Kelley Blue Book Accuracy?
 

How accurate are the price quotes off of Kelley Blue Book?

http://www.kbb.com/

I have my eye on a VW golf that is selling for about 600$ more than the Kelley Blue Book price. Who's price is right? The KBB price or the seller's price?

KBB is usually a bit high, www.edmunds.com is a lot better, IMHO.

I like edmunds too, it seems more realistic. The numbers in NADA and kbb seem inflated.

Kelley Blue Book is accurate if you're the seller. :)

The car dealers in my area use NADA. They may show you blue book prices but they buy and sell from NADA prices only.

If you're buying a car at the listed Blue Book value, you're paying too much. In my experience, it is not at all difficult to find cars that are at least 5-10% below the listed value. Paying $600 over BB is a rotten deal.

I shoot for a few benjamins under Kelley Blue Book. Usually the seller will ask for a couple hundred more than its value from kbb, and I come back with a really low figure, expecting a counter-offer of something more reasonable. If I'm still not happy this will go back and forth until we can settle on something we both can agree on (or I just walk away, which sometimes works to my advantage).

I just got a '96 Nissan 200SX for my gf in great condition with a bunch of nice features. According to BB I paid $250 less than the car's worth in fair condition, and $1,150 less than its price in excellent condition. Edmund's says I overpaid by a bit, but they have very few options available for their appraisals, so things like the new stereo, alarm, power doors, windows, and sun roof don't factor into their numbers.

I agree that $600 over BB is ridiculous. Then again, I wouldn't get a VW anyways. My sister has had two and they are more troulble than they are worth.