Are Blue Book Values Accurate for Junk Car Prices Near Me?

If you just pick an arbitrary number that sounds good to you, there are three things that can happen:

• It will be priced too high and no one will want to buy it.

• You’ll price the car too low, leaving money on the table that you could have in your pocket.

• In a very small circumstance, you might hit the nail on the head for pricing, but it’s unlikely.

Pricing your car accurately comes down to research. Much like renting an apartment, you're going to look at rent reports and resources to find the right price, right?
Ever hard of Blue Book values? It’s perhaps the most popular way to assess a fair selling price for your car.

What is Blue Book Value?

More accurately known as the Kelley Blue Book value, it’s a valuation tool you can find online to get a close appraisal on your car’s selling price. What you do is enter your vehicle’s details – year, make, mileage, options, color, condition – and it spits out a price range that is acceptable.

It’s only in the past few years Kelley Blue Book values have been accessible to the public. It was a wholesale pricing tool that priced each make and model based on condition: Excellent, Very Good, Good, and Fair. Instead of the physical ‘blue book’ that was delivered to dealers on a regular basis, you can find your car’s Blue Book value online at KBB.com.

Another option to determine a selling price for your car is through NADAguides. Just like Kelley Blue Book, it uses your vehicle information to determine its value. The results that are offered are Rough Trade-In, Average Trade-In, Clean Trade-In, and Clean Retail. You’ll need to objectively determine your car’s condition for accurate pricing.

NADA vs KBB

Which one is better? Both provide information based on recent sales results in your area. It depends on what information you want to get. Both can be used as supporting evidence for the value you put on your car. If you want retail pricing, go with NADA. But let’s be honest here. If you have a junk car, you aren’t going to get clean retail pricing for it.

Is Kelley Blue Book Accurate?

For the most part, Kelley Blue Book values are close, but that’s only if the information you enter is accurate. The biggest problem? People tend to think their cars are in better condition than they actually are. And that means you expect your car to be worth more than it is when you go to sell it or trade it in, and you’re disappointed with the offer you receive.

Kelley Blue Book Isn’t for Junk Car Prices

But alas, if you need to get junk car prices, you won’t find it from Kelley Blue Book. What you’ll get are prices in line for cars that can be resold; cars people actually want to drive. That doesn’t mean it can’t help you price your junk car, just that it isn’t a tool to get accurate pricing to sell it.

If you want to base your junk car prices on something, both Kelley Blue Book and NADAguides can help you. Pull up your car’s valuations on either site. When the results are displayed, look at the lowest pricing category. For Kelley Blue Book, it’s Fair condition. For NADAguides, it’s Rough Trade-In. Then, once you’ve located that pricing, you’ll need to assess your car’s damage and relate it to that pricing model. For junk cars, it’ anywhere between 25 and 50 percent of the lowest price on those two sites.

Here’s an example. A 2002 Chevrolet Silverado 4WD has been in an accident or two, but it’s still drivable. Rough Trade-In pricing on NADAguides comes up as $2,350 including a deduction for high mileage and an add-on for a power seat. But with extensive damage, that value is significantly lower, perhaps only 35 percent of that value, or around $823.

You won’t get the highest price for junk cars, but you already know that, don’t you?

How to Get the Best Price for Junk Cars

You’ve found out a way to calculate rough junk car prices, but how are you going to get it sold? Selling a junk car isn’t as easy as you’d hope. But with DamagedCars, you can make it easy, seamless, and stress-free to sell your junk car for a fair price.

Simply request an online offer for your vehicle. The offer you receive is for your vehicle in as-is condition, where it is. There’s no need to fix it up or bring it anywhere. If the offer DamagedCars gives you is good, all you have to do is accept it. We’ll do the rest. We’ll pay you cash for your car and get the paperwork in order (you just need your title). Your car will get picked up from wherever it sits at no charge to you. Does it get any easier than that? Get your offer online now to see how much you can get for your car!