NADA Used Car Prices, Edmunds Used Car Prices, and Kelly Blue Book Used Car Prices – Whose Prices Are Right?

The Internet has been touted as the greatest resource for the used car buyer. Prospective buyers can find trade-in, private party, and retail values in a heartbeat. The question to consider, however, is what Internet source is right? The three major sites: NADA, Edmunds, and Kelly Blue Book are clamoring to be the Trusted Authority on used car values. Yet price discrepancies are frequently in the $1000’s from site to site. Which web site, if any, is the most accurate source for the used car buyer?

To illustrate the discrepancies, here’s an everyday example: NADA may retail a 2003 SAAB 9-5 Linear at $15,996, Kelly Blue Book prices it at $17,456, and Edmunds prices it at $14,800. These are all retail values, assuming excellent or clean condition. $17,456 minus $14,800 is a $2,656 difference. That’s a huge price difference in the highly competitive used car market. This is not an argument to protect used car dealers. Rather, this is a warning for the used car buyer when he or she is surfing the web for used car prices.

The retail values placed on many vehicles by these web sites can have even larger price differences - some as high as $4000 to $8000 dollars. These gigantic price fluctuations can leave a used car buyer spending $1000’s extra, depending on which guide he or she used. Moreover, private party and trade-in sale prices do not accurately account for vehicle condition.
Vehicle condition is a critical variable. An owner might think his trade-in is in stunning condition and thus worth X, based on his Internet research. An expert may know it needs $1000’s in repairs and reconditioning costs.

The answer to "whose prices are right" is...click NADA Used Car Prices, Edmunds Used Car Prices, Kelly Blue Book Used Car Prices

RepairTrust
Setting the Standard for Fair Car Repair Prices

Auto Repair Estimates and Car Repair Prices - the Real Information to Avoid Car Repair Scams

Wondering whether or not you were overcharged for your car repair is awful.

There is tons of advice on how to avoid getting ripped-off, but no one ever talks about actual car repair prices. We really need to look at the charges on a car repair estimate or auto repair shop invoice.

In other words, the focus needs to shift from outdated advice to the specific charges on one's repair estimate. Are they legitimate charges? Can they be justified by industry guidelines?

Car repair estimates can be confusing. To get a better idea if your auto repair shop is charging you appropriately....to learn more click auto repair estimates

-RepairTrust

Making sense of car repair costs

FREE Online Auto Repair Estimates

The most important factor in an auto repair estimate is the break down of the charges. Without a break down, one can not see the exact price for a specific car repair. Too often, car repair estimates are a jumble of confusing verbiage and prices.

What you'll notice about the estimates below (compared to an invoice from your auto repair shop) is the complete break down of costs.

Again, seeing the break down of the auto repair charges is the best way to ensure you're getting treated fairly. Learn more @ FREE Online Auto Repair Estimates

-The RepairTrust Team
Making Sense of Car Repair Prices

Auto Repair Average Costs

Every now and again we get a few upset mechanics or shop owners complaining that it is not possible for RepairTrust to provide accurate car repair estimates. They go on to say that we don’t know what we’re talking about…that we’re idiots…and many other colorful words.

Following is one such discussion on car repair costs. It’s highlighted here to illustrate the resistance and defiance of the auto repair industry to anyone suggesting a fair car repair price - even an average - other than the repair facility itself.

This particular shop owner writes via email:

I would like you to inform me on "what" I should charge for a given repair without you knowing anything about my business, about my warranty, my benefits for employees, my services or overhead. Please explain with clarity how you can predetermine the cost of doing business from one location to another.

I would really be surprised if anyone replied to this request. Advise at a cost?? Come-on boys... lets come up with intelligent response here...Click Auto Repair Average Costs for the full and enlightening story...

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Making Sense of Car Repair Costs

Car Maintenance Costs - The Real Story...

If you walked into your local car dealer and requested a 30,000-mile maintenance service, is it safe to assume that the dealer will follow manufacturer guidelines when servicing your car? Should the dealer “only” follow manufacturer guidelines? Can they bend the guidelines…?

