Used Car Values

Your Local Market
Might Bend The Rules

Your local market can change everything...
The 3^rd of 4 steps in the KBB used car values guide.

It's important to keep in mind that the rules we just covered can be affected by your local market conditions. Those conditions can be economic, geographic and/or the make up of your population.

Economic
Obviously, if your local market is in an economic down turn, then local car prices for above average to luxury vehicles will be negatively impacted. On the other hand, economy cars may see a rise in value as those types of cars become more popular in these types of conditions.

Geographic
This one is not always the first thing you may consider, but it certainly plays a big role when determining used car values.

For instance:

4x4 trucks will be worth more in Butte, Montana, then they will be in Los Angeles. Why? Montana is "snow country" and there is not nearly as much use for 4x4 trucks in Los Angeles.

Convertibles are going to be worth more in San Diego, CA than in Seattle, WA. Why? The weather is much more consistently sunny in San Diego, wherein Seattle gets a lot of rain.

Make Up of Population
If you live in a retirement town (ex. Palm Springs) it stands to reason that larger sedans, like Cadillac DeVilles will be in higher demand than in a college town. A college town would probably have a higher demand for sportier two door cars.

And the list of examples could go on and on, but I think you catch my drift. Just keep in mind that used car costs to dealers can be drastically impacted by these types of conditions. They'll pay more for the high demand and less for the low demand.

Remember this potential impact as we move to the final step and put it all together to figure a car dealers used car cost.

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