Used Vehicle Price Guides Can Be Off by Thousands of Dollars
When supply is low, prices tend to go up. One main reason for the shortfall is due to the collapse of the car rental business. Rental fleets are ordering half the cars they used to, which means they don't have as many cars to sell to dealerships.
On top of this, 2007 and 2008 car sales were lower than usual, meaning less late-model used cars available. Furthermore, the "cash for clunkers" program sent 700,000 functional cars to the scrapheap instead of the used car market.
This shortfall in supply has led to a large increase in prices for used cars over the last several months.
So much so that used-vehicle guides such as NADA Guides and Kelly Blue Book have had a hard time keeping up. Many dealers have been complaining that the wholesale prices quoted in NADA Guides is often thousands of dollars too low.
Car shoppers who will be trading in their used car need to spend more time to determine what their car is truly worth. Don't just go by the guidebooks. You could be short-changing yourself by thousands of dollars.
Read our Guide to Selling Your Used Car to get the highest price for your car.
Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
About The Author
Gregg Fidan is the founder of RealCarTips. After being ripped off on his first car purchase, he devoted several years to figuring out the best ways to avoid scams and negotiate the best car deals. He has written hundreds of articles on the subject of car buying and taught thousands of car shoppers how to get the best deals.Latest Weekly Car Buying Tips
November 2024
- Best Black Friday Car Deals 2024 Nov 28, 2024
- Top 100 Cheapest New Cars Right Now Nov 28, 2024
- Real Prices of New Compact SUVs Nov 28, 2024
- Cheapest Luxury Lease Deals Nov 28, 2024
- All SUV Lease Deals Compared November 2024 Nov 21, 2024
- New Cars with the Most Available Inventory Nov 21, 2024
- Best Car Deals Around the Country Nov 21, 2024
- Real Prices of Pickup Trucks Nov 21, 2024
- How to Get $2,000 Discount on Any Tesla Nov 15, 2024
- Top 100 Cheapest Lease Deals Nov 14, 2024
- Biggest Discounts on New Cars November 2024 Nov 14, 2024
- Cars With the Largest Rebates Nov 14, 2024
- Real Prices of Midsize SUVs Nov 14, 2024
- Best 0% Finance Deals November 2024 Nov 07, 2024
- Best Bang for Your Buck Lease Deals Nov 07, 2024
- Best Electric, Hybrid Lease Deals Nov 07, 2024
- Real Prices of Large SUVs Nov 07, 2024
October 2024
- Best Car Deals by Category Oct 31, 2024
- Real Prices of Compact Cars Oct 31, 2024
- Which Cars Better to Lease or Buy Oct 31, 2024
- Largest Hidden Dealer Rebates Oct 31, 2024
- Nissan Special Deals Alert Oct 24, 2024
- Real Prices of Midsize Cars Oct 17, 2024