I think book value is not accurate at all. Maybe because they go by DMV number, but that number is not all entirely accurate. If I purchased a car from a private seller for $10,000 I will tell the DMV I bought for $7000 to save some on tax.

 

Great, thanks for the info I think I have a much better idea now.

 

That actually doesn't work anymore. When I bought my car the DMV taxed me on the book value instead of what I actually paid for the car. I don't know what they use to determine the value of the car though.

 

some states just go by the book value of the car

california still lets u declare the price your paid

 

I believe most DMVs use NADA for the values. You can still declare a price, but if it's below a certain percentage of the NADA value, they will have tax you on the NADA value instead of the value you wrote in.

 

This method worked for me in MN when purchased from private. I will have seller sign bill of sale with me but I asked them to not fill in purchase price number. When I go to the DMV I just tell them the car needed all new tires, broken headlight, crack windshield, etc... That is why I bought it or less than book value. If it doesn't work, I will drive to the next DMV.

 

This works in very unsophisticated states. Most are using their own methods to avoid scum bag unethical filings.

Sign your name on a fraud is shameful. To save what? Few grand. Pathetic.

 

After searching for the past 10 months and finally purchasing one recently, all the above posts are accurate. Dealerships are about $5K over the top blue book, and private party is kind of all over the place. My bank gave me a "retail" price quote when financing, which seemed like the average top blue book price. There is also a site I found (apoligize for no link, cannot find it now) which shows you all the asking prices in a certain location, graphs it and shows you each data point.

For me, I came up with a price range I was comfortable with, and then what model/year/color/history of vehicle I wanted. My advice is be ready with financing and everything so when you find "the one", you can hop on it. They seem to sell very quickly. I was at the bank with the sellers and they were still getting texts with bids $2k plus more than me, so lock it down when you find one. BTW, mine is a GPW with black/red interior, and they were getting calls from many buyers from various states.

Good luck!

 

Looks like he dropped the price to $40k. That car is cherry, but priced like brand new off the lot. He's nuts.

Wait until winter to buy. I got my 05 with 31k miles from a dealer ~4 years ago (Xmas gift to me) for ~ $18.5k, marked down from $24k. Seems like the collectibility of the car has kept the prices inflated. Great for existing owners, bad for prospective buyers.

 

I noticed the same thing, I have been in the market for a nicely used one. 90% of the ones here are overpriced. but i digress HUGE discrepancy between NADA and KBB, with NADA being way lower. Which complicates things for me as my credit union uses "NADA average Trade" value for used private party cars and everyone and their brother is trying to sell their used S2k's higher then KBB values.