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What Are Edmunds Values?
You need to know the value of your car before you start to think about trading it in or selling it privately. With either option, you’ll need to know how to set your price accurately. Otherwise, you run the risk of selling it for too little or asking too much. That’s where Edmunds values can be helpful.
There are several prominent companies out there that are designed to help sellers to evaluate the price of any given vehicle. But the question remains: Which ones should you be using?
Today, we’re going to take a look at Edmunds, a source of car information that also provides an evaluation tool. We’ll discuss who they are, how they find their prices, and how accurate their estimates tend to be.
What is Edmunds?
Edmunds began as Edmunds Publications in 1966. It was a printed booklet that aimed at helping shoppers to make informed buying decisions. In the 1990s, Edmunds made a series of maneuvers to become a digital source of auto information. Consumers trusted them for advice about car buying and understanding the value of a car.
These days, they are known for their True Market Value tool. This tool analyzes a number of factors to determine the correct price for a vehicle. Due to their existing reputation as a trusted source from which to buy vehicles, their True Market Value tool was quickly accepted as a great way to understand the value of the car.
In addition to their True Market Value tool, Edmunds is known for providing useful information about cars, along with their tools that allow buyers to search the inventory of a network of dealerships. The True Cost-to-Own feature, which compares maintenance costs for vehicles, has drawn the attention of car buyers for years, as well.
How Does Edmunds Reach Its Value?
Edmunds uses a car’s make, model, mileage, condition, and styling to determine the worth of a vehicle. From this information, it provides a valuation both for trading it in or selling it to a private buyer. They collect and analyze car sales from an unknown number of sales across the country. Overall, it’s a worthwhile tool when you want to determine how much your car is worth.
Their search tool could be improved by showing consumers how many car sales are used to generate an evaluation. It would make their tool more trustworthy and help customers to gain an idea of how accurate their values are.
Are Edmunds Values Accurate?
Edmunds True Market Value tool is fairly accurate for new cars. However, most dealerships do not use this tool as a reference point. It may be worth bringing up an estimate in private sales, though, as many consumers are aware of the authority behind the Edmunds brand.
In the True Market Value tool, predictions are available for all models. New predictions are published regularly and they can help you to decide when it might be the best time to buy that exact model. It’s another good tool to help you secure a great deal on your next car.
When Should I Use Edmunds Values?
Edmunds has plenty of great information and tools available for car buyers. Keep in mind that once you share your personal information with Edmunds it’s likely you’ll be getting phone calls from dealers, so we really don’t like that this is a requirement (especially when the dealers don’t use Edmunds Values when quoting a trade-in).
Understand that the Edmunds Value will likely be higher than what a dealer offers you. It’s good to have a variety of information before negotiating the sale of your vehicle, and it’s also important to have realistic expectations. That’s why we recommend looking at other car values, such as the offer comparison tool here.
Edmunds provides a number of tools that we believe are helpful for consumers to understand how much to pay for a car. However, don’t expect dealers or private buyers to pay you exactly what is estimated. Instead, use the information as a negotiation point to help you nail down the exact price of the car.
If you’re buying a car at a dealership, make sure to negotiate the trade-in value of your old car and the price of the new car separately. If you try to negotiate them together, it’s easier for dealerships to move numbers around to make you feel like you’re getting a better deal than you really are.
We suggest that you start by negotiating the price that you’ll be paying for the new car in the beginning. Focus on the out-the-door price. Once you’ve agreed on that price, then say that you might want to trade in your current vehicle. Next, it’s time to negotiate the value of your trade-in. You can use Edmunds to make your case for its value, along with other tools, such as CarEdge’s integration with Black Book evaluations so that you know what a dealer will offer you.
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What Are Red Book Values?
Knowing the value of your vehicle is vital to ensuring that you receive a fair price for it, whether you seek out a private sale or a trade-in. Whichever way you plan to sell your car, you need to know what it’s worth. That’s why Red Book values were created: To evaluate your car.
Even though our services cater to the market in the United States, today, we’re going to examine Australia’s main source for auto evaluations. Understanding how services that are similar to the Kelley Blue Book function in another country can help to form a well-rounded perception of the auto industry.
In today’s post, we’ll go over what Red Book is, how they reach their values, and whether those values are accurate.
What is Red Book?
