Every used car listing has an asking price. Almost no used car listing reflects actual market value. These two numbers are often thousands of dollars apart.
Market value is what comparable vehicles actually sell for. Asking price is what sellers want. The gap between them is your negotiating room — or your warning sign.
How to find market value: The most reliable method is to look at recently completed listings for the same year, make, model, trim, and similar mileage. CarGurus and AutoTrader have price history features. Alternatively, look at a large number of active listings and find the median price — not the mean, because outliers distort the mean significantly.
KBB and Edmunds provide valuations that are useful references, but they lag the real market by weeks or months. During periods of high demand (like the 2021–2022 chip shortage), KBB values were consistently below actual transaction prices. In a buyer's market, they can be above. Use them as one data point, not the final word.
What "good deal," "fair," and "overpriced" look like: - More than 15% above median comparable listings: overpriced - 5–15% above median: slightly overpriced, but negotiable - Within 5% of median: fair market price - 5–10% below median: good deal — investigate why - More than 10% below median: investigate carefully (salvage title? major problems?)
CarScorer's market position score compares the asking price directly to community-sourced market averages. A vehicle asking $3,000 more than comparables will score poorly on the Market Position component, which is weighted at 20% of the total score by default.
A special note on "below market" vehicles: A car priced significantly below market is not always a deal. It is sometimes priced low because the seller knows something you do not. CarFax may not capture everything. A pre-purchase inspection is especially important on cars priced below market.