I have seen HUGE differences in these two. Anyway, for example, a 2000 Honda s2000 with 111,000 miles is around $12,000 on KBB. On Edmunds TMV it's....gasp....$5,900. 
I've tried many other car's too. Both are private party prices. How do you guy's decide where to price your car's? Now, if that guy would realize Edmunds is more fair.
Just for what it's worth, my credit union uses NADA to value a car (for loans and whatnot), and a local dealership that I worked at very briefly also used NADA to value trade-ins.
In reply to lastsnare:
I've always been leery of NADA. Seems to make sense that it would be biased in favor of the dealer.
I've heard Kbb is asking prices and Edmunds is based on actual sales. Now, considering this particular s2000, that would mean the guy would ask $12,000 and end up selling for $5800. My head hurts, going back to watching Top Gear.
Good luck getting an S2000 for $5.9k.
In reply to 93EXCivic:
Yeah, around here rusted out Civic's are listed for that. Maybe Edmunds had a glitch. There is still a big difference between the two.
Black Book is what dealers use, (as well as auction values from Manheim)
Private party is an average between retail and wholesale.
NADA is for banks
KBB is for suckers.
Edmunds is a great resource but isn't used by the industry as a whole.
Here is linky
In reply to Flight Service:
Thanks for the link. I agree Kbb is for suckers, but most people use that unfortunately.
In reply to Fletch1:
Please pick your quippy quote from below.
NADA used car guide is written by NADA for anyone's use, that's why we can buy it. Since it's the National Auto Dealers Association, it certainly warrants caution when using it as a customer looking to purchase a car from a dealer.
My own experience is that the values are skewed to benefit the dealers, ymmmv.
Searching "Completed Auctions" on eBay can give you a pretty accurate estimate of what people are willing to pay. You can see what sold (and for how much) and what didn't.
In reply to Woody:
I just found that out about an hour ago through another thread. Thanks for the point. I don't Ebay so I never knew about that feature.
I would've guessed black book was a dealer scheme from the get go since they all offer basically sight unseen trade offers for your car through the website, so there has to be a good amount of profit built in to the figure for the dealer in case you show up with a junker.
Disclaimer: I've never used Edmunds.
I don't get where everyone rates KBB as "for suckers". When I do insurance total losses, which are valued at ACV (or 'private party') I've found KBB to be about 80% or better in accuracy. I do frequently find people using it incorrectly, or thinking ACV = retail. For something you pay zero to use, KBB is pretty darn good in my book.
NADA, being a dealer oriented guide, only cares about retail and trade-in, neither of which are values for a private sale or purchase. I generally find them useless.
Black book is what dealers use, but that's mostly auction results and not indicative of 'street' prices.
I've priced several cars for sale using KBB and eBay completed auctions and had no trouble selling my vehicles in a reasonable time with little hard negotiation. Keep in mind, these value guides are only useful for commonly available cars that change hands regularly. Using them to value your Mazda 323 GTX ain't gonna work.
ddavid,
Interesting. When we do total losses, KBB is the last place we look. We just don't find it to be as accurate. Lots of companies use NADA, even though as you said that book is more retail and trade in based. We have a company we contract out to give us ACV (I'm sure you do to), but when a customer disputes it, we actually try to find more real life examples. We'll use Autotrader, Cars.com, etc...to try to find comparables. Sometimes Ebay, but not as often. Like you said, this is only going to work for your "normal" cars. Low volume, speciality, rare cars are a whole different ballgame.
Moral of the story...there's no one right answer. Market research is the best way to gauge pricing.
KBB always seems way high, and most of the time I've found Edmunds to be the closest. I also check for comps on CL, the completed listings on eBay that Woody mentioned, and some forums just to get a gut check of if I'm in the right range.
KBB is what I believe most people look at when they're going to sell a car, which can be an issue because it's usually higher than the actual market value. And most believe that the KBB retail value is the one to go off of when they're selling a car privately. That's why you see so many overpriced cars on CL...
In reply to dj06482:
I do agree with your post. As a buyer, I've tried to use other sources to get their price down, but many won't budge. They think KBB is THE ONLY way to get a price, and like you say, is usually the higher price. Sometimes they will have to go down lower because the market won't go that high. But then again, there are many who go only by KBB, so they will pay the high price.
Klayfish wrote: ddavid, Interesting. When we do total losses, KBB is the last place we look. We just don't find it to be as accurate. Lots of companies use NADA, even though as you said that book is more retail and trade in based. We have a company we contract out to give us ACV (I'm sure you do to), but when a customer disputes it, we actually try to find more real life examples. We'll use Autotrader, Cars.com, etc...to try to find comparables. Sometimes Ebay, but not as often. Like you said, this is only going to work for your "normal" cars. Low volume, speciality, rare cars are a whole different ballgame. Moral of the story...there's no one right answer. Market research is the best way to gauge pricing.
In my state, we can't use KBB anyway as it's not "recognized". However, I do use it as sort of a self-check barometer when I think that Nameless Valuation Service has their head up their butt.
All I know is, I sold a Honda Accord and a Subaru Forester in the last year for KBB private party value with no negotiation. In both cases, the buyers were happy to pay the price I posted.
In reply to ddavidv:
Former Car Dealer here. KBB is a heavy west coast average. They extrapolate based on a formula that isn't very accurate outside of Cali.
They will also formulate an answer on cars they have little to no data on. Not to mention they have no way to acquire "Private Party."
And your right, for what you pay it is excellent. If you think your 93 civic is worth $10K because you put a wheels on it and a fart can, KBB will bring you back to earth if you actually look at it with some sense, but when a deal is coming down to a couple of thousand dollars, on the vehicles actual value, KBB is truely for suckers.
I am about as precise as KBB without even looking at a book anymore. I have an equation.
1 year=$1000 in depreciation 1 years mileages (12K-15K)=$1000 in depreciation 1st year automatic 20% deduction off the top. High mileage per year average exceeding a boundry (so if the year says it should be 100,000 miles and it is these don't apply. ) Over 36K -$1000 Over 50K -$1000 again Over 100K -$1000 again
Honda/Toyota 15% deduction instead of 20%
Chrysler and luxury -25%
Good rough estimate for vehicles less than 7 years old
In reply to Flight Service:
Wanna try your magic on this one?
2009 Honda Fit Sport 5 speed with a/c. 9,100 miles. Hood is damaged from something falling on it when car was parked. It can be driven as is, but hood would would need to be replaced, not repaired. Not in Cali.
I have a friend who wants to buy the car, but we're not sure exactly how to value it.
What about this one:
http://clearbook.truecar.com/
Woody-
I'd pay no more than trade in value for that: $10000.
Ok, retail is around $15K (base)
3 years old, and not even 1 click for mileage
so that is $3.5K off for mileage and years.
15% of 15K is 2250
so total off of sticker is $5750 from equation.
Account for cost of damage repair is, without lookiung up hood, I will guess &740 cost.
This puts you as a trade in value of $15,000-6,500=$8,500
Black Book lists trade in at 6280-9485 (rough to average) (please note my equation price without damage is $9250 (See how close I am to average) I would say without hood, and due to mileage I would have otherwise listed your car as excellent. Black put you at 10,425. Which I would guess would be hard to get on a manual base car, in the united state of lazy.
It is a very good, quick and dirty equation. Gets you in the ballpark. 
3 years, customer service award and an 80% car recommendation accuracy rate. Also a 97% on customers expectations of the situation.
I was good.
Wanna buy something?
I generally go by blackbook. I have a family member that's a dealer, so I just use his books.
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