Thread: RedBook vs Reality ?

I wouldn't have even bothered trying to sell my MY02 Extreme if all I could have got for it was Redbook prices. At the time there were various possible buyers whinging on this site about high prices being asked, but I priced mine at what I believe was consistant with the ads. on sites like carsales.com etc.
Got 38 grand without any hassle but it was in excellent condition with low kays.
Pity it had a computer as well!
Good luck with the hunt.
Alan H.

Originally Posted by ATH

I wouldn't have even bothered trying to sell my MY02 Extreme if all I could have got for it was Redbook prices. At the time there were various possible buyers whinging on this site about high prices being asked, but I priced mine at what I believe was consistant with the ads. on sites like carsales.com etc.
Got 38 grand without any hassle but it was in excellent condition with low kays.
Pity it had a computer as well!
Good luck with the hunt.
Alan H.

Mate - MY02 Xtremes are worth their weight in GOLD

Best D110 built - upgrade computer / dash etc and the Sals rear end

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

I think redbook is an excellent guide. Generally its right to within a couple of k. I don't doubt though that sometimes cars go for significantly more or less occasionally.

Having said that when you look at carsales it is normal to see the majority of the cars significantly above the redbook value. However it's important to differentiate between asking and selling.

I've seen it time and time again where people start out asking 10k above redbook, but often the last time you see the car advertised it's at redbook.

That's life.

For cars less than 10 years old that sell in high volumes (e.g. hiluxes and corollas) I agree with you. But for older cars (e.g. 110 countys) - I think the numbers are a bit rubbery, because of the low sales volumes and likelihood of people writing even lower amounts on the rego documents.

I it’s not limited to Landrovers, my previous car was a 2004 Mazda 3, with full dealer service history and everything. The redbook price for private sale was $16k, so I put it on the market for $14k and got no response, in the end I dropped it to $12k to just break even with the loan I had outstanding… someone got a very good deal on that, deprecation on that was about $3,300 a year.

The same with the Disco I got a few months back, the book price was $7,500 and I picked it up for $10k. I had a look at the cars going for 7k – 8k but you don’t want to even drive them never mind buy them…

Yeah, redbook seems to undervalue some makes (i.e. Landies), but over values others ...

I think perhaps the problem is these companies base their prices on auction results, and then add a percentage for private sales. Cars that are a bit less common or with something special about them do better privately. At the auctions, people don't care so much.

I used to work for a fleet company, and each month we disposed of hundreds of vehicles. The redbook was our bible.