What's My Car Worth?

How ForCar values your car

Most "blue book" tools estimate from a private model. ForCar does the opposite — it reads the real market and shows you exactly where your car sits in it.

1. Read real listingsWe pull live US asking prices for every model and year — the actual market, not a depreciation formula.
2. Aggregate the spreadPrices are grouped into the typical price (median) and the realistic low–high range, per model and year.
3. Get your rangePick your car or enter a VIN and see trade-in, private-party and dealer value in seconds.

ForCar vs Blue Book, Edmunds & NADA

Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds and NADA estimate value from their own private formulas. ForCar reads the real market — actual asking prices, refreshed daily. Here's how a free real-market value check compares:

ForCar is a free alternative to Kelley Blue Book and NADA: instead of a private depreciation model, you see what comparable cars are actually listed for right now — the real used-car market, by make, model, year and mileage.

Used car values, from the real market

ForCar prices used cars the way buyers actually do — from live resale listings, not a depreciation curve. Buying, selling, or just curious what your used car is worth today? The range reflects what comparable cars are actually listed for right now, by model, year and mileage. Shopping rather than selling? See current used-market prices and a good-deal checker.

Median asking price across 251,996 priced US listings — the typical used car changes hands around $16,232, though your exact model and year move that a lot.

Trade-in, private-party & dealer price

Every car has three prices. Our low–median–high range maps to what a dealer pays you, what you'd get selling it yourself, and what a lot charges:

On our market data the dealer retail price (160% of median) runs about 2.4× the trade-in offer (67%) for the same car — that gap is exactly what you're negotiating.

How fast a car loses value

Every car keeps dropping in value with age — steepest in the first years, then flattening. Here's the median resale value by age across the market, from real listings:

A car worth about $43,104 at one year old is typically down to ~$26,395 by five years — roughly 39% lost in the first five years. See it broken down by model on car depreciation.

What mileage does to a used car's price

Age is only half the story — the odometer is the other half. Across our whole market, crossing 100,000 miles takes about 56% off the asking price. Median asking price in each odometer band, from real listings:

Open any model for its own mileage curve — the drop is much gentler on some badges than others.

Buying new? Get the original MSRP

ForCar values cars from the used market, so a brand-new car's price is its factory MSRP. Pull the original window sticker for any model — base price, options, packages and destination — and see exactly what it stickered for before you negotiate.

Get the window sticker & MSRP →

Salvage & rebuilt-title values

A branded title cuts a car's value hard. ForCar reads title status from real listings, so salvage and rebuilt cars are priced against their own market — not a clean-title book value. Typical value versus the same car with a clean title:

A rebuilt title typically lands around ~65% of clean-title value and a salvage title ~48%, depending on the damage and quality of repair — but ForCar prices each against its own real listings, not a flat book discount.

Get a more exact value by VIN

Make and model give a solid range. Your VIN pins the exact trim, engine and options — for a sharper estimate. Decode it free, then check the value.

Decode my VIN free →

Classic & antique cars

ForCar values mainstream cars in everyday resale — the market most people buy and sell in. Classic, antique and collector cars trade on a separate market (condition, rarity and provenance drive the price far more than year and mileage), so for those a specialist appraisal or auction guide will be more accurate than a market-listing range.

Car value by brand

Which brands hold the most value on the used market? Average asking price by make (brands with the deepest listing data), then pick any make for its full model-by-model breakdown.

Every brand we track — pick a make for real-market values on every model:

Which brands hold their value best?

Average value tells you what a brand costs; retention tells you what it keeps. Here's every brand we price, ranked by how much of its newest price a five-year-old car still asks — the median across that brand's models. Market median is 55%.

Which body style holds value best?

Sedans, SUVs and trucks age differently on the used market. Every body style we price, ranked by five-year value retention:

Popular cars people are valuing

The most-checked models on ForCar and their typical market value right now:

Most valued used vehicles

Ranked by how many are actually on the US market, with the ForCar reliability score for each. Tap a model for its price range by year, mileage adjustment and depreciation curve:

Before you buy or sell