how accurate is Kelley Blue Book for assessing trade in value?

[cepmom]

I am going tomorrow to look at buying a new Sienna minivan and I plan on trading in my 98 Windstar. I looked on kbb.com to figure out the trade in value and I was just wondering if they are pretty accurate in their assessment of trade in value. I want to go in to the dealer as prepared as I can be to avoid any painful haggling with the sales people. Has anyone ever looked up the trade in value on kbb.com and then actually been offered that from the dealer?

On my Windstar, the value is between $2000 (fair condition) and $2690 (good condition) ~ I'm not really sure whether to consider the condition "good" or "fair" ~ it does have only 67,500 miles on it and new tires last spring, but there are some scratches and one dent on the body.

Any input?

 

[AllyandJack]

When I went to trade in my car, they used the Kelly Blue Book. N.A.D.A. will usually give you a higher value, but the dealerships usually use Kelly. In fact, the guy printed it out for me to show me the offer.

 

[stinkerbelle]

DH did a KBB assesment on my 01 Pathfinder before we traded it in. the value HE got vs the value the DEALER got was different.

bring printouts with you...heck yeah we got the higher value trade-in!

 

[cepmom]

I'll be sure to bring print outs with me...I want to at least look like I know what I'm doing! I am so dreading this... the last time I bought a car (the Windstar) it was a nightmare. I got prices for the Sienna from the dealer online, and I'll have those with me too. I am hoping it won't be as painful as the last time.

 

[tmt martins]

If you have a CARMAX near you you can also take it there for a free assessment.

 

[JimB.]

Remember, KBB will give both a RETAIL & WHOLESALE value. I'm betting that if you ask the dealer you will see the wholesale (lower) value.

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

We got exactly KBB trade in value (their print out matched ours) from our Toyota dealership. Not sure what trim you are going for but if its helps I paid $23,126 for my 2006 Toyota Sienna Le with the AM package last month. We emailed all 3 local dealers (and let them each know we were soliciting multiple quotes) and agreed on the price, interest and payments before we went in. So once we went in all we had to do was sign the papers and get the keys. It was the best car buying experience we've had yet.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We were offered way less for our minivan trade in than the KBB trade in price. I don't have the figures in front of me, but it was maybe $1500-2000 less and probably 3K less than what we could sell it for ourselves. We are now debating keeping our old van as our second car.

 

[disneychrista]

When I traded in my old car I got considerably less then KBB for my car.

 

[Chris2597]

We got less than kbb quoted on our trade..I think it was around 1k, but it was a big SUV, 4 years old, low mileage, great shape...but ..the dealer says that it depends on how many like type vehicles they are dealing with at the time of the sale....and lots of people were unloading the gas hogs. However we got less than invoice on our honda....kbb, nada, and edmunds give invoice price on new vehicles....remember that dealerships get a % holdback from the manufacturor....I think it is usually around 4%....so even if you are paying invoice or less...they are still making money. Also....be careful of the dealer prep fees....my dh has never paid them....that is totally negotiable. Also, watch out for undercoating and scotchguard charges....most of the time it consists of the dealer spraying a can of protectant on the underside of the car. they have taken those type charges off also.

 

[Cindy B]

You sid 67K miles. That is too high for mileage for a dealer to turn it around and sell it in a reasonable time frame. I heard somewhere that around 50K is about as high as they will go in mileage for a trade

You also said dents/scratches. I wouldn't worry about scratches that much, but the dents are something that if the car dealer would have to get his detail guys to do for a car that really may not be worth much.

You may most likely be better off keeping it or selling it privately.

 

[cepmom]

We got exactly KBB trade in value (their print out matched ours) from our Toyota dealership. Not sure what trim you are going for but if its helps I paid $23,126 for my 2006 Toyota Sienna Le with the AM package last month. We emailed all 3 local dealers (and let them each know we were soliciting multiple quotes) and agreed on the price, interest and payments before we went in. So once we went in all we had to do was sign the papers and get the keys. It was the best car buying experience we've had yet.

we are looking at either a 2005 LE 8 seat with option pkg 6 (gave us a price of $24,350)or a 2006 LE 7 seat with option pkg 6(gave us a price of $24,800). What is the AM pkg? In my brochure, it lists the packages as #1, #2,#3 etc. We got prices from several dealers and the one we are going to today had the best online price and the biggest inventory.

