Best Pricing Resource?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

R

Rhythmdoctor

10 Year
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Threads
22
Messages
158
Location
Chicago
I've been using Edmunds for 13 years and have always had success with it as far as accuracy.

Recently, after a lot of shopping around for the right 100 series and seeing prices all over the place, I've noticed that NADA and Kelly Blue Book have different prices than Edmunds. Mainly, Edmunds favors the buyers (their prices are lower) while the other two favor the seller (higher prices).

I want to know which is the mor accurate. For instance, a 2000 LX 470 deemed in "Excellent" condition has about a $5k variance between Edmunds and NADA/KELLY.

I already know that dealers use Edmunds when buying (to get the cheaper buy price) and then quote Kelly when selling - I don't "know" but I "assume".

Any thoughts or opinions about which is "best". Again, I've purchased many vehicles using Edmunds and it's always been a great resource. I'd like to rely on it for my next purchase as well.

Thanks,
 
KBB prices my 1998 LX470, with 130k miles, Very good condition (Interior is a 9, exterior has door dings, some scratches, no rust, mechanical condition is good, rack seeps), private party value at $10,500. I wouldn't sell it for $10,500.

I really don't think KBB considers condition of vehicle enough in its price. And sellers often don't get it right either.
 
Ultimately, the "correct" price for anything is whatever the market will bear.

-It follows that the price will depend on timing, location, interest rates, and myriad other factors.

The "blue book" sites, edmunds, NADA etc., probably work well for items that are bought and sold in high volumes every day all over the country, for example a 2012 prius. Because there are a large number of 2012 prius transactions occurring every day, the statistics can predict the market pretty accurately.

In contrast, the market for 15-year-old Land Cruisers/LX 470s is relatively thin. Relatively few 2000 LX 470s are bought and sold, and so one transaction can skew the statistics quite a bit, and I think that accounts for the variance between the different sites.

I doubt one site is "better" than the other. They just use different algorithms and different information sets for calculating the price. Which one is "better" will depend on whether you are buying or selling, your personal financial situation, and that of the other party involved in the transaction.

I have never put much faith in blue books or edmunds-type sites. I think Craigslist, and the classifieds are probably better indicators of pricing in most local markets. Also, Autotrader.com lets you see asking prices on a large number of real vehicles, which could be useful for determining your price.

At the end of the day, the best price is whatever you can get. It depends on you and the other party involved in the transaction. I would not recommend edmunds, or any of the other "blue book" sites to inform pricing decisions on 15 year old SUVs or any other category of thinly traded asset.

If possible, the best source of pricing info is comparison to recently completed transactions on other similar vehicles in your local market.
 
Last edited:
marshotel said:
Ultimately, the "correct" price for anything is whatever the market will bear.

-It follows that the price will depend on timing, location, interest rates, and myriad other factors.

The "blue book" sites, edmunds, NADA etc., probably work well for items that are bought and sold in high volumes every day all over the country, for example a 2012 prius. Because there are a large number of 2012 prius transactions occurring every day, the statistics can predict the market pretty accurately.

In contrast, the market for 15-year-old Land Cruisers/LX 470s is relatively thin. Relatively few 2000 LX 470s are bought and sold, and so one transaction can skew the statistics quite a bit, and I think that accounts for the variance between the different sites.

I doubt one site is "better" than the other. They just use different algorithms and different information sets for calculating the price. Which one is "better" will depend on whether you are buying or selling, your personal financial situation, and that of the other party involved in the transaction.

I have never put much faith in blue books or edmunds-type sites. I think Craigslist, and the classifieds are probably better indicators of pricing in most local markets. Also, Autotrader.com lets you see asking prices on a large number of real vehicles, which could be useful for determining your price.

At the end of the day, the best price is whatever you can get. It depends on you and the other party involved in the transaction. I would not recommend edmunds, or any of the other "blue book" sites to inform pricing decisions on 15 year old SUVs or any other category of thinly traded asset.

If possible, the best source of pricing info is comparison to recently completed transactions on other similar vehicles in your local market.
Click to expand...
Are you of the opinion that these resources undervalue LCs/LXs? I think Kelly and NADA over-value them. My hope is that Edmunds is perfect but it might under-value, I'm just not sure. I've seen prices all over the place for similar vehicles of similar condition (anywhere from $9,500 - $16,000 for a 1999 LX 470). That's a very WIDE range.

My confusion comes from the differences of the three sources you lumped together (blue book, edmunds, NADA). They are not similar, Edmunds is always much lower prices. As a buyer, I would love to know that Edmunds is accurate. If I were a seller, I'd prefer Kelly or NADA to be more accurate.

My hunch is that Edmunds is more accurate (maybe it's just my wish). In the end, final sale prices on ebay are probably most accurate since it's TRUE market value (auction/bidding style). But I'm not sure I can do a historical search of sold items on ebay.

I just want to know that my price range is accurate as to not low-ball on offers (or vice versa).
 
Edmunds True Market Value seems to be about the most accurate that I have come across. It's always within a few hundred dollars of the price that CarMax is willing to give on a trade-in.
 
I used the "appraise my car" feature on Edmunds and it said a 98 LX w/ 145k miles was worth $4970.

Autotrader has a feature where you appraise a vehicle to sell to your local dealer. I entered the same information and received a quote of $9,488.

