KBB Value vs CARFAX – What’s the difference?

When you are wanting to know what your car is worth, you want to make sure that you have a reliable source.  With Kelley Blue Book and CARFAX as the most popular options, which do you choose?  The following will show you the differences between the two, and why we at Deery of Ames have chosen KBB as our best choice to help you find your vehicle’s best value on our website.

 

Kelley Blue Book

Kelley Blue Book has been providing used car values for over a century.  There is a reason why you typically hear, “What is the Blue Book value?”  KBB has been a trusted source and has been known as the Gold Standard in used car values and pricing, generating 40 million unique pricing reports every month.

Kelley Blue Book uses a proprietary valuation process predictive analytics, industry data analysis, and field analysis to review auto trends. You are able to get reports on:

–Trade-In Value (amount you would receive trading your car into a dealership)

–Private Party Value (amount you can expect when selling to a private consumer)

–Used Car Fair Purchase Price (amount someone would pay for your car if they were to purchase it at a dealership)

–Certified Pre-Owned Price (if the dealership you sell to offers a factory-backed certification process for your vehicle, if it is fairly new)

You can also look up a New Car Fair Purchase Price to see the typical cost of a new car at a dealership and even look up value reports for motorcycles.

Other options that KBB offers are selling a car, finding a new or used car, search current car recalls, research and compare auto repair pricing, and find car service centers in your area.  There is even the option to get a KBB instant cash offer!

CARFAX

CARFAX is also well-known for providing vehicle values, and for its cute little fox mascot.  CARFAX has a diverse set of data sources. They claim to use over 100,000 sources, encompassing 20 billion records. Most of these resources go into creating the vehicle’s history, which, in turn, helps CARFAX create its CARFAX History-Based Value.  CARFAX unfortunately does not provide values for new cars. 

Let’s take a look at what CARFAX offers:

Used Car Values:

-Accident History

-Service History

-Type of Use

-Ownership History

 Although CARFAX is a popular and well-known option, it simply does not provide as much information or options as Kelley Blue Book does.

 

Our Choice

Because we want you to have all the facts and all the options you want, we chose KBB as our source for you on our website to evaluate your vehicle.  Take a look at our inventory at Deery of Ames Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM in Ames, IA, find out what your trade-in is worth, or stop in and see us today!

 

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