What is Vehicle Market Value?

[Surrender]

Pardon my eternal ignorance, but how is it I'm to determine the Fair Market Value of my vehicles?

[sunshine08]

Check out Kelly BLue Book (kbb) or NADA on the internet, answer the questions, get an estimate.

[Surrender]

is that trade in value? or resale value???

[bezoar]

You'll have to try to find out what is used by the court in your district. In the western district of OK, the court uses (NADA retail + NADA trade-in)/2. In most cases, this is unrealistically high, as no dealer in this area pays anywhere near NADA trade-in. I've seen other courts use Kelly (KBB), which is more realistic. Don't know if the court clerk's office could tell you, but it might be worth a call.

[StaciMM]

A good idea would be to get a written estimate for what a dealership would give you for your car, based on its condition. There are some places (Carmax here, don't know that you one that near you) that will buy your car, even if you don't buy theirs.

Unfortunately, there is not a clear answer to FMV definition. There are 3 online resources, NADA, Kelley Blue Book, and Edmunds. For NADA the free website only allows retail price, so if you have any sort of damage or high miles-that isn't appropriate. KBB & Edmunds allow you enter vehicle condition.

[FloridaGirl]

Most trustees look at what your car would sell for if it were put on a lot. This sucks because that could be thousands higher than what you would get for a trade.

[sunshine08]

We used KBB. A copy of the internet sheet was in the petition.