So, Edmunds says a 98 LX w/ 145k is worth $4970
Autotrader says you can trade in the same car for $9,488

Yes, I'd say Edmund's valuation is completely off in this case.
 
hoser said:
I used the "appraise my car" feature on Edmunds and it said a 98 LX w/ 145k miles was worth $4970.

Autotrader has a feature where you appraise a vehicle to sell to your local dealer. I entered the same information and received a quote of $9,488.

So, Edmunds says a 98 LX w/ 145k is worth $4970
Autotrader says you can trade in the same car for $9,488

Yes, I'd say Edmund's valuation is completely off in this case.
Click to expand...
For a 1998 LX 470 with 145k, I'm seeing the following valuation per Edmunds (assuming outstanding condition):
Trade-in: $5500
Private sale: $6500
Dealer Retail: $8300

I'm not sure I'd use Edmunds if I were trading in a vehicle. But I would venture a guess that dealerships use the Edmunds trade-in data as leverage when bargaining a trade-in.
 
hoser said:
This is what I used:

http://www.edmunds.com/appraisal/

In any case, $6500 is low as well... when I can trade it in for $9500.
Click to expand...
I don't like referencing trade-in because it's dependant on the purchase price of the vehicle you're buying. Dealers have a way of jacking up purchase price to give you a better price on your trade-in but that doesn't mean the trade-in value is accurate.

I think private sale and dealer retail are more relevant, imo. My angle is from that of a buyer and trying to gauge fair valuation.
 
Rhythmdoctor said:
This link is helpful but the actual black book link is found on that page. I appreciate it:
Black Book - http://www.cudlautosmart.com/Research/TradeInValues.aspx?articleId=7&WT.svl=VehicleBuyingGuide
Click to expand...

It pulls up the same link for me.

Some dealers will back some trade in value to give more room to negotiate, especially with used cars. It doesn't really affect the actual value of your trade. It could go the other way and they could give you a $1000 over trade value if you are paying top value for their car.

Best practice is to negotiate the price of the "new" car and then negotiate the trade in. Any time I traded cars at the dealer I worked at, that's what I would do. They'd look up my trade in a book an apply it to the deal.

Sure there are some sleaze balls that will tell you your trade is worth a lot less than you might get somewhere else, but that's the business. There are so many dealers now, customers have a lot of power.
 
TXLX100 said:
It pulls up the same link for me.

Some dealers will back some trade in value to give more room to negotiate, especially with used cars. It doesn't really affect the actual value of your trade. It could go the other way and they could give you a $1000 over trade value if you are paying top value for their car.

Best practice is to negotiate the price of the "new" car and then negotiate the trade in. Any time I traded cars at the dealer I worked at, that's what I would do. They'd look up my trade in a book an apply it to the deal.

Sure there are some sleaze balls that will tell you your trade is worth a lot less than you might get somewhere else, but that's the business. There are so many dealers now, customers have a lot of power.
Click to expand...
Agreed on everything, but I'm specifically wondering about valuation of used vehicles with no trades.

It seems like the Black Book is in line with Blue Book and NADA, as far as pricing 12+ old LX/LCs.

Thanks,
 
That's a tough one, it's somewhere between trade-in and retail :). I have no idea what my vehicles are worth. Both are top of the line, well maintained, low miles, but 12-16 years old. They are probably worth more to me than what someone wants to pay. Seems like people that can afford to pay $10k+ in cash for a car might not be buying cars that old, so it may hurt values. (That may just be not smart people, I paid cash for my LX, but it was a bargain in my mind)
 
hoser said:
This is what I used:

http://www.edmunds.com/appraisal/

In any case, $6500 is low as well... when I can trade it in for $9500.
Click to expand...

I doubt very much that you can trade in your 1998 LX with 145k for $9500. You might get that by selling it private party, but I don't think there's enough room for a dealer to resell for a decent profit if he's paying you that much.
 
TXLX100 said:
Best practice is to negotiate the price of the "new" car and then negotiate the trade in. Any time I traded cars at the dealer I worked at, that's what I would do. They'd look up my trade in a book an apply it to the deal.
Click to expand...
This is what I've done as well.

In any case, $6500/excellent and $4970/good for a '98 LX w/ 145k is quite low. I did a search on Autotrader for all 98-99's in the USA. There were 52 of them. The lowest price one was $9400. Obviously all the prices are negotiable but $4970 is a long way off from the average asking price of $12,500.
 
lhommec13 said:
I doubt very much that you can trade in your 1998 LX with 145k for $9500. You might get that by selling it private party, but I don't think there's enough room for a dealer to resell for a decent profit if he's paying you that much.
Click to expand...
CA cars are worth way more than MA cars :flipoff2:

I actually agree with you. I posted it to offset the ridiculousness of Edmunds pricing.
 
hoser said:
CA cars are worth way more than MA cars :flipoff2:

I actually agree with you. I posted it to offset the ridiculousness of Edmunds pricing.
Click to expand...

Haha yup! And so is gas :p

All in all, I think marshotel hit the nail on the head. The pricing guides will give you a wide range of values, but the most accurate number will likely be derived from actual examples for sale from CL, the classifieds, Ebay (locally), even local used car lots.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom