used car pricing myth ('91 Lexus LS400)

Q.I am about to buy a '91 Lexus LS400. It has 50K miles. The price is $22500. Using AutoVantage on Compuserve, I got the following pricing guide: Mileage: 50,000 Trans: Automatic Trans. Options: AM/FM Stereo Premium Sound Cassette Air Conditioning Telescoping Wheel Cruise Control Leather Moon Roof Power Door Locks Power Steering Power Windows Traction Control Condition: POOR AVERAGE EXCELLENT Wholesale 23,000 24,900 26,600 Retail 26,900 29,000 30,900 Obviously something is wrong here. Why would the dealer price a car in good condition below the lowest wholesale price?

A.there are many different ways that a dealer can price a used car for resale, but the most common is the NADA used car guide. This guide prices cars based on milage, options, and year. It is possible the source you looked at for a price guide obtained their information from A different source--Black book, blue book, or they could have created their own data base from info compiled from various sources. Another possibility--cars bring different prices based on geographical location. A car sold in California will bring more than the same car in Iowa. If the data you accessed came from another location, it could reflect that difference. Since the NADA does not distinguish between poor, average, and excellent shape, I think the difference in sources is probably the problem here. Go to the library and ask the circ. desk for a recent copy of the NADA used car guide and it will tell you a valid price for that car in this area.

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