The Blackbook appeared about six decades ago and it is still being used by several car dealers in order to establish a price tag on a car owned by a customer who wants to trade it in. They also use this book to set a retail price on the used vehicle that they plan on selling.
It is important to mention that at the moment the single financing source which mandates car dealerships to use the blackbook is GMAC, while the rest of them prefer Kelley Blue Book or NADA. These sorts of books can be used by virtually anyone, from individuals to dealerships and used car lots.
While for NADA and Kelley Blue Book you get the values without paying any money, on www.blackbookusa.com you will have to pay in order to receive the info. There are four subscriptions available: black book daily; black book finance advance; black book activator and handheld, internet data, and custom solutions. Black Book Daily will update the values of used cars on a daily basis. It includes an annual book with more than 18,000 used car models.
Black Book Finance Advance will tell you what GMAC (since it’s the only institution using these values) will lend for a specific make/model/year car. Black Book Activator will grant you the possibility of going through the inventory of the dealerships which have signed a partnership.
With Handheld, Internet Data, and Custom Solutions you’ll have the chance of using your smartphone or another similar device to check values of used cars while not near a computer.
It should be noted that those who aren’t a licensed used car lot or auto dealer will receive a different version of the book. The dealer’s book has lower prices since if your plans are to use the vehicle as a trade-in to buy another one, the dealership is going to utilize the wholesale value to find out the value of your car. In other words, you mustn’t expect to receive the retail price for your trade-in vehicle. Most of the difference has to do with the reconditioning costs that the dealership has to incur after inspecting and repairing the car that you just traded in.
If you plan on selling your car on your own, the blackbook can prove to be a very useful tool. You should know that it gives new & used retail and trade-in values and lists used cars based on their condition: rough, average and clean. While the blue book gathers data from auction from all over United States plus new & used dealers, the blackbook collects information from more than fifty weekly auctions.