Here’s a recent and very common scenario that occurred at a local Toyota dealership….

A service customer called the dealer to schedule the manufacturer’s recommended 30,000-mile service for his 2005 4-Cylinder Camry. However, the dealer added several services NOT included in the guidelines.

The additional services included a coolant flush (drain and refill), automatic transmission service (drain and refill), and a power steering fluid change.

According to the manufacturer, the coolant does not need to be replaced until 100,000 miles. The automatic transmission fluid can last until 120,000 miles. And there is no specific maintenance interval for the power steering fluid.

Now, before we throw the dealer under the bus, which, don’t get me wrong, is always a blast to do, is there any legitimacy in recommending these extra services? Are there any circumstances where one may want to consider performing a coolant or transmission service 70,000 to 90,000 miles sooner than recommended by the manufacturer of the car? Click car maintenance costs to view the entire article

RepairTrust
Making Sense of Car Repair Prices

Car Repair HELP!

The following "real life" event is not all that uncommon. While your car may not be tied up for 5 months as described below, it may be delayed a number of days or weeks due to technician error and/or incompetence.

In fact, one recent conversation we had with a client involved her car being "held hostage" for three days while the mechanic (perhaps trying his best) fumbled along without any conclusive diagnosis.

For a wealth of FREE information discussing the pitfalls of auto repair and how to avoid them, visit our library of articles @ Auto Repair Info

Here's the article:

Mechanic Keeps Car For Five Months

You take your car to a mechanic, you expect it to be fixed and be on your way. But a local mechanic kept one woman's car for months, until she turned to the FOX23 Solving Problem's Team for help.

The Cadillac that Mary Stelle's brother bought for her is what she prefers, "My husband died a year and a half ago and my brother is trying to take care of me... so he bought me a car for my birthday and paid cash and bought an extended warranty."

But after a few months, the car had transmission problems so she headed back to the dealership that sold the car and warranty, Muskogee County Auto Sales.

That dealership held her car for five months! Stelle says, "It's one excuse after another, first he didn't have a mechanic and then he ordered the wrong transmission, then a mechanic had it at his house."

With no way to get around, Mary had to buy a second car, "It was all I had in savings to buy the other car, but I had to have another car. I'm very angry, it's not right. Those people or this man would not allow something like this to happen to his wife or his mother."Mary asked us to help, so we paid a visit to the dealership in Muskogee.

Click Car Repair Help for full article

RepairTrust
Making Sense of Car Repair Prices

Article Source: http://www.fox23.com/default.aspx

Ask A Mechanic: Wading Through the Mess of Car Repair Prices and

Auto Repair Estimates

If you were handed an estimate to replace a water pump on your car, would you know if the price was fair? Could you trust the price? How about for a tie rod end, mass air flow sensor, or an evaporative emissions sensor? Most of us don’t know what these are, never mind the price. Yet it is components such as these that are commonly used to over charge you, the car repair customer.

We no longer live in an age of “trust.” We need to ensure that our auto repair costs are legitimate.

How many times have you suspected that you paid too much, but couldn't prove it? How many times did the price seem exorbitant for even simple repairs? How many times have you wished you had someone in which to turn for real and honest answers about auto repair costs?

To illustrate just how “At Risk” the everyday auto repair customer is to excessive repair prices, here’s a very recent real life example from a very “reputable…?” dealer.

Click Ask A Mechanic for the full article...

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust

Auto Repair HELP?

Is there ANY Saving Grace for the Auto Repair Customer?

Auto Repair Complaints TOP Consumer Complaint Lists...

The following article shows further evidence for the continuing total dissatisfaction with auto repair. While this piece contains some decent practical advice, the statement such as "most repair shops are honest and do a good job" is actually an absurd and uneducated remark in light of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

What's scary is that the people who are suppose to be protecting you, the consumer, know very little about car repair prices, and auto repair scams that rob car repair customers tens-of-billions of dollars annually....

Click for the full Auto Repair Help article

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Making Sense of Auto Repair Costs