SL/R230: Kbb values bogus?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 26
Likes: 4
sl5
Kbb values bogus?
Hello people i'm new here looking for an older sl or slk. I live on Long Island and it seems kbb book values are much less than dealers are asking for the cars. Example beautiful 2011 sl550 at Lexus of Massapequa with 45k miles asking 34k. The kelly bb value says dealers sell at @24k. Is this normal? You think dealers are very negotiable?
Super Member
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 606
Likes: 88
From: North Cali
2005 SL500, 2015 CLS400
1. Dealers are negotiable but only to a certain point. Also depends how knowledgeable are you on the topic so they don't bs you 
2. I never relied on KBB. And i really am curious myself how KBB gives their estimates. The only way that it makes sense for me - they get the information from the bills of sale that customers provide to DMV as a purchase price of a car. Obviously everyone wants to pay less taxes so they might agree with the seller to put a lower amount on the bill of sale and pay the difference in cash to save $$$. Otherwise i cannot explain the difference in thousands of $ for a car in between KBB and dealers/posts for sale.
For example i understand that my 05 SL500 lost in value since i bought it almost 3 years ago for $27k, but when they pointed to KBB as estimating my SL for 16k, not considering the "car condition and extra work they would have to put in it" which will lower even more their offer for my car - i see that as a little bs
. When i purchased mine the very next cheapest car for sale at the dealer was 10k more. Mine was from San Diego from a private party. so if i'd bought it from a dealer i'd alredy loose 20k in 2 years, which seems a big bs....
even now comparing KBB and cars.com you will get a difference of 10k... go figure...
3. The price will vary from dealer to dealer and from car to car, although they might have similar mileage/condition/options. In the end is what are you ready to pay and which one you pick.
Regards,
Ghostty.
2. I never relied on KBB. And i really am curious myself how KBB gives their estimates. The only way that it makes sense for me - they get the information from the bills of sale that customers provide to DMV as a purchase price of a car. Obviously everyone wants to pay less taxes so they might agree with the seller to put a lower amount on the bill of sale and pay the difference in cash to save $$$. Otherwise i cannot explain the difference in thousands of $ for a car in between KBB and dealers/posts for sale.
For example i understand that my 05 SL500 lost in value since i bought it almost 3 years ago for $27k, but when they pointed to KBB as estimating my SL for 16k, not considering the "car condition and extra work they would have to put in it" which will lower even more their offer for my car - i see that as a little bs
. When i purchased mine the very next cheapest car for sale at the dealer was 10k more. Mine was from San Diego from a private party. so if i'd bought it from a dealer i'd alredy loose 20k in 2 years, which seems a big bs....even now comparing KBB and cars.com you will get a difference of 10k... go figure...
3. The price will vary from dealer to dealer and from car to car, although they might have similar mileage/condition/options. In the end is what are you ready to pay and which one you pick.
Regards,
Ghostty.
Last edited by Ghostty; Oct 28, 2018 at 02:47 PM.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 26
Likes: 4
sl5
Very good point i never thought about people lying to beat taxes might affect KBB values, but it makes sense. Thats the trouble with these type cars it's hard value them as just mechanical objects. We put a value on their beauty and performance.
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
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NO LONGER ACTIVE
KBB used to be "the" standard. They collected data from dealers, wholesalers, and auctions. Once they went public with their information, most dealers stopped using them. There is a new source called "black book" or "Mannheim" that the dealers typically use. It is not available to the public, though some dealership employees will show you figures from it. I have found that Cargurus is a good source for pricing used cars. They show listings as being good or poor values.
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 271
Likes: 23
From: Kirkland, WA
2003 SL500
I just checked pricing for 2011 SL550 with reasonable options (no designo and no panorama, but everything else) with 45Kmiles in excellent conditions (granted, I used a different zip code). KBB shows trade-in value of $30.5K, private party value of $31.7K, but it shows that you can buy it from a dealer for $283K (doesn't make sense to list trade-in higher than purchase price). Edmunds shows trade-in value of $27.4K, private party value of $30.2K, and dealer price of $33.6K. How did you get KBB to show 24K? What condition did you specify? It would drop to $24K for trade-in.only is you specify "fair" condition, but you yourself said that car is in excellent condition? It looks that dealer price is in a reasonable range.
MBworld Guru
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 10,782
Likes: 1,011
NO LONGER ACTIVE
Another factor to consider for used car pricing is location. SL's in California and Florida sell for much less than in other parts of the country. This is because there are more of them. Where I live, they are very hard to find so if you can find one, you'll pay top dollar, but if you drive a few hours to Atlanta, selection and prices are better.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 26
Likes: 4
sl5
I just checked pricing for 2011 SL550 with reasonable options (no designo and no panorama, but everything else) with 45Kmiles in excellent conditions (granted, I used a different zip code). KBB shows trade-in value of $30.5K, private party value of $31.7K, but it shows that you can buy it from a dealer for $283K (doesn't make sense to list trade-in higher than purchase price). Edmunds shows trade-in value of $27.4K, private party value of $30.2K, and dealer price of $33.6K. How did you get KBB to show 24K? What condition did you specify? It would drop to $24K for trade-in.only is you specify "fair" condition, but you yourself said that car is in excellent condition? It looks that dealer price is in a reasonable range.
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 271
Likes: 23
From: Kirkland, WA
2003 SL500
I didn't specify condition. I selected get a used car price, entered zipcode [11757], no options, color black, then buy from a dealer. It states based on good or better condition, no option to change.. Comes back with fair market range: 24.5k-28.3k. Typical: 26.8k, fair purchase price: 25.6k.
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