 

[cepmom]

You sid 67K miles. That is too high for mileage for a dealer to turn it around and sell it in a reasonable time frame. I heard somewhere that around 50K is about as high as they will go in mileage for a trade

You also said dents/scratches. I wouldn't worry about scratches that much, but the dents are something that if the car dealer would have to get his detail guys to do for a car that really may not be worth much.

You may most likely be better off keeping it or selling it privately.

well, considering the car is almost 8 years old, I thought the miles were fairly low. Do you mean they won't accept a trade with more than 50,000 miles on it?

The scratches are superficial ~ mostly from loose carriages in parking lots (I work at a retail store and lots of carriages rolling around) and the dent isn't very big ~ it is on the sliding door from when I was pulling in to my Dad's driveway and cut it too close to the fence post. I think it would be simple to pop it out...we just never got around to it and we don't have the tools to do it ourselves.

anyway ~ I think I would rather trade than to deal with trying to sell it. When I bought the Windstar, I sold the car I had before that myself rather than trade it and it was a pain.

 

[AllyandJack]

You sid 67K miles. That is too high for mileage for a dealer to turn it around and sell it in a reasonable time frame. I heard somewhere that around 50K is about as high as they will go in mileage for a trade

You also said dents/scratches. I wouldn't worry about scratches that much, but the dents are something that if the car dealer would have to get his detail guys to do for a car that really may not be worth much.

You may most likely be better off keeping it or selling it privately.

My car has 125,000 miles on it and I was offered KBB value for it. KBB adjusts for mileage and takes into account that the dealership will probably have to sell it at auction.

Obviously the amount goes down, but a dealer will take it.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I think that the miles are low. I know that it's easier trading it in, but keep in mind it's very easy to sell on your own. When we traded in our last van we had the first person who saw it buy and they paid our asking price. Maybe we were lucky, but I was surprised at how easy it was. When we sold a car before that we also had an easy experience.

I'm not sure about trading in at Toyota. We just bought an Odyssey and I'd already, via e-mail, gotten a real good price on it, so they were less likely to give me a good trade in on our existing van.

 

[Chris2597]

One of the only downfalls for selling the car yourself is that if you trade the dealer will take the trade price off of the price of the new vehicle for the sales tax basis.

 

[cepmom]

thanks guys
I just got back from the dealer....we ended up purchasing a 2005 8 seat LE. I got a price over the internet a few weeks ago for the same car and I thought the price was pretty good. I was hoping to get it even lower, but it wasn't going to happen today. They offered a pathetic amount for the trade ~ even lower than kbb's value on a car in "fair" condition. We went back and forth a little and came up with an amount somewhere in between kbb's "fair" and "good" trade in values.

I'm pretty happy overall, but one things bugs me about the whole thing....I go the 2006 brochure and it lists all the packages and what they consist of. The 2006 car I was looking at said it came with option package #6, but when I got to the dealer, their option package 6 was different than in the brochure (it did not include the dvd system). The sales manager said that different geographical areas may have different packages ie: the option package 6 listed in the brochure might be for cars in California or someplace else. They said they could add the dvd system for xxx,(of course ) and I thought of trying to get them to add it for free, but I wasn't in the mood. So we decided to go with the 2005 which we were sort of leaning towards anyway.


Thanks again for all your replies!

 

[disneymom3]

Can I ask you a question about the car styles? Is the 2005 the old body style or the new? I do not car for the new body of the Sienna and we are looking for a new van this coming spring. We will buy used, but I need to figure out what year I can go up to. Thanks! And glad your experience was less painful this time around!

 

[cepmom]

Can I ask you a question about the car styles? Is the 2005 the old body style or the new? I do not car for the new body of the Sienna and we are looking for a new van this coming spring. We will buy used, but I need to figure out what year I can go up to. Thanks! And glad your experience was less painful this time around!

the 2005 is the newer body style...not sure what year that changed, but it is practically the same as the 2006 body.