NADA appraisals

[Scott M]

How accurate are NADA appraisals? I know Kelly BlueBook is the standard for automobiles, but I was a little surprised at the estimate I got back for a boat in my family. 40 horse mercury with electric ignition, oil self-mixing, electric start, power trim, 16' alumacraft classic deluxe with rod storage, am/fm/cassette, starboard console, single livewell, and motorguide 40 lb. thrust bowmount. The whole thing was valued right at $2500. Is it really that cheap? I know if someone was selling the exact same boat at that price I'd buy it.

I'm not trying to sell this boat so moderators please don't take this post the wrong way, but is NADA low-balling this thing online or what is the story?

[PierBridge]

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is NADA low-balling this thing online or what is the story?

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IMO...Yes Nada is extremely on the low end on boats and especially Outboard motors.

[Shack]

In the automotive industry, NADA is the dealerships friend. I prefer sell items out right in local paper or on internet.

I always tell my friend's, if you want to be insulted, get a trade in price on your car or truck.

[MuskieJunkie]

Don't get hung up on "appraised" values (I should mention I am a real estate appraiser), not just boats but anything. From my experience blue books are low on older boats. I checked on trading in my '94 boat and they said $1,500, I sold it privately in less than a week for $5k. Hey, just check out my signature.

[pfluemis]

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How accurate are NADA appraisals? I know Kelly BlueBook is the standard for automobiles, but I was a little surprised at the estimate I got back for a boat in my family. 40 horse mercury with electric ignition, oil self-mixing, electric start, power trim, 16' alumacraft classic deluxe with rod storage, am/fm/cassette, starboard console, single livewell, and motorguide 40 lb. thrust bowmount. The whole thing was valued right at $2500. Is it really that cheap? I know if someone was selling the exact same boat at that price I'd buy it.

I'm not trying to sell this boat so moderators please don't take this post the wrong way, but is NADA low-balling this thing online or what is the story?

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IMO, NADA is not all that far off on the "true value" of boats. What has happened is, the market demand for used boats is so great, it pretty much makes the NADA book useless. The driving force is the insanely over priced new boats. Case in point. 3 years ago, when I bought the boat I am selling now, I priced an Alaskan by Lund. I was quoted just over $12,000. The same rigged boat this year, is listed over $16,000!!! I guess you could say NADA is not keeping up with the times. I have to say though, it's nice that Lund has over priced their boats. I'm now going to sell my boat for more money than I paid for it 3 years ago.

[Valv]

It's not quite like that, but close. NADA doesn't have any statistics regarding boat sales, also they depreciate boats regardless of location. We have freshwater boats, not saltwater, and that make a lot of difference.

Our motors last decades, not just a couple of years as any saltwater engine.

This is not taken in consideration by NADA, consequently the depreciation is much higher.

[LMITOUT]

Valv is right. I believe you can use it for a baseline, but market area can add or subtract from the price. Selling a walleye fishing rig in MN is going to get a better price than the NADA estimate gives you compared to selling the same boat in Florida or somewhere else.

When I was selling my boat I looked up the NADA value and it was much lower than what the market price was in this region for similar boats. I had people emailing me with offers mirroring the NADA price but there was no way it wasn't worth more than that based on other boats I had seen for sale that are in the same catagory if not even the same make and model!

Best thing to do is start searching around various classifieds or internet sales boards to gauge the price of your rig. Then you can get the market value rather than the book value.