Why are people so hung up on book value? (vehicle, auto, convertible)
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I have seldom found that book value is representative of real world market conditions on certain vehicles. I still remember laughing when a buyer offered me book value for my 4WD Toyota pickup.
I priced the truck at what the market would bring, which was a few thousand more than so called book KBB or NADA value. I still remember that buyer coming back, but by then the truck had sold for $2200 more than book value.
IMO book values are to be taken with a grain of salt.
IMO book values are to be taken with a grain of salt.
Well, yeah - they're just a guide. Obviously local market conditions play a strong role. A foreign make convertible well sell for more in Miami in the spring or summer then it will in Detroit in the winter.
A vehicle is worth what the next person is willing to pay for it.
At one time book values could be used as what it was intended to be but, now all the book value people has crawled in the bed with the car dealers and thus should be taken with grain of salt.
Most all pick up trucks will sell for a lot more than the book value. They ( KBB,NADA, Edmonds and the dealers) are hoping you will go to a dealer and trade it in for so called book valve so they (the dealers) can resale it for well over book value hoping everyone doesn't know what the truck is worth. I think this holds true for some popular models of cars and SUV's also.
I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure Craigslist is on the internet.
Hahaha! Apparently I am not an expert on Craiglist!
Seriously though, the change is that local sources for value no longer limit the value of a car. Craigslist or the local paper, or a car lot on the corner or offering the car with a sign no longer determine value. I have bought four cars since 2000 with my the computer mouse from as far away as 600 miles. Prior to the Internet, no one bought a car more than 5 miles away and no one compared prices beyond the local car lots. A NADA book was kept secret by car dealers and was hard to come by for anyone. I remember the first one I got was from the desk drawer of a loan company where I moved some furniture in the 70's and I thought I had found the dead sea scrolls. Today, I can tell how thousands of similar cars are priced all over the US in 10 seconds.
At one time book values could be used as what it was intended to be but, now all the book value people has crawled in the bed with the car dealers and thus should be taken with grain of salt.
Most all pick up trucks will sell for a lot more than the book value. They ( KBB,NADA, Edmonds and the dealers) are hoping you will go to a dealer and trade it in for so called book valve so they (the dealers) can resale it for well over book value hoping everyone doesn't know what the truck is worth. I think this holds true for some popular models of cars and SUV's also.
So let me see if I understand your hypothesis: you believe KBB, NADA, Edmunds, etc., produce information they hope the consumers will rely on for pricing a vehicle so that dealers can then sell them to unwitting customers who don't have any information when shopping for a vehicle . . .
So let me see if I understand your hypothesis: you believe KBB, NADA, Edmunds, etc., produce information they hope the consumers will rely on for pricing a vehicle so that dealers can then sell them to unwitting customers who don't have any information when shopping for a vehicle . . .
No...not any information....just incorrect information, there is a difference.
No...not any information....just incorrect information, there is a difference.
No, there is no conspiracy like that. Dealers typically use Black book for appraising trade ins. It isn't free. The values there tend to undercut what Joe Internet can find for his "perfect" condition trade at kbb or edmunds. Nadaguides is on the net and free and usually a better choice IMO then Kelly or Edmunds.
It also may come as a shock to you that auto dealers are businesses in search of profit. So they buy vehicles at wholesale, recondition them and then sell them for a profit. You can be a "dealer" so to speak and choose not to trade in your car and seek retail for it on the open market.
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...not any information....just incorrect information
, there is a difference.
