Car Buying Advice

Choosing a car:
In this section

• Get the best price
• How much is the car worth?
• Negotiate effectively

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  Financing

What’s a used car really worth?

Whether you're buying or selling, knowing a vehicle's true value is critical to getting the best deal

Whether you are buying from a dealership or a private party, it’s important to know a car’s current cash value. This depends on a number of factors, including the vehicle’s age, mileage, condition, trim level, optional equipment, and even the region where it’s being sold. For any used car there are two prices to consider: retail and wholesale.

Retail price This is the higher of the two, and is what you would expect to pay for the car if you were buying it at a dealership. If you are buying it from a private seller, you can usually expect to pay a somewhat lower price. This is also considerably higher than the price you’ll probably receive for your trade-in because it includes a profit margin for the dealership.

Wholesale price/trade-in value This is essentially a car’s trade-in value to someone, such as a dealer, who wants to sell it to someone else for profit. Understandably, it is much lower than the retail price and it is unlikely that you will be able to buy a used car for this price.

But it’s also a figure you should know if you’re trying to decide whether to trade in your current vehicle or sell it yourself.


Find the car’s book value

The first thing you should do to assess a used vehicle’s true worth is to check its book value. This is the figure you’ll find in printed pricing guides or on used-car pricing Web sites. These guides list a vehicle’s base retail value. To get a more accurate figure, you must factor in any options as well as the vehicle’s mileage and condition. Some Web sites let you do this online and then give you adjusted figures.

Alternatively, you can check Web sites or pricing guides published by companies like Edmunds (www.edmunds.com), Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com), the National Automobile Dealers Association (www.nadaguides.com), and VMR (www.vmrintl.com), which also list used-car values. Printed guides can often be found in libraries. Checking several sources will give you more pricing ammunition when you begin haggling with potential buyers.


What are sellers asking?

While pricing guides and Web sites can give you a general idea of a vehicle’s value, you can often get a better fix on its worth in your region, check the classified and dealer ads in local newspapers, classified-ad publications, and some of the online used-car selling sites. Sometimes it’s difficult to sort out the private sellers from the hidden dealer ads, but it’s a good place to start. Look for vehicles that are similar to the one you are considering in terms of model year, mileage, trim level, options, and condition.

You can also check online used-car selling sites like Autobytel (www.autobytel.com), Auto Trader (www.autotrader.com), UsedCars.com (www.usedcars.com), or eBay Motors (www.ebaymotors.com). You can limit your search to your general geographic area and instantly get a listing of the cars for sale and the prices. Prices in other regions may vary from those in your area.

Knowing what other sellers are asking for similar vehicles can be more ammunition for you to bid lower on the car you want to buy. Keep in mind that the listed prices are the asking prices, not what people are paying. You should assume that all such prices are negotiable. One advantage to eBay Motors is that you can check completed auctions for the actual sale prices.