How accurate is Kelley Blue Book?

[Hark]

My 2003 Honda Pilot with 218,000 miles on it has to go, gas prices have gone up, I don't like driving it, and its just got too many *little problems with it.

I used Kelley Blue Book, and it valued my car at between $4400-6000 trade in value, and its private party value is estimated $6500-8000.

I honestly wouldn't say what condition I would rate it at, it has a bunch of tiny small problems, like the rear air conditioner doesn't work well, the whole car smells sometimes, the carpet is really dirty, and just stuff like that. The description of a poor condition is supposed to be like rust and dents, which my car has no rust, but a small dent here and there.

How has your past luck been with when KBB'ing a car before trading it in? Any examples?

 

[ElGrande]

KBB is just a guide, nothing more. Unfortunately, consumers consider it to be the gospel of car values, and it's far from that.

I haven't known of a dealer to use KBB to value their trades since the 90s. All dealers use the Manheim auction reports, known as "Black Book".

Where KBB falters is they give sellers/traders false hope by providing 4 different values... Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor. Two percent of cars on the road "might" qualify for "excellent". These would be VERY low-mileage vehicles, always garaged, spotless interior, pretty much looks like it just came from the showroom floor... because it probably did. Most of the cars out there fall into "good". I would say yours falls into "fair" with the mileage and wear.

The problem inherent with KBB is that consumers honestly believe their high-mileage vehicles with tears in the seats are in "excellent" shape (because they've waxed it a time or two, and kept up on the oil changes) and base their trade figures or sales figures around that. They are always shocked when a dealer comes back with a much lower figure, and they claim they're "being screwed". It's not the case, it's just perception.

Never use KBB as your solo guide.

*** To debunk one of the answers above... KBB doesn't give salvage title values.