How accurate is the Kelly Blue Book?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been thinking about trading in my car and buying another one. However, I was researching prices on Kelly Blue Book and I was really surprised at the large difference between the trade in value and the retail value of my 2002 Passat.

Kelly Blue Book lists $7,185 for my car in good condition as trade in value and $12,075 as the retail value. Are these figures accurate? Should I only expect around 7000 for my car.

Private party value is $9,180. Due to my schedule and location, I’m not really interested in going the private party route even though I know I could probably get more money.

2

You’ll find NADA a better guide: http://www.nadaguides.com/

3

In my experience KBB is slanted towards the dealership. It reflects the dealerships asking price for cars and not the price they actually sell for. Like A.R. Cane stated, use NADA.

“The Kelley Blue Book Suggested Retail Value is representative of dealers’ asking prices and is the starting point for negotiation between a consumer and a dealer.”