wish we could give you $X for your car if it were in excellent condition, but we have to fix "this and that" to prep it for resale and that's our cost....
So look at the trade-in values and know that "good" condition is likely as high as dealers would pay for a trade, and more often, "average" condition is their best offer....so consider "average" trade-in value as your suggested retail price and work DOWN from there, as that's the price dealers would likely be happy to take to flip it and get it off their lot.
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I use KBB, Edmunds, and NADA. I then average the 3. Sometimes they are far off. Edmunds seems to have the lowest prices. If I can get KBB Trade-In value at trade time, I'm happy. They typically seem to be on the "high" side. I did get KBB when I recently traded my Ram.
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