Kelley Blue Book, Your Best Friend

Why Kelly Blue Book is Your Friend
If you’ve ever purchased or sold a used car, then you’ve almost certainly heard of Kelley Blue Book. They are universally king when it comes to determining a new or used vehicle’s value. In fact, the term “blue book value” has become used so often that it is now virtually synonymous with the car’s market value. Many car dealerships turn to Kelley Blue Book when estimating the trade value of a customer’s car. It’s all pretty impressive for a company that started as a two man dealership in 1918. The owner, Les Kelley, began circulating lists of all the vehicles he wanted to purchase and how much he was willing to pay for them. Before long, Kelley’s lists became popular among local banks and dealers, who considered his estimates as a standard. In 1926, the first ever Kelley Blue Book was released. The guide was mostly used around the Los Angeles region until the 1940’s when it went nationwide. Since then it’s gone on to become one of the most popular and well known consumer and trade publications available. You can even find most of its information online now through the Kelley Blue Book website. Here’s an idea of what you can find in a Kelley Blue Book.

What Information does Kelley Blue Book Provide?
While you already know that Kelley Blue Book provides used and new car values, it also does the same for motorcycles, RVs, snowmobiles, mobile homes, and even personal watercrafts. Of course, used and new cars are the main focus and Kelley Blue Book provides a plethora of information about them, such as:

A vehicle’s manufacturer suggested retail price or MSRP
The dealer invoice price
A car’s trade-in value
What people and insiders are saying about a vehicle
Private party prices