Question: Used Car Pricing

[Deep Eddy]

I am unexpectedly in the market for a new car. I plan to get a used Honda Accord sedan EX-L. Probably a 2010 - 2012. I will likely look for a Certified Pre-Owned or regular used car from a dealer rather than a private party sale. I know I can save some money through a private sale, but the logistics and timing of finding a suitable car and getting it to my mechanic for an inspection make it impractical. If I had more time for shopping, I might pursue that option.

I did some online shopping over the past few days, and I noticed that pricing is all over the place. I see some dealers asking higher prices for older models with higher miles. Some dealers have more recent models with lower miles for less money. In general, CarMax seems to have higher prices.

I'm not necessarily looking for the lowest, bottom-dollar price (although that would be nice). I just want to know that I am paying a fair price. Other than KBB, Edmunds and eBay (completed listings), does anyone have any suggestions for where to do a "price check" (not the seller asking price - looking for the price actually paid for the car) on used cars?

 

[Lerxst]

KBBs prices are all over the place but since they've gone on a heavy advertising blitz, much of CL is using it as a guideline these days. I pref to use NADA values for used cars; they're more consistent and realistic to value. I've got no experience w/ carmax but I've read enough about them to be wary.

 

[TomcatMF]

Used car prices are too high IMO. That stupid cash for clunkers thing a few years ago took too many cars off the market, and now it's not really worth it to buy a decent used car. I was shopping used, but wound up buying the Hyundai because it was cheaper than many of the used cars I found and it had everything my wife wanted for a good price.

 

[baimun]

I use Autotrader to determine the balance between what private sellers are asking, dealers, and auctions. Plus you can narrow it by radius of a certain zip code and even dial in certain options.

 

[Lerxst]

I use Autotrader to determine the balance between what private sellers are asking, dealers, and auctions. Plus you can narrow it by radius of a certain zip code and even dial in certain options.

What they are asking and what they actually sell for are often two very different things.