Red Book serves Australia. It allows residents to evaluate their current vehicles or evaluate vehicles they’d like to buy. It functions in a similar way to Kelley Blue Book and other tools that are available in the United States. However, it will cost money to evaluate a vehicle using their services.
A Red Book Valuation Report, which costs $33, will provide an evaluation of the target car, including reports that will help with selling, trading-in, or buying. Even though it may feel strange to pay a fee for this service, if it saves you more than $33 on the value of your car, then it’s worth doing.
Red Book does provide a number of free tools that help Australians browse different cars so that they can make informed buying decisions. Red Book can also evaluate bikes, boats, and some commercial products. They’ll even help you to arrange to secure a pre-purchase inspection of any new car.
One of the main features marketed on the Red Book website is its “News & Advice” section. They have over 390 articles published that cover a wide range of topics. It’s clear that the goal of this section is to be a source of news and knowledge to Red Book customers.
Operating under the same name but on a different website, Red Book also serves the Asian Pacific. All of the same services that they provide to Australians carry directly over to their Asian Pacific website. Coverage includes countries such as Thailand, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, and New Zealand.
How Does Red Book Reach Its Value?
Red Book uses many of the same criteria as other similar services: Kilometers traveled, condition of the car, options and features included, and aftermarket features. They gather their data through a number of sources, including auction house sales data, car dealership, field research, and analysis of the major auto classified websites that serve Australia.
Red Book’s data is gathered and analyzed constantly, with their official numbers being updated and made available each month. Red Book does not publicly discuss their method for analyzing and parsing all of the data that they gather, so we’re assuming that they have a proprietary algorithm that does much of the heavy lifting.
Are Red Book Values Accurate?
Government departments and car dealerships throughout Australia recognize Red Book’s accuracy. The company has a reputation for providing quality price valuation services in both of these areas. Car dealerships and consumers often use Red Book evaluations in negotiations to determine the final price of a vehicle.
When Should I Use Red Book Values?
Australian car buyers should use Red Book before heading into any auto transaction. The data is invaluable for the Australian market and having a Red Book Valuation Report will help you to understand what you should be paying for a new car, as well as what you should receive for your old car. While it is upsetting that they charge for their valuation report, when compared to the potential savings, it’s worth the price.
Ultimately, Red Book values are accurate and they provide a great service to Australian consumers. The company constantly gathers data, analyzes it, and makes sure that they provide the most up-to-date information possible.
On top of their auto valuations, they provide plenty of useful tools, services, and information to anyone that is looking to learn more about cars. Even if you’re not sure what kind of car you want, Red Book can help you to weigh your options and pick out your next vehicle.
Interested in learning how people come up with car values? You can learn more about other evaluation books here.
What is vAuto?
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The value of your car plays an important role in getting you into your next car. You might decide to use your old car as a trade-in, or perhaps you’d like to sell it privately and use that cash as a down payment. Either way that you’d like to go, you need to understand what your car is worth. That’s where vAuto comes in.
There are plenty of auto evaluation tools out there, commonly called “books” because of the way in which they used to circulate. These days, most of the evaluation tools are online and can provide an instant value of any car.
Today, we’re going to take a look at vAuto. We’ll go over what vAuto is, how it reaches its value, and examine how accurate their values are.
What is vAuto?
Founded in 2006, vAuto is a company that was formed by “automotive industry veterans” that aims to give car dealerships a new way to manage their inventory of used cars. Their inventory management tools changed in 2010 when vAuto was bought out by the AutoTrader Group, which gave them access to all of the data from two of the nation’s biggest wholesale markets: Manheim and Autotrader.
All of this data serves to provide car dealerships with more information about their used car inventory. The goal is to help dealerships make the most of their used car inventory and ultimately make the most money possible.
In 2014, vAuto finally grew beyond its original purpose as inventory management software and launched Conquest, a tool for new cars and pricing services. These days, dealerships around the country use vAuto to manage their inventory, evaluate cars, and even guide the reconditioning process of trade-ins.
Have you noticed that all of their services are for car dealers? That’s because vAuto is not a consumer-facing company. The car dealerships are their customers, not car buyers. As such, they restrict access to their services to those who pay a subscription fee.
How Does vAuto Reach its Value?
As discussed, vAuto has access to two valuable marketplaces for wholesale cars: Autotrader and Manheim. Using this data, vAuto calculates how much a dealership should pay for a car. Not only that, but they estimate how long it will take to sell the car in question.
