KBB values 2007 Civic LX higher than 2007 Accord LX?
I looked up KBB dealer retail values for a 2007 Accord LX and it's more than I want to spend, so I figured I'd check out Civics and looked up value for a 2007 Civic LX. In both cases I looked up 4-cyl. auto. with 90,000 miles and I didn't change the default options. I was surprised to see it report a fair purchase price of $10,481 for the Civic and $9,867 for the Accord. Is there something that makes that legit, like that generation of Civic being sufficiently more modern than that generation of Accord to justify the difference? Or a really big difference in insurance costs or something? All else being equal (including model year, trim level, mileage, and default options) I'd expect the Civic to be priced lower than the Accord and would much rather buy an Accord for less money than a Civic.
Comments
KBB is wrong. Not the first time.
Any guess as to which price is closer to right? I can eventually check some other price guides if I need to get a better idea, I just haven't bothered yet.
they both seem a bit high to me, if we're talking about a clean 4 cylinder car with 90K in both instances. However, the difference between a Civic LX and Accord LX is not that great---but yes, the Civic may run 5-10% less. It depends also on geography, color of the car, things like that. I'd say top dollar is around $8500 on the Accord.
This is what Edmunds has for TMV, assuming I didn't munge the appraisals. Pretty close numbers between the two.
2007 Honda Accord Sedan
LX 4dr Car, 90k, clean condition
$6,504 trade in,
$8,970 dealer retail
2007 Honda Civic Sedan
LX 4dr Car 90k, clean condition
$6,428 trade in,
$8,857 dealer retail
You can go to the Used Cars link under Car Research above and appraise them yourself for your own zip code.
This article may be of interest:
What is the "Kelley Blue Book" Price?
That's good to hear. Yes, that's what I priced in both cases.
I can't see how a Civic is worth 95% as much as a comparable Accord -- seems like a bad deal to me. Even 90% is pushing it. If that's the way they're priced in the used car market I don't think I'll get far looking at Civics. When looking up the KBB values I used the same zip code and they don't ask about color
.> @Stever@Edmunds said:
Thanks for looking that up -- Edmunds would've been the next thing I checked for value reference. That's clearly less out of whack than KBB, but I don't get how the Civic is worth 98-99% what the Accord is. That's crazy. Who would buy Civics priced like that compared to Accords? If that pricing is legit and you own a Civic, seems like a great deal to trade the Civic in towards an Accord.
It seems that I'm not going to be able to retreat to Civics for more economical pricing -- at least not that model year.
Thanks for the link. I skimmed it enough to get the gist and will read it fully later. I get the point of the article and the difference between KBB value and Edmunds TMV, but don't these Edmunds values relative to each other seem out of whack to you (albeit less than the KBB values)?
Yeah but I'm not a sedans guy so I don't know why the Civic may appeal more to some people, even at the same price. Better gas mileage? Not many people check on insurance costs before buying a car.
market price is basically a supply and demand equation, and sometimes the pricing doesn't seem rational because we aren't finely tuned to that equation (that is, we don't necessarily understand the demand for a certain vehicle, nor do we know the supply). The Civic strikes me as a young driver or "first time driver" type of car that parents might shop for their kids. The Accord has a more "mature" image, and maybe it gets traded in more, hence more supply on used car lots.
Honda does sell about 10% more Accords than Civics.
Thanks for the replies.
I guess gas mileage is a possibility, considering how gas prices have been. It looks like the Civic is rated 4-5 MPG better.
Re: insurance, I was hoping to get a car within a certain price range and just get liability insurance. But used car prices seem so out of whack (inflated) that we may have to spend more than I had in mind and make it necessary to get full coverage to protect the investment. In that case I'd want to check the insurance cost first to see how much of a hit we'd take.
The gas price theory has some plausibility to me (although that wouldn't make a Civic worth as much as an Accord to me). In the absence of something like that it's hard for me to see how the supply would result in a situation like that. If there are equal numbers or more Accords available, it seems to me that an Accord is worth more than a Civic. I don't see how a glut of Accords drives the value down so far as to be less than or equal to a Civic, because in that case I don't see many people wanting Civics anymore if they can get an Accord for the same money. And if Accords are in short supply, obviously that would tend to drive up the price.
Buyers decide the market ultimately, not price guides or appraisers or dealers. I think as cars age, the initial price differential at MSRP fades over time. These cars you cited are 7 years old. I think the buying public sees them as essentially the same car.
If you price out a base model 2007 BMW 328i and a base model BMW 525i you will see the same thing----their value is essentially equal.