KBB Value dropping drasticly

Originally Posted by Jordo!

The only values that hold any real water are the ones listed in the Black Book -- those are auction prices, and they are referenced by government agencies in determining the "real" value of things.

Likewise on insurance claims.

Also, note that trade-in values are always awful relative to private party sales. Unless there's no way to do the deal without a trade-in (e.g., not enough cash on hand for a down payment), you are always better off selling the car privately.

Originally Posted by Red__Zed

KBB fair trade-in is generally (more or less) black book price. It is pulled from the same data set.

Part of their bad rep comes from user error--everyone puts their car as "excellent," when it generally is not, nevermind it's hard to find someone that cares.




The other consideration with trade-in is tax benefits (which vary by state). I saved $4k or so trading my mustang instead of selling--otherwise I'd have never traded it in.

Originally Posted by shawnski

4k tax saving?? What kind of state tax you all have? Or must be 40- 50k mustang as a trade!!