You want the fair market value of the car, not what a dealer can sell it for. The MSRP, is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, for selling from a dealer. Blue book will show three different prices, excellent,good and fair condition.

The three prices are essentially as follows:

Retail - fair market value + dealer profit

Private party - fair market value

Wholesale - dealer auction price

the way its werded

Retail is buying at a dealership. Dealerships have to make money, and they provide a valuable service, so they will price the car more, but also usually have it cleaned up great and hopefully in good repair.

Private Party sale is just that. You are buying from some guy off the street. Car could be dirty, mechanically flawed, no guarantees, etc.

In either case, if buying used, be wary when buying. Hire a mechanic to check the thing out and give you a report. Trust me, it’s worth the $100 to $200 you pay. You could pay thousands for a lemon.

Also, get the VIN and run a Carfax report to check out it’s title history. This will help you spot any cars that have had their titles “washed” to remove information like cars that have been totalled for one reason or another. Not foolproof, but again, useful along with the mechanic’s inspection.