“Determining a used car value with many online tools is becoming even easier, but some vehicles require more thorough research because the market has a lot to offer.” There’s a lot of ups and downs.” Blog.
The best way to find out the value of your car is to use an online estimator tool. These free resources allow you to plug in some basic information about your vehicle and get an instant price estimate. Here are some of the most popular sites
Kelly Blue Book
Kelley Blue Book, commonly abbreviated as KBB, is a leading online car price estimator. It uses details about your car, such as make, mileage and color, to determine value. If you are looking to sell your car, KBB will give you instant cash offers based on the value of the vehicle. You can also view new and used car prices and even find vehicles for sale at your nearest dealership.
Edmonds
Edmunds’ Car Appraisal Tool is a competitor to KBB’s, but it uses more thorough criteria, such as whether the vehicle has been in an accident or any cosmetic damage, to determine the value of your car. On Edmunds’ site, you can view new car prices and shop for used cars in your area. To help inform your car search, Edmunds publishes comprehensive vehicle reviews and long-term road test results.
(NADA) National Automobile Dealers Association
Like KBB and Edmunds, NADA allows you to find the value of your vehicle, but it uses slightly different criteria. NADA focuses on the vehicle wholesale price, current market price and demand for cars in your area. NADA’s car value valuation is higher than the KBB or Edmunds calculations, which must be taken into account. NADA also offers a variety of vehicle comparison tools, but does not have a used car market.
Which is the Most Accurate?
Although there are many car pricing guides available, they are not created equal. This is because each car valuation site uses a different algorithm to calculate the car value.
“KBB appears to be one of the most accurate and reliable valuation sites out there,” says Andrew King, director of Jamzar.com, a leading UK car-buying comparison site. “KBB is able to access real-world used car prices, collected on a daily basis from wholesale auctions, independent and franchised dealers, rental fleets, manufacturers and other sources, to give you the most accurate valuation possible “
“For run-of-the-mill mass-produced vehicles, KBB is still well-known to most people, although Edmunds is pretty good as well,” Dorr says.
Experts recommend estimating the market value of the car rather than the book value of the car for the most accurate information. “Market prices may be more useful to consumers because they reflect what people are now willing to pay,” says Brian Savoy, senior manager of physical damage and estimation at Metromile.
“Book values such as NADA’s ‘Black Book’ are often used by car dealerships and may be affected by gaps in publication date with differences from current market conditions or wholesale pricing,” says Savoy.