Unfortunately, vAuto does not disclose any part of the algorithm used to calculate car values. We can assume that it takes into account all of the usual data, such as make, model, mileage, and condition. All of this information can be used to determine how much you should be offered for your trade-in.
Are vAuto Values Accurate?
Dealerships have been using vAuto for over a decade. It’s designed to help them manage multiple aspects of their business. Evaluating used and new cars is only one of the services made available by vAuto. As such, car dealers are quite confident in the services that they receive from vAuto.
Most car dealerships consider vAuto to be an important part of their auto valuation process. They’ll run your car through vAuto to gain a better understanding of how much to offer you, how long it’ll take them to sell it, and how in-demand your particular car might be. With all of this information in hand, they’ll make you an offer with the goal of making a profit on your car.
When Should I Use vAuto Values?
You won’t be using vAuto, as they are a subscription-based service that caters directly to car dealerships. However, you can use our Market Price Report, Kelley Blue Book, and NADA Guides to determine the value of your vehicle. You can even make use of CarEdge’s new integration with Black Book to help you understand what you’ll be offered for your trade-in.
Most car dealers will use vAuto in conjunction with the Black Book to determine what to offer a customer for their trade-in. You should understand that they’re likely going to show you the lowest valuation they can find, so don’t be afraid to push back. Highlight the valuations from other services to show that your car is worth more than what they’re offering.
One great strategy is to obtain quotes for your car from other dealerships or sites, such as Carvana and Vroom. Take these real quotes to the target car dealership to show them that you already have offers on the table. If they want your business, they’ll likely offer you more for your car.
Interested in learning how people come up with car values? You can learn more about other evaluation books here.
What Are NADA Guides Values?
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Whether you’re selling your car privately or trading it in to a dealership, you absolutely need to understand the value of your vehicle. The last thing that you want to do is get taken advantage of because you don’t understand your vehicle’s worth. That’s where NADA Guides values become important.
However, there are quite a few different car evaluation tools out there. These are known colloquially as “books,” since they began as physical books. With so many options, which bok value should you use?
Today, we’re going to take a look at NADA Guides, one of the most popular car value estimators out there. We’ll take a brief look at their history, discuss how they reach their values, and examine when you should use their evaluation tool.
What is the NADA Guide?
Short for the National Automobile Dealers Association, NADA has been around since 1917. Not long after their formation, they started releasing NADA Guides, which is an evaluator tool used to determine how much a used car is worth.
Back in 1933, it was released as a periodical publication that has grown into a fully-featured website that helps consumers to understand as much as possible about a car’s value.
NADA Guides values are trusted by countless car dealers and consumers when it comes to understanding the worth of any given vehicle. They are widely considered to be an equivalent to the popular Kelley Blue Book. There is much debate about which one of the two is more accurate, but the truth is that they are both worth using.
How Does NADA Reach Its Value?
Since NADA Guides was created out of a car dealers’ association, NADA Guides use real sales data from car dealerships to reach their values. NADA Guides use three primary criteria to determine the value of any given car:
- Local market demand
- Wholesale price
- Real-time retail market prices
NADA Guides put heavy emphasis on the car’s wholesale price, as opposed to focusing on mileage and conditions, as other value estimators do. The downside to this, however, is that NADA assumes that all vehicles are in great condition. This practice results in overinflated prices in situations in which the vehicle does have mechanical or cosmetic issues.
You should use NADA Guides values in conjunction with other value estimators to paint a picture of your car’s worth. Dealerships will use NADA Guides to establish a loan value for when they look for financing offers, then they’ll typically use the Black Book to reach their offer amount. This means that you should use everything at your disposal to counter their offer and ask for more. You deserve to get the most out of your trade-in.
Are NADA Guide Values Accurate?
NADA Guide values are considered by many to be overinflated, due to the fact that they don’t factor in the condition of the vehicle. However, many dealerships and consumers still use these guides to get an idea about what their car is worth.
Dealerships typically use the Black Book and NADA Guides in addition to their own appraisal to determine the value of your trade-in. They want to make money off of your trade-in, so they’ll generally offer you a much lower value than what you’re expecting.
When Should I Use NADA Guides Values?
You should use NADA Guides whenever you are planning to trade in or sell your car. Don’t rely solely on Kelley Blue Book — use NADA Guides, as well. Both are free, so you might as well put them to work for you! The more information that you can bring to the dealership with you, the better your negotiation will be. There is no single source that dictates your value; you’ll need to use multiple sources to understand the worth of your vehicle.
