NADA Review 2024 – Is it Legit to Sell a Car?

NADA Reviews – Is NADA Legit?

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NADA is a reliable resource for buying and selling a vehicle, so it is not a scam. Unlike most platforms, however, NADA has yet to be reviewed by most independent review sites, such as Sitejabber, Trustpilot and more.

However, if you take a quick look at the website, you’ll notice that it has the resources you need to determine the car’s value. This means you can rely on the platform whether you are selling or buying a car.

Does NADA Give Good Offers?

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How much you can get for your car with NADA generally depends on the car’s make, condition, and model.

Is It Worth Selling Car With NADA?

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NADA is an excellent resource if you’re buying or selling a vehicle. You can check that the asking price of a car is fair or ensure that your vehicle is competitively priced before you create a sales listing.

Once you get an offer, you can sell your car within one day. The company also offers a variety of other useful tools for vehicle buyers and sellers so you can ensure that you get the best deal.

Best NADA Alternatives

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Related: NADA vs. KBB Comparison

NADA FAQs

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What is NADA?

If you’ve heard of NADA before, it’s probably due to their handy NADA guides. Their first “Official Used Car Guide” was published in 1933 and it contained used car valuations for dealers that subscribed to NADA in the US. 

Over the years this guide was a useful resource for any dealership that needs to know the up-to-date retail and trade-in values for vehicles.

In later years, the company created a website known as NADAguides, which helped consumers get vehicle valuations. In 2015, J.D. Power acquired the NADA Used Car Guide division.

How NADA works?

The National Automobile Dealers Association or NADA is a trade organization that represents the interests of franchised car dealers that sell new domestic and foreign cars. 

NADA deals with the public, media, federal agencies, congress and other parties that are affected by sale of new cars from their new car dealing franchises. Another aspect of NADA is their focus on training and education in relation to business and compliance with regulatory bodies.

NADA allows you to;

• Register and list your car
• Access NADAGuides a tool that can help you get your vehicles’ valuation
• Sell your car and get paid

A NADA valuation of a used vehicle is based on several different value factors, and each vehicle may receive multiple valuations.

The NADA value factors have valuations for a number of scenarios, including: 

• Trade-in value
• Auction value
• Used or new car dealer price 
• The private party value. 

These prices are regularly updated and they are compiled from real purchase information which makes the data reliable. The NADAguides give us the best information on up-to-date used car values.

This is an extremely useful tool for any seller or buyer looking for a fair market price for any vehicle. Many car owners, banks, auctioneers, automotive dealerships and others rely on NADA for accurate vehicle valuations.

Who is NADA best for?

NADA is best for car owners, banks, auctioneers, automotive dealerships, and more who rely on NADA when they need an accurate vehicle valuation. 

NADA value factors

When you’re looking at a NADA value for your car, it’s important to understand that four key factors affect the valuation, they are:

1. The mileage
2. The condition
3. Optional accessories 
4. Location

Please note that sentimental value name is not one of these four factors when it comes to valuing a vehicle. It’s natural to become attached to your car, but when it comes to valuing it, you must try to separate your feelings from harsh realities.

The most obvious factor that affects mileage is the general wear and tear on any vehicle. You can easily check the history of any vehicle with the NADA guide. This will confirm that a NADA truck value will be lower if the mileage is high.

This is also common practice among used car dealers, and you will always get a lower trade-in or cash offer for a car with higher-than-average mileage for the year.

Optional Extras

The optional accessories fitted to your car can affect the NADA value because they have added value to your vehicle when you fitted them. An optional extra such as an AC system or an automatic transmission can be excellent selling points.

Generally speaking, the more optional accessories your car has, the higher the NADA value.

The condition of your car will be a factor, but this is less of an issue, if your car is an older model and you just need a simple trade-in value. You can get more with a private sale if you have an older car.

If you want to sell quickly you need to be under the NADA valuation anyway. The location of your vehicle is probably the least important factor, but demand for your used car can vary depending on where it’s located.

Are NADA guides accurate?

A key difference between NADA and KBB is how they gather their data to value vehicles. As mentioned earlier, NADA valuations are based on actual purchases, whereas KBB tends to rely on car auction prices.

Both guides are reasonable starting points when negotiating the sale or purchase of a used car. But you shouldn’t rely on them. You need to do some research, check local listings and refer to other guides if you need more information.

This NADAguides review would not be complete without showing how NADA gathers its data. The purchasing data is sourced from dealership vehicle sales and auction houses and pricing information is sourced from other automotive sites, including Autotrader.

NADA also gathers data from the car manufacturers and companies that specialize in selling new and used cars.

NADA gathers data from vehicle sales figures and car manufacturers.

As you can see, NADA does use similar criteria to Kelley Blue Book when they determine the value of a car, including: 

• Mileage
• Condition
• Extra features
• New car invoices
• The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). 

Other Factors

However, other key factors can affect the valuation of your used car, such as the general state of the car selling market and the supply and demand for a specific vehicle.

These additional factors can affect an accurate valuation, and KBB does use data to create valuations tailored to different regions.

Information released by NADA shows that they broadly classify used vehicles into three general categories. They are:

Category	Considerations
Clean Retail	Vehicle value
Clean Trade-In	The vehicle is in good condition
Average Trade-In	Average condition
Rough Trade-In	Both exterior and interior damage

When it comes to buying a car NADAguides is limited to the “Clean Retail” classification and they don’t display private party sales or associated valuation. However, the NADAguides do have valuations for some Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) vehicles for reference. 

Another advantage of NADA guides over KBB is that they are not limited to cars. You can find NADAguide valuations for a wide variety of vehicles, including motorcycles, cars, boats, SUVs, campers, RVs, trailers and more.

How NADA values affect loans?

Whenever a bank, finance company, credit union or other financial institution offers you a vehicle loan, they secure that toan using the value of the vehicle. The NADA valuation tells the lender how valuable the vehicle is and how much they can lend. The balance will be the amount you will need to make as a downpayment.

Knowing the NADA value of a vehicle can help you in a couple of ways when you’re looking for an auto loan. First, you are in a better position when negotiating purchasing prices because you can evaluate the NADA value.

When you buy a car, you should never pay more than the listed NADA value. It doesn’t matter what value the private seller or dealer places on that car; it’s not worth more.

Secondly, you can list the fitted optional accessories on your loan application to get the maximum NADA value. This may seem counterintuitive, but this can get you a lower down payment with certain lenders.

What types of vehicles does NADA purchase?

NADA purchases used and new vehicles including; 

• Motorcycles

• Cars
• Classic cars
• RV’s
• SUVs
• Trucks
• Boats 

How fast can you sell your car with NADA?

NADA allows you to sell your car within 1 day provided you’ve completed the process and accepted the offer.

NADA fees

You can purchase NADA Used Car Guide and AuctionNet values separately for $50 per month or $100 per month combined.

NADA payment options

Once you’ve accepted the offer and provided all the necessary information, NADA will pay you cash at pick up.

How good is NADA support?

NADA has an extensive support system, including a frequently asked questions page, blogs, and articles that show how it works. It also has lots of car information, including their prices and values. To contact support, click the contact us, fill out the form and submit.

Is NADA free?

No. NADA requires you to pay $100 to access the services

How helpful are NADA guides? 

NADA guides allow users to read expert and consumer reviews for many vehicle models while browsing. 

What does NADA stand for?

NADA stands for “National Automobile Dealers Association.”