Simply put, Canadian Black Book is every driver’s answer to the question, “How do I know what my car is worth?”
A trusted source for over 50 years, Canadian Black Book can reliably estimate the value of your used car. Not what you can expect it to be worth this year, or even this month, but today—as long as your vehicle is a 2006 or newer.
Your Canadian Black Book value is the most accurate estimate of your pre-owned vehicle’s value that you’re likely to find. They use sales data, auction results, brand equity, and the pricing of similar vehicles across Canada (based on your year, make, and model) to tell you how much your car, truck, van, or SUV is worth.
Getting your car value is the easy part. The next question you should be asking yourself is, “What should I do with this information?”
There are actually four reasons you should know the Canadian Black Book value of your vehicle, depending on where you are in the customer cycle.
If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, you’re likely going to want to sell your old one. Either you’ll sell it to the dealership as a trade-in (and the money goes towards your new ride), or you’ll sell it privately and pocket the cash for whatever you want. No matter which option you choose, knowing your Canadian Black Book value can help.
If you’re going to trade your vehicle in, your Black Book value will give you an idea of what you should expect. So, if a car dealership offers you $7,000 for your used Mazda 3 when you know (from Black Book) that it’s worth $8,000, then you should probably spend some time negotiating before you agree.
If you’re going to sell your car privately, then you need to know how much to sell it for. Unless you’re in the business or have sold a bunch of cars in the past, you’re probably just going with your best guess based on what other people are doing on Kijiji. But if those people are just guessing too, then you might be undervaluing your asset. If you use Black Book to find your car value, then you’ll know exactly what you should be charging.
Black Book isn’t just for people looking to sell their vehicle today. It can also help if you’re planning to sell in a year or two. How? By looking at the pricing trends.
Let’s say you have a 2016 Ram truck. You’ve been driving it for a few years, but you still like it so you’re not going to sell it just yet. In a few years, though, you probably will. It would be nice to know what you can expect to get for it beforehand, no?
So, if you want to know what your vehicle might be worth in a few years, just see how similar vehicles have depreciated in the past. Take a 2010 Ram, for example. Check to see its value in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. How did the value change year-over-year? Using this model, you can get a rough idea of what you can expect with your current Ram. Obviously, the values won’t be the same. But it will tell you where the drop-off points are. If you do this with a few different vehicles, you’ll start to see when vehicles lose a lot of their value. Maybe there’s an expected drop after the third year, or fourth year? Canadian Black Book can help figure that out.
Knowing which vehicles hold their value over time can also help you decide what to buy next. It can also determine at what point in your loan (if you have one) you will be in an equity position.
Knowing the price of a vehicle is just as helpful if you’re buying one, too. If you’re looking to buy a used vehicle from a dealership, it’s best to know if they’ve put a realistic price on it.
If you’re looking to buy a 2015 Hyundai Accent and the dealership is asking $8500 for it when it’s actually worth $7500, then you have the perfect negotiating tool. The dealers use Canadian Black Book to determine their pricing, too, so it’s a powerful negotiating tactic.
Going through the insurance claim process with your vehicle is stressful at the best of times. There are many decisions to be made, so it’s best to be prepared when you meet with your insurance company. Determining the value of your claim is just one of the ways Canadian Black Book can help.
Black Book can generate something called the Total Loss Report, which provides you with a complete report of the value of your lost vehicle. This is based on live market data or similar vehicles across the country.
Finding out your car value is easy: we can do it for you!
Since My Ride has a long history working with Black Book, we can do contact them on your behalf. All you need to do is click the button below and let us know the year, make, and model of your vehicle.
Important: vehicle values can slightly change day-to-day, so know that these are estimates only. Factors like supply, demand, geographic area, and economic circumstance can affect a vehicle’s market value. Black Book should be treated as a guide, only.
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