Monroe County (NY) Library System - Buy and sell vehicles

How do I ...
Price New and Used Cars and Boats

Use this guide as a starting point to research buying and selling automobiles and boats. If you have questions after consulting these resources, contact a librarian by visiting your local Monroe County Library System library, calling a reference librarian (use the Member Library Directory to find phone numbers), or by completing the Ask a Librarian online form.

This guide lists library and Internet resources for the following topics:

	Buying automobiles
	Pricing and evaluating automobiles
	Pricing used boats
	Evaluating automobile safety

BUYING AUTOMOBILES

The following titles are a few of the many books offering advice and tips on buying automobiles. These books are available in Monroe County libraries. Click on a title to display information about the book in the library catalog. Scroll down the page to see what libraries own the book. Call the library first (use the Member Library Directory to find phone numbers) to be sure the book is available.

	Buying a used car, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, Office of Consumer and Business Education
	The insider's guide to buying a new car or used car, by Burke Leon and Stephanie Leon.
	Automobile book: The complete new car buying guide Consumer guide
	Car buyer's and leaser's negotiating bible, by W. James Bragg

For other guides, search the library catalog, LIBRAWeb, by using the keywords: car, used car, automobile or subject headings: automobiles purchasing, automobiles leasing and renting. (The LIBRAWeb Tutorial is a good starting place to learn how to do keyword and subject searches.)

PRICING AND EVALUATING AUTOMOBILES

Information on automobile pricing can be found in the books and websites listed below. This is only a sampling of the many resources available on this subject. Library staff will help you find the most appropriate resources and teach you to use them.

You may be surprised to find dramatically different prices quoted for the same vehicle. Different data sources may be used and different weights assigned factors such as mileage and location for used cars. In addition, guides may give conflicting evaluations of the quality of a particular car based on their own criteria.

Because of these differences it is important to consultant several resources.

	NADAguides.com The National Automobile Dealers Association's website has free vehicle pricing and information for new and used cars, trucks, and SUVs; classic cars; motorcycles; boats; recreational vehicles; and manufactured homes. The print NADA guides for cars and trucks are available at most libraries.
	Standard guide to cars and prices This book offers pricing on collectible cars and trucks, domestic and imported, manufactured from1901 to 1996. Some exotic manufactures are not covered. Prices are adjusted for the condition of the vehicle.
	The complete car cost guide, and The complete small truck cost guide These two print guides go beyond the sticker price of new vehicles and offer qualitative valuations of vehicles. The guides also include estimated depreciation, insurance and repair costs for each vehicle.
	Consumer Reports Magazine Each year's April issue contains reviews of new and used cars. The basic systems (engine, transmission, brakes, etc.) of each used car model are rated according to the frequency of problems reported by owners. Basic assessments of new cars are available as well. Lists of recommended cars and cars to avoid are published in every April issue. In order to view this information on its website, consumerreports.org, you must subscribe and pay a monthly or yearly fee.
	Edmunds Gives estimated retail and wholesale prices for cars and trucks. Links to websites offering everything from crash test data to advice on purchasing new and used vehicles.
	Kelly Blue Book Similar to Edmunds in that it gives estimated retail and wholesale prices for cars and trucks as well as tips and advice on purchasing new and used vehicles.
	Car Talk A lighthearted mixture of humor, wit, and sound car advice.

You can also use search engines such as Google (see the Google Tutorial to learn how to do a search) using keywords such as buying car, buying used car, buying van, buying truck, car comparisons, car reviews, etc.

PRICING USED BOATS

The Used boat price guide provides current national average prices for boats from seven to 100 feet. The three volumes cover most boats made after 1905. Boat prices also may be found at NADAguides.com.

EVALUATING AUTOMOBILE SAFETY

See the following two websites for information on automobile safety:

	NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The website contains links to crash test data for specific vehicles. It also links to a wide array of pages ranging from vehicle safety issues and driver education to news of recent governmental initiatives in highway safety.
	Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute Ratings for different vehicles in varous types of accidents can be found at this website. Theft ratings for many vehicles are also included. Many other topics are covered and educational tools are available at this site as well.

You can also use search engines such as Google (see the Google Tutorial to learn how to do a search) using keywords such as car safety, automobile safety etc. for more websites on this subject.

copyright 2003
The development of this pathfinder was supported by Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds, awarded to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.