I've noticed KBB's "Very Good" value/estimate is good and probably the best at determining a fair price (not overpriced and not too cheap). After that, subtract (or add) a couple hundred or a few thousand for any major flaws (depending on what kind). Anyone else agree or disagree?

 

I just looked up the value of my car and KBB stated that it was worth 6-9800. NADA stated that the car is worth 10,500. I guess KBB pricing is more accurate now. It use to be way off. I personally would not let my car go for 10,000. That's low balling it, its worth more to me!!

 

Most of these KBB sites rely on algorithms, formulas etc.

IMHO, low numbers of transactions can skew the results, s2k prices obviously affected by this.

Also, some sites lean for the dealer, some for the consumer.

Frankly, they're all a waste of time.

If you're looking to make a move, I'd look at the local market and advertised prices to get a feel AND the specific situation of your trade

 

I agree. Even though I got a great deal on mine, its showing that I can sell my 08 for a sizable profit even after putting 37k miles on the car since purchase... Unless prices have been going up. :-)

 

Yes, that's what I have been doing for the past couple months, daily...researching and studying all these prices/advertisements.

Even though the prices vary greatly (there's always going to be a couple "crackhead" prices and "tgtbt" prices), what I'm trying to say is, is that the majority and "fair" prices I've been seeing locally advertised, is very very close to KBB's "Very Good" and sometimes "Excellent" values.

 

This can also be a matter of Which came first -- the chicken or the egg? It could just as easily be that people who put their car up for sale use KBB "very good" or "excellent" value in order to decide what to set their advertised price at. Advertised price and sale price can differ and it's hard to know unless one can poll those same people who were just advertising. I know that for every car I've ever sold, I went to both Edmunds and KBB to look up book value (and I looked at other comparable current listings too) and then typically went with a little above whatever was the highest figure I saw on either KBB or Edmunds. And KBB historically always had the higher number for the ones I have looked up.

 

Yes, v true. I was thinking the same thing right after I posted. I guess KBB isn't too bad then.. for a rough estimate.

 

Truecar is another option that I go by now. It's also supply/demand as well. If you are patient, you can get better deal. Same goes for selling.

 

The price books/guides are dealer tools so they can discount the price and give you a deal. They're inflated in the retail sale area and you'll never get book value on a trade in!

Here's the '06 NADA. Not geographically adjusted that I can see. A tad over what I paid last year. I think the dealer wanted $1000 more.

Dealer spent money after the trade-in to have the car detailed and serviced. He probably would have asked more for if it had OEM wheels -- it had horrible, black Enkei RPF1 wheels that nearly gagged me and I told them so. I may have paid "too much" but I wasn't going to let it get away from me for $1000 or so, these are very hard to find in Ohio.

Dealers are asking crazy prices here in Cleveland right now. One wants wants $24,000 for the same car (now a year older); another $32,000 for an '07 albeit with less than15K miles; and still another wants nearly $20,000 for an '02 with 38K miles.

-- Chuck

 

The "How much did you pay for your USED S2000?" and "Is this car worth it?" threads on this site are also useful resources. They may not give you a regional perspective, but still provide useful insight from the knowledgeable folks here.