How to Determine the Wholesale Value of a Used Car
A vehicle's trade-in value is the same as its wholesale value. Wholesale values are an amount that dealers use to determine profit, trade-in and retail pricing. Value sources may vary, although many dealers use a special order NADA or black book only available to dealerships. You may not be able to access these books as a consumer, but reviewing trade information from several sources will allow you to accurately assess your vehicle's wholesale value.
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Instructions
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Go to NADAGuides.com, KBB.com and Edmunds.com to access trade-in values in the used car section.
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Choose your vehicle's year, make and model. Go on to choose its level, transmission and engine options. Many model levels offer several different engine and transmission pairs, such as a V8 engine with an automatic or manual option, or several different engine sizes.
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Click on any options that your vehicle has. Many cars come with additional options, such as a sunroof, leather or navigation system. The options you see listed are ones offered on your particular car's make, model and level.
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Read through the condition assessments and be sure to choose the one that most accurately describes your car. Unfortunately, unless your car looks as it did when you drove it off the showroom floor brand-new, it is likely considered fair-market value to good condition by dealers.
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Check your vehicle odometer before inputting it where requested. Vehicles that are over-mileage (determined as being over 12,000 miles per year) can warrant thousands off of the wholesale value.
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Write down your trade-in value from all websites. Add the values up and divide by three. The result is a fairly accurate wholesale value.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not mistakenly request the vehicle's retail or private sale value. The amount differs by thousands of dollars and is inaccurate when trying to determine wholesale value.
Your vehicle's wholesale value may differ depending on the market. If gas prices surge, values for low-gas mileage vehicles decrease. Rare cars or especially low-mileage vehicles may warrant more money.
Dealerships will also deduct repair costs from the vehicle's wholesale value if any are needed before resale, such as for tires, body work or ripped seats.