NADA Guides are largely used by financing companies, too.
Ultimately, NADA Guides are a great resource for anyone that wants to gain an understanding of the value of their car. Just like with Kelley Blue Book, don’t expect a car salesman to suddenly accept your value from NADA Guides. You will need to secure several other quotes from sites like Carvana, Vroom, and Carmax, and leverage these offers during your negotiations. You should do everything that you can to get a great deal on your new car.
If you’re selling your car privately, NADA Guides and the Kelley Blue Book can work together to justify your asking price. You can use both in your negotiations with the other party to help you get the best price for your car.
Interested in learning how people come up with car values? You can learn more about other evaluation books here.
What Are Black Book Values?
Understanding how much your car is worth is vital when you want to sell it privately or trade it in at a dealership. Without knowing your car’s value, you risk expecting too much or selling it for far too little. That’s where Black Book values matter.
There are quite a few different evaluation resources out there, usually known as “books.” Each one of these books has its own unique method for evaluating how much a car is worth.
Today, we’re going to take a look at one of the gold standards for car dealerships: Black Book. While consumers are often familiar with a book of a different color (yes, we’re talking about you Blue Book), Black Book is often the one that dealers trust and use.
What is Black Book?
Founded in 1955, Black Book has grown and evolved every decade, but their mission has remained the same: To provide the most accurate car valuations out there.
Something that is unique about Black Book is that they charge a subscription fee, which means that their book values are typically only available to car dealerships and lenders. Why would you pay a fee to evaluate your car one time? That is a big reason why most consumers aren’t aware of Black Book (until they get to the dealership).
Black Book valuations are provided through many different mediums, most notably a weekly magazine that is circulated among approved sources, and in other formats, including their website and app. Car dealership solutions such as DealerTrack and Eleads integrate with Black Book to provide their sales staff with real-time Black Book values.
CarEdge is the first non-dealer, non-financial institution to provide Black Book values directly to consumers. Join to gain access to Black Book values and much more.
How Does Black Book Reach Its Value?
Black Book’s main method to evaluate cars is to visit over 60 auctions throughout the country every week to acquire information about used cars. Take note that these are wholesale auctions, which means that they are for dealers only.
Black Book’s data collectors physically visit auctions to obtain sales data, although they also seek data online. Their goal is to have information about every car sold at an auction in the entire country.
Just like other evaluation tools, Black Book has a proprietary algorithm for the way that they reach their total number for a car’s value. On Black Book’s website, they say that they have precise data that comes from “combining advanced capabilities of data scientists with the industry expertise of automotive analysts.” We like the way that sounds.
Black Book gives different values for wholesale, trade-in, private party, and retail transactions. Additionally, they have subsections based on the reported condition of the car. Just like other evaluators, they use as much data as possible about the target car to reach a value. This data is available for CarEdge members.
Are Black Book Values Accurate?
Since Black Book valuations are largely based on the selling price of used cars at a wholesale auction, Black Book tends to be accurate in its evaluations. Dealerships will undoubtedly use Black Book to determine how much your trade-in is worth. Black Book is typically more conservative than other book values. This is another reason why dealers typically rely on their values — it allows them to make more money when they sell the vehicle.
When Should I Use Black Book Values?
Black Book values were once only available for dealerships who paid the membership fee. However, we’ve integrated Black Book evaluations with our CarEdge member solutions. Now, you’ll be prepared for what a car dealership is likely going to offer you for your trade-in.
However, you should absolutely know about Black Book. Dealerships will run a report on your trade-in and use it to make you an offer on your car. Since Black Book is based largely on real sales, car dealers tend to think of their suggestion of value as the guaranteed sale price for your vehicle. That doesn’t mean that the negotiations need to end there. Instead, you should come back with your own information to get them to raise their offer price.
Before visiting the dealership, obtain estimates from other tools. Your most important negotiating tools will be actual offers from other dealerships. You can easily get a quote from Carvana, Vroom, and Carmax. Using these quotes to guide your negotiation process is a good way to secure a great deal. Additionally, CarEdge members now have access to Black Book valuations so that they know what to expect when they visit a car dealership.
Interested in learning how people come up with car values? You can learn more about other evaluation books here.
