Determining CPO fair value?
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 45
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From: tx
Determining CPO fair value?
For those of you that have purchased an L-Certified vehicle how did you determine your offer or acceptable purchase price? I’ve tried to use KBB pricing for CPO without any success. I even referenced it in one of my negotiations and had the dealer say the don’t go by those figures. (Unless of course they are low balling you on your trade) It almost seems like the numbers KBB provides must be inaccurate, because who else is selling CPO besides the dealer. I definitely don’t want to pay too much, but the dealers in my region seem to all price them high, even when you factor in a hefty allowance for the certified warranty. Anyone have a similar experience? Any suggestions on a better alternative?
Pole Position
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 2,878
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From: Idaho
For those of you that have purchased an L-Certified vehicle how did you determine your offer or acceptable purchase price? I’ve tried to use KBB pricing for CPO without any success. I even referenced it in one of my negotiations and had the dealer say the don’t go by those figures. (Unless of course they are low balling you on your trade) It almost seems like the numbers KBB provides must be inaccurate, because who else is selling CPO besides the dealer. I definitely don’t want to pay too much, but the dealers in my region seem to all price them high, even when you factor in a hefty allowance for the certified warranty. Anyone have a similar experience? Any suggestions on a better alternative?
Rookie
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 56
Likes: 8
From: CA
I worked in the car business in a past life. Since then I’ve boight and sold at least one car every year, and sometimes more. Probably 20 or so...I do not keep cars long.
KBB can be helpful, but it can be worthless. It won’t sell you a car and it won’t buy yours. It’s “opinion” is therefore ultimately worthless. Want to know what something is worth? Shop around and see what you can actually buy one for. That’s the current value. If Kelly won’t sell you one, then Kelly becomes worthless. Kelly won’t send a check for yours, so her assessment of your trade or private party sale price might be worthless.
Example being used Odyssey vans. Especially the 2011-2017 models, but the older as well. It’s rare that you can find a used one at KBB, especially a higher mileage one. They’re highly sought after and KBB goes right out the window. I know because I bought one, drove it a year, and then resold it before buying a new 2018.
Go on autotrader and search nationwide. Find a few that are CPO and closest to what you want. Work on the best price. Once you have a few quotes, you have the current market value.
Hopw thst helps.
KBB can be helpful, but it can be worthless. It won’t sell you a car and it won’t buy yours. It’s “opinion” is therefore ultimately worthless. Want to know what something is worth? Shop around and see what you can actually buy one for. That’s the current value. If Kelly won’t sell you one, then Kelly becomes worthless. Kelly won’t send a check for yours, so her assessment of your trade or private party sale price might be worthless.
Example being used Odyssey vans. Especially the 2011-2017 models, but the older as well. It’s rare that you can find a used one at KBB, especially a higher mileage one. They’re highly sought after and KBB goes right out the window. I know because I bought one, drove it a year, and then resold it before buying a new 2018.
Go on autotrader and search nationwide. Find a few that are CPO and closest to what you want. Work on the best price. Once you have a few quotes, you have the current market value.
Hopw thst helps.
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From: tx
I worked in the car business in a past life. Since then I’ve boight and sold at least one car every year, and sometimes more. Probably 20 or so...I do not keep cars long.
KBB can be helpful, but it can be worthless. It won’t sell you a car and it won’t buy yours. It’s “opinion” is therefore ultimately worthless. Want to know what something is worth? Shop around and see what you can actually buy one for. That’s the current value. If Kelly won’t sell you one, then Kelly becomes worthless. Kelly won’t send a check for yours, so her assessment of your trade or private party sale price might be worthless.
Example being used Odyssey vans. Especially the 2011-2017 models, but the older as well. It’s rare that you can find a used one at KBB, especially a higher mileage one. They’re highly sought after and KBB goes right out the window. I know because I bought one, drove it a year, and then resold it before buying a new 2018.
Go on autotrader and search nationwide. Find a few that are CPO and closest to what you want. Work on the best price. Once you have a few quotes, you have the current market value.
Hopw thst helps.
KBB can be helpful, but it can be worthless. It won’t sell you a car and it won’t buy yours. It’s “opinion” is therefore ultimately worthless. Want to know what something is worth? Shop around and see what you can actually buy one for. That’s the current value. If Kelly won’t sell you one, then Kelly becomes worthless. Kelly won’t send a check for yours, so her assessment of your trade or private party sale price might be worthless.
Example being used Odyssey vans. Especially the 2011-2017 models, but the older as well. It’s rare that you can find a used one at KBB, especially a higher mileage one. They’re highly sought after and KBB goes right out the window. I know because I bought one, drove it a year, and then resold it before buying a new 2018.
Go on autotrader and search nationwide. Find a few that are CPO and closest to what you want. Work on the best price. Once you have a few quotes, you have the current market value.
Hopw thst helps.
This is good advice. And effectively what I did when KBB wasn't working for me. I made a run at a few different dealer in my state and adjacent ones. Then I came across a 2015 with 19,900 miles and a date of first use of January 2016. I wound up paying more but I've got a warranty for four years and a few weeks with unlimited miles. One quick update on Kelly not buying cars. They actually are buying cars. If you go to Carmax they give you a Carmax offer and a KBB offer. Both times I've had them do an appraisal KBB was the higher offer.
Rookie
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 56
Likes: 8
From: CA
Sure, but that’s still not Kelly buying it. That is Carmax determing to use Kelly’s valuation. Kelly will not buy it, but merely tell you where they think others “should.” They’ve made a nice profit doing so 
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From: tx
This might be semantics, but you get two offers from Carmax - one is a Carmax offer and the other is presented as an offer from KBB. The process of of physically evaluating your car is done by a Carmax rep, but in my experience the numbers are sometimes significantly different between both offers. Carmax handles the transaction for either offer, but it was my understanding that KBB is doing something with the cars they buy and they are not just going on the Carmax lot or to an auction from Carmax.
The KBB "offer" is a deception if it makes someone think KBB is making an offer to actually buy a vehicle. KBB doesn't "buy" anything. They say so clearly on their website. The whole thing is a product they sell to make people think they know the fair value of their vehicle. Dealers use it as a sort of "second opinion" to support the (usually low-ball relative to what the individual could sell the vehicle for) offer that they make.
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Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 45
Likes: 0
From: tx
The KBB "offer" is a deception if it makes someone think KBB is making an offer to actually buy a vehicle. KBB doesn't "buy" anything. They say so clearly on their website. The whole thing is a product they sell to make people think they know the fair value of their vehicle. Dealers use it as a sort of "second opinion" to support the (usually low-ball relative to what the individual could sell the vehicle for) offer that they make.
Not sure we are talking about the same thing. This is specifically regarding a Carmax appraisal to buy your car. They present two offers- a Carmax offer and a KBB offered. My experience is the KBB offer was significantly higher. If this was just Carmax smoke and mirrors wouldn’t they be presenting their offer as better than KBB to make it look attractive?
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