Kelley Blue Book Used Car Guide: Private Party, Trade-In, Retail Values, 1987-2001 Used Car and Truck, July-December 2002 [Paperback]

Kelley Blue Book (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2002 | ISBN-10: 1883392365 | ISBN-13: 978-1883392369 | Edition: Consumer E

Everyone has heard of the “blue book” value of a car, but until 1993, the Kelley Blue Book Used Car Guide was available only to auto dealers and financial institutions. With roughly 15 million used cars changing hands each year, average consumers now have at their fingertips guidance on what price to ask for a vehicle and what to pay for one. The Consumer Edition of the guide covers 10,000 models of cars, trucks, and vans, contains vehicle identification numbers and original list prices, includes a new section of tips for buying a used car as well as trade-in, private-party, and retail values for vehicles in good condition. Also included are easy-to-use equipment schedules with values for optional equipment and a table of acceptable mileage ranges by year. “The definitive pricing source for used cars.” — Motor Trend

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Kelley Blue Book; Consumer E edition (June 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883392365
• ISBN-13: 978-1883392369
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 3.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,800,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Consumer Guides

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy this, February 2, 2012

By 

Philip - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kelley Blue Book Used Car Guide: Private Party, Trade-In, Retail Values, 1987-2001 Used Car and Truck, July-December 2002 (Paperback)

Hard copies of used car pricing guides may be nice souvenirs of a bygone era, but they are useless for pricing vehicles. The "book value" of used vehicles represents an estimate based on the current wholesale market value as determined by the prices vehicles are bringing at closed dealer auctions. These values change from week to week, so the tools that car dealers use to estimate market values have to change just as frequently. With SmartPhones now ubiquitous, dealers have abandoned the printed versions of valuation guides to gain access to real-time data from the primary valuation services: Black Book, Edmunds, Kelley (Blue Book), NADA Guides (Yellow Book), and Galves (in the Northeast).

The hard copy presented in this listing is from ten years ago, none of the values in the book are applicable to current vehicles.

Moreover, used vehicle values presented in any of the books represent an average value for similar vehicles with no consideration for the specific characteristics of an individual used car. For example, the "book value" of a 3-year-old Nissan Altima may be $11,500, but that just means the average of the 100 or so 3-yr-old Nissan Altima's that went through dealer auction lanes last week was $10,000. The books then add an estimated dealer gross up to cover the profit they would expect a car dealer to try and make on an average car deal. Some of those 100 3-yr-old Altimas would have been wrecks while others would have been well maintained one owner vehicles. You, as a consumer, should not pay $11,500 for a car that has had multiple owners, or been a rental car, or had many accidents, or never had an oil change. On the other hand, you would be getting a great deal if you only paid $11,500 for a perfectly maintained one-owner vehicle with no accidents. These "category averages" in the books are a useful tool to help you understand the types of cars you might consider when shopping, but when you get on a specific vehicle, you should check the vehicle history to understand fair value for a specific car.