Why Used Car Price Guides are Usually Wrong

If you're wanting to get a ball-park figure, that's fine. But if you think pricing guides are going to give you an accurate figure, that's a big mistake.

Pricing guides are meant to give you an average price, but the problem is there really isn't an "average" used car. Each one is different and what one may consider in good condition, another may consider junk.

Even though a pricing guide may state your car is worth $15,000, a dealer can easily knock that down by pointing out defects such as body scratches, non-factory equipment, unusual wear and tear - the list goes on and everything is <i>subjective</i>.

There are also large price discrepancies depening on your location. If you're trying to sell a convertible in North Dakota, you won't get as high a price as if you were selling it in sunny Florida.

The pricing guides try to factor in geography, but it's impossible to keep up with the highly localized pricing trends.

A final reason pricing guides shouldn't be relied upon is the tendancy to undervalue prices so as not to offend dealers. KBB has a seperate pricing guide for dealers called Karpower which you can only access with a paid subscription. Although I haven't personally seen the prices in that book, there are car buying experts that claim the wholesale prices are usually 5 to 10% higher than what you find in the free consumer guides.

So while the pricing guides may be a good source to get an an overall idea of pricing, don't think of them as set in stone. The only real way to determine how much your car is worth is to shop it around and see what the market determines.