It is your means to get around town, to work, to play to kids activities.  it is worth a lot to you but what is it worth to an insurance company?  The cost to repair a car is going up so if your car is older you need to keep in mind that if the cost to repair your car is more than the value of the car it may not get fixed.  Now what is the car actually worth in dollars?  It may not be as much as you want.

Try and find a consensus.  Visit Kelly Blue Book (www.kbb.com) and/or Edmunds (www.edmunds.com) to help determine the value of your car.  Be reasonable with the condition and figure the middle number is about where you are.  How do you double check this try a car buying site like www.autotrader.com .  Give yourself a reasonable driving radius and try and find your car.

When should you do this?  NOW and/or right after an accident

Maybe it is not worth keeping collision coverage on your car?  It is also a great idea to know what your car is worth when the car is being assessed for damage.

THESE ARE IDEAS, YES THEY ARE GOOD, USE THEM BY YOUR OWN CHOOSING.

5/11/2015 UPDATE

I’e been paying closer attention to this for 4+ years.  Despite the tools suggested above there are a few other things to consider.

• There seems to always be a market for pick up trucks.  The color does not seem to matter, dents don’t seem to manner either.  Somebody is always looking for one
• Older Hondas.  They are just popular across a variety of segments of people.
• Subarus. Especially the all wheel drive ones.

Im sure there are lots of others you can enlighten me on, these are just a few that seem to stand out.  Why does it matter?  Because the market for your car or a car that you may buy can vary for a bunch of reasons.  The computer models mentioned above are solid but don’t overlook “market” factors.