Used Vehicle Valuation Sites Compared

Report Provided By KBB.com

Valuation Comparisons

CARFAX or Kelley Blue Book (KBB), both sites provide information on the value of vehicles, but what is the difference between them? We are going to break down everything you need to know to help you get the right information to buy, trade, or sell your vehicle.

However, if you are in a rush and just need to get the value of your car or research a new or used car, you can do both quickly on KBB.com.

About CARFAX

CARFAX is well known as a provider of used car history reports. With these reports, consumers can see:

Accident history – damage severity, damage location or point of impact, records of damage repair, airbag deployment, and structural damage.
Service history – oil changes, tire rotations, open recalls, brake rotor replacement, transmission replacement, and safety inspections.
Type of use – personal, rental, leased, commercial, taxi, or used as a police vehicle.
Ownership history – number of owners, states the vehicle resided in, length of ownership, last reported mileage, flood or lemon title, and odometer rollback.

CARFAX started offering used car listings and valuations since 2014. Not surprisingly, CARFAX doesn’t offer new car pricing and only offers its historically based value for used cars. They have expanded into providing classified listings which users can search based on a car’s accident and incident history, service records, previous owners, existing recalls and the nature of the vehicle’s former use (whether personal, business or fleet).

Just as Kelley Blue Book pioneered the concept of Blue Book® Value, CARFAX was among the leaders in vehicle history reports. As you might expect, CARFAX goes deeper into the actual vehicle’s history to establish its value than perhaps anyone else. CARFAX provides valuation for used vehicles in the United States and Canada.

Data Sources

CARFAX has a diverse set of data sources. They claim to use over 100,000 sources, encompassing 20 billion records. Most of these resources go into creating the vehicle’s history, which, in turn, helps CARFAX create its CARFAX History-Based Value.

CARFAX Values

Like Kelley Blue Book, CARFAX Values use factors such as miles, condition, location, make and model, trim, and options to estimate a car’s value. Carfax Values provide a vehicle-specific value based on the vehicle’s history and vehicle identification number (VIN). These vehicle-specific variables play a greater factor in the valuation than they do on any other site. Rather than focus as much on market conditions, regionality and seasonality, CARFAX looks to the vehicle itself for the keys to its valuation.

CARFAX is a subsidiary of IHS Markit, a London-based information provider.
CARFAX is not affiliated with Kelley Blue Book or Cox Automotive.

About Kelley Blue Book Values

Kelley Blue Book is known as the gold standard for vehicle values and pricing, which is why you will often hear, “What’s the Blue Book® Value?”. We are proud to be the most trusted source determining what a car is worth and what a buyer should expect to pay for their next car.

Believe it or not, Kelley Blue Book has been providing used car values for almost a century. Les Kelley started publishing a list of the used cars he wanted to buy and how much he was willing to pay for them in 1926.

Kelley Blue Book Data Intelligence

KBB.com has a proprietary valuation process that uses predictive analytics, industry data analysis, and field analysis to review auto trends. We take this data and then use 250+ data sources with 3.0 trillion data points to provide the most objective, current, market-reflective, and data-driven information.

We also evaluate:

Regionalized values and pricing for over 100 different areas of the U.S.
The current automotive market.
Seasonal changes in prices.
Vehicle details: condition, age, mileage, trim features, etc.

Since Kelley Blue Book generates 40 million unique pricing reports every month, it is clear our data inspires consumer confidence and peace of mind.

Let’s look at the available Kelley Blue Book reports.

Used Car Values and Prices:

Trade-In Value: The amount you can expect to receive when trading a car in at a dealership.
Private Party Value: The amount you can expect to receive when selling your car to another consumer. This value is typically higher than the trade-in value because, unlike dealerships, you don’t have costs like rent or salespeople to worry about.
Used Car Fair Purchase Price (retail value): This is the amount that a consumer would reasonably expect to pay to buy this used car at a dealership.
Certified Pre-Owned Price (CPO): For some newer used cars, the dealership may offer a factory-backed certification process. The price is usually about 10% higher than a conventional used car, but many people like the confidence of buying a certified car.

New Car Prices:

New Car Fair Purchase Price (once called the New Car Blue Book Value): This is the amount that a consumer would reasonably expect to pay to buy this new car at a dealership.

Where to see these prices: These values are displayed, both on KBB.com and on dealers’ websites nationwide. Look for the Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor. It has white, green, and red zones. If you see the price in the Green Zone of the Price Advisor, you can be confident that it is a fair price for both buyer and seller alike.

KBB.com also offers value reports for motorcycles.

Other Services on Kelley Blue Book

We want our clients to have all the resources they could need, so you can also do the following on KBB.com:

Sell a car.
Find a new or used car.
Look at current car recalls.
Research and compare auto repair pricing.
Find car service centers in your area.

KBB.com is part of Cox Automotive, which gives us more data and resources to drive results for consumers, dealers, and clients.

FAQ

Does CARFAX have the complete history of every vehicle?

CARFAX says no. They only have information provided to them from various sources. They recommend you always get a vehicle inspection and test drive the car before you drive and not depend on the vehicle history report alone.

Where does CARFAX find its vehicle history data?

CARFAX says it uses more than 112,000 different sources, including every U.S. and Canadian provincial motor vehicle agency. They also note the following:

Motor vehicle agencies
Title and registration records
Auto and salvage auctions
Rental and fleet vehicle companies
Extended warranty companies
State inspections
Insurance companies
Fire and police departments
Automobile manufacturers
Service and repair facilities
Car dealers
Import/export companies

Do CARFAX vehicle history reports show car lien info?

Yes. It shows ownership transfers, lien information, and vehicle registrations. The report will help you identify title problems and see the number of owners.