Been looking for a nice Sport for a little while now. Found a decent one on Craigslist from a private owner.

I started by quoting him the current KBB cost of his truck and made a starting offer at $700 under that, given the current market and gas prices. (granted its definitely worth more than the KBB val yet that's not the point)

He responded with a slightly dropped price and mentioned the NADA value, which is surprisingly around $3k more than the KBB value. I was a little taken back because I've never really used the NADA value when buying/selling cars.

I'm looking for some advice on the situation and to hear some of your thoughts.

Thanks!

 

Bottom line, CA$H Talks! BS Walks. NADA And Kelley are simply references used by mostly dealers. They have different rating systems are far as what is "excellent,good,fair" etc. I would try to arrange to give the truck a real good look, and possibly a test drive. Being you mentioned a private owner the test drive might not be possible. I'd make the person a fair offer, then if i was really interested in the truck, have the cash in hand to back it up.

 

You need to make sure that you are both checking off the same things!

 

I agree with dodge15004x45.9. Usually KBB is the highest, and NADA (more widely accepted) is a little lower but more realistic. If you really want to be a dick to that guy, quote him from Edmunds.com

Edmunds takes regional factors into account and gives you the most accurate estimate IMO, and is almost always lower than NADA and KBB.

I'll never use KBB again. They claim the reason why they are higher is due to "we take dealership advertising and detailing into account" or something along those lines. Why should we have to pay for the dealership's advertising and detailing (or any other of the dealership's miscellaneous) costs?

 

That's odd that everyone's saying KBB is typically higher. I've matched the specs and done both, NADA always ends up being higher.

I was simply going to tell him that NADA is typically for dealers/insurance, nowhere near the realistic private values.

brb checking edmunds

 

KBB blows and no one I've ever seen uses it. NADA is the best point of reference.