Car value and price

Don't look for cheapest car or a "best deal". Your goal is to look for a car in a good condition for a reasonable price. If you choosing between relatively cheap car that might have an accident in the past or was poorly maintained, needs some repair, etc. and more expensive one that is in excellent condition, I'd without a doubt choose the more expensive one. You will simply save on repairs and will have less troubles driving it. Don't think they sell it cheap because they don't know the price or they simply want to clear their inventory. If they sell it cheap, definitely there is something wrong with it. Remember, proper price for a certain vehicle is not the one indicated in blue or black book - they give you just an average price. The actual vehicle value big time depends on a car condition. Two cars may only look the same. One may have been maintained so poorly and the engine won't last long after you buy it. Previous owner of another vehicle may have been religious about maintenance, was using only synthetic oil, has done the rustproof and so on. Without a doubt, I'd rather pay $2000 more for this second car just to have peace of mind driving it.



So, how to determine how much you will have to pay for a certain model?
Just to show you as an example, I search Ontario used cars for sale website Autotrader.ca for a three years old Honda Accord. The search result gives me more than 200 vehicles with the price ranging from 12,000 to 22,000 CAD. To be realistic, I know that for 12,000 I will not be able to buy something really good. 22,000 CAD seems to me too high. But there are quite a few cars for 17,000 - 18,000 price range - this looks more realistic to me. I also know that most new car dealers will be able to give me a discount from 1,000 to 3,000 CAD if I use proper negotiation strategy (read below). So, in our case with three years old Honda Accord, I'd probably will be able to get the one in a good condition for 15,000 - 16,000 CAD depending on mileage, options, etc. You can use the same strategy everywhere; whether is Miami Florida or Winnipeg Canada.