How is the value of a car determined?

[kathy4530050]

If I own my car free and clear, and use Kelly Blue Book to establish the value, which should I use: trade in, private sale, or retail value?

Anyone know for sure?

[DebtEnder]

From what I have heard, all 3

Depends on the trustee, ask a lawyer he'll know if they are smart and do real value, ie trade in, that's a quick sell. Or the dumb way and does retail.

You can guess my opinion on it. They always say assets should be auction house values, that's not retail, but I've seen people on here saying their trustee objected to the exemption because the value was to low and they were looking at the damn NADA book, which is the dealer retail sell value.

[kathy4530050]

From what I have heard, all 3

Depends on the trustee, ask a lawyer he'll know if they are smart and do real value, ie trade in, that's a quick sell. Or the dumb way and does retail.

You can guess my opinion on it. They always say assets should be auction house values, that's not retail, but I've seen people on here saying their trustee objected to the exemption because the value was to low and they were looking at the damn NADA book, which is the dealer retail sell value.

Now that is DUMB. My car is a 2001 Mazda with almost 200,000 on it, so not matter how you slice it, it's not worth a lot. BUT if I can go with the trade-in value I will definitely come in under what I am allowed to have.

[IBroke]

From what I have heard, all 3

Depends on the trustee, ask a lawyer he'll know if they are smart and do real value, ie trade in, that's a quick sell. Or the dumb way and does retail.

You can guess my opinion on it. They always say assets should be auction house values, that's not retail, but I've seen people on here saying their trustee objected to the exemption because the value was to low and they were looking at the damn NADA book, which is the dealer retail sell value.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think the used value also depends on what the car actually is. If it's an asset, you normally use trade-in (or carmax), if you want to redeem it, you have to pay retail.

Retail, however (at least NADA and KBB) always is listed for a car in "excellent" condition, so especially if there are some repairs due, you might want to take that car to a dealership and ask for a professional estimate from the dealer what you would have to pay to turn your car into excellent condition. You might deduct that amount from the retail value.

[kathy4530050]

I know my car needs new brakes and the muffler is loose. There's a CD stuck in the CD player , the sunroof won't open any more, the 'check engine' light never goes off (had that looked at many times-can't be fixed), you can't pop open the trunk from inside the car (have to use the key), AND I lost the remote. Not so excellent, right? Believe it or not, I still like this car a lot

[kingred]

the 'check engine' light never goes off (had that looked at many times-can't be fixed)

Have you tried the old method? Remove the light bulb.

[DebtEnder]

Have you tried the old method? Remove the light bulb.

Rofl now that's a great idea, I should have done that when my e-brake light would not shut off. Freaked my DW every time I drove.

[sophia]

The paralegal told my husband and I to get a private appraisal because of the damage we have on our vehicles. The trustee here uses only the retail value from the Nada book period. So, unless you have an appraisal done you are screwed as they take nothing into consideration when it comes to damage, dings, dents, etc.

We paid $75 per car and they took all the defects pertaining to my car into consideration. I have front end damage, dents, scratches, dings, rust, etc. The value came in at around $1600 versus the Nada retail value of $3100
The other car came in in at $1500 versus the Nada retail value of $2300.

I have a print out of how the value was determined and the company i used can provide the trustee with even more details if requested.


I'm in Florida so we only have the 1k per car and will be using our wild card exemptions to be able to keep them, so it was well worth the $150 we spent from our Tax return.

[BnkrptcyLwyr]

You're safe with KBB private party value. Many courts go by that.

[kathy4530050]

Good advice from all. Thanks everyone!