mmarshall

No....I use it myself quite often ( along with NADA ) to help people get a rough, if not exact, idea of what their used vehicles are worth when it comes time to go shopping for a new one. Many things, of course, determine just how much a dealership will give you on a trade-in or what a private party buyer will pay, but KBB, NADA, and other sources give you at least a rough estimate...it's better than nothing. I have found KB to be a fairly good indicator of trade-in value...especially if your used car is is great shape, but a little less reliable for private-party buyers, who often face money and credit problems that dealerships don't when you trade.

And, fortunately, you don't have to screw around anymore with those little blue-and-yellow books, paper-and-pencil, and calculators, adding and subtracting high and low-mileage, filpping pages back and forth, hunting up categories, etc..... That was a pain in the a - -.

Everything is programmed into the websites for you...all you do is punch a few clicks of the mouse and you have your figures.

http://www.nadaguides.com/autohome2....wPr=0&wPg=2111

http://www.kbb.com/

Just copy these and add them to your "favorites" list....you'll have them handy.

GStateOM

I'm surprised to see the BMW 5 series. Maybe this current bodystyle is holding down the fort.

I bought my GS4 for $22g's (book value then) more than a year ago, when I could have had a same year 540i, fully loaded, same mileage, more selection, for $18-19g's.

doug_999

Weird. What year? When I got rid of my 2000 540ia in late 2002, the 540s were commanding 3-4K more than the GSs.

Either way, the resale values are calculated by the residuals that the automakers assign to them. The Infiniti M45 has a killer number right now (61% after 3 years - last time I checked) and even a 2005 545 had 59% as of last month. Lexus has knocked down the residual on the new GS for some reason however. But my point is that these numbers come from the auto manufacturers and they must have crystal *****

jrock65

Not correct. Projected resale is calculated using third-party residual values. They do not use manufacturer residuals, which are almost always higher that third-party residuals in order to entice buyers to lease.

GStateOM

It was 98-99 540i's and 98-99 GS400's. For example, during the last month that I was looking for the car, I found about 5 GS400's for sale within 30 miles and almost 3x that of 540i's within the same area. I was looking for lower mileage cars (65k or below) and of that selection, the GS4's seemed to be $2-3k more. On another note, the E430's were around the same price as the GS4.

I guess this might have to do with quantities too. The 5 Series sells at a higher rate and there are more on the road which means there would probably be more selection in the used car market. While the GS400 sells less, and a car like the M45 is even more scarce.

doug_999

and I wonder where the 3rd parties get their starting numbers from?

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I also have to question the M45 being there. The car just came out. There is no track record yet. where do they get this info? This invalidates the entire listing imo.

jrock65

Third parties (ALG is one example) calculate their own figures. They don't get their "starting" residual figures from the manufacturers.