Edmunds vs. Kelly Used Car Prices

Q.I've been trying to determine reasonable trade-in prices on my 1988 Honda Civic LX. I checked both Edmund's (on the WWW) and Kelly Blue Book, and I found that Edmund's lists much lower wholesale and retail prices than Kelly: Edmund's shows 3350 wholesale, 4725 retail while Kelly lists 4450 and 7200. Why is there such a big difference? Which would be more reasonable to expect if I'm trading in my car?

A.I can't help you there, but I have an interesting side note: My wife's car was just totaled, and after looking at the Edmunds Web site, we expected to get $3,000 out of it. Today the insurance company handed us a check for $3,900 !!! Obviously, they're not using Edmunds. A suggestion: When trading in your car, have the higher "book value" price available to show the dealer. Who knows? They might not have seen the lower price anywhere, and with some of your charm thrown in, you can convince them that $4450 is the only "fair" price for your well-maintained, previously-owned vehicle.

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