We Need a New Car: Using Kelley Blue Book

Thank you to Kelley Blue Book for sponsoring today’s discussion and helping our family shop smarter in our search for a new vehicle.  

When Chase and I were married, we brought our cars with us into our relationship.  Since then, Chase has sold and bought a car on his own, and when Red was born, we bought our first car together, our Jeep.  It has been wonderful, and we like it very much, but the other vehicle in our garage is quickly aging.  With two carseats taking up the rear seats, we have little to no room for visiting family and friends.  We need a new car to help schlep all the people around!  

Buying a new car both thrills me and petrifies me at the same time. How do you know what your current car is worth so that you can find a fair sale price? Do you trade to a dealership and be done with it, or wait for a private buyer and perhaps earn a bit more cash during your wait? How in the world do I know if I’m getting a fair price for the car we want to buy? Like many other purchases Chase and I make, we research, read, and ask around.  

I remember the first car I ever traded in, I talked with my Dad about at length.  He recommended that I check Kelley Blue Book (which at the time, was a BOOK) for trade prices and values, as well as reading reviews and comments of the make/model of car I wanted to buy.  It’s been my purchasing model ever since.  I’ve already started prepping for our test-drives this week by reviewing KBB.com for our Chrysler’s value, the reviews for the six cars we want to try out, and what we might possibly pay for both new and used models.  

KBB also has another tool to help us make the best decision we can.  If we choose to buy brand-spanking new, the Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Awards are designed to help us identify the top of 300 new-car models available for 2016.  Kelley Blue Book’s expert editors narrowed the field to 49 finalists and spent several weeks evaluating them to determine the winners.  2016 top picks include cars like the Honda Civic, Chevy Volt, and bigger options like the Chevy Tahoe and Honda Odyssey (REALLY trying not to give into the minivan at this point). 

So what kind of car are you looking for? What kind of vehicle do you think we’d like?

Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the only vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry.  Each week the company provides the most market-reflective values in the industry on its top-rated website KBB.com, including its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values and Fair Purchase Price, which reports what others are paying when they need a new car.