CARY, N.C. -

Generally speaking, consumers and dealers often don’t seem to see eye-to-eye when it comes to trade-in appraisal, says Black Book senior vice president of sales Jared Kalfus.

“The consumer feels that the appraisal being delivered by dealers is not necessarily as accurate as compared to the valuations that they’re doing themselves online,” Kalfus said in a phone interview with Auto Remarketing.

Black Book’s latest online survey, which examined car shoppers' sentiment on trade-in appraisal when purchasing a vehicle, found that 47 percent of those polled desire a dealer’s offer to be within $501 to $1,000 of their researched quote for it to be satisfactory.

“What the survey has found, and is kind of concerning, is that there’s a bit of conflict and there’s a lot of valuation difference based on how much the dealer appraises the vehicle versus the researched quote that the customer found online,” Kalfus said.

Thirty-six percent of the survey’s participants told Black Book that in the past, their researched quote retrieved online was $1,001 to $1,500 apart from a dealer’s offer, and 27 percent said their quote was more than $1,500 apart.

Additionally, 46 percent of the survey’s respondents say that getting an accurate trade appraisal is either “very important” or “extremely important” to their decision on their next car purchase.

Kalfus said that “the industry needs to focus on accurate data to really come to terms with keeping these deals together and validating the appraisals and valuations that consumers are finding when they’re doing their own research to avoid this conflict when they actually get to the dealership.”

The findings of the survey illustrate not only the importance of the trade for the consumer but the accuracy of the valuation, he said.

“What we wanted to validate was just how important the trade was to consumers and to figure out if it was equal, less or more important in the consumers’ eyes than industry folks and dealers who utilize our data,” Kalfus explains. “What we found is that it’s just as important and in some cases even more important from the consumers’ vantage point.”

The survey shows that the appraisal delivered by the dealer is not accurate as compared to the valuations found online.

“The trade-in appraisal is just as important to keeping that deal together and actually consummating that deal as the actual new car negotiations itself,” Kalfus added.

Dealers need to be sure that they are utilizing appropriate data tools, such as valuation guides and industry credible valuation guide books that provide the most accurate valuations, according to Kalfus.

He points out that in cases where the customer is turned off from making deal because of an appraisal value, the dealer not only misses the opportunity to make a sale, but to also acquire a new vehicle trade and sell that customer financing, in addition to service and maintenance opportunities down the road after the sell.

“The trade-in is actually the precursor to multiple other streams of revenue and profit for the dealer. If the deal blows up because of the trade, the dealer loses out on selling the new car to the customer,” he added.

Black Book distributed its survey to roughly 2,100 consumers throughout the U.S. in March, according to the used vehicle valuation solutions provider.