Kelley Blue Book Review: New Car Buying Sites

Since 1926, Kelley Blue Book has been a well-known name in the auto industry. Today, the KBB website continues this tradition by offering trusted values and innovative resources to help you research, price, and shop for the car you want. It provides a Fair Purchase Price tool to show what others have paid for new or used cars, and a 5-Year Cost to Own tool to compare cars based on real costs like fuel, maintenance, and depreciation. It's kind of like the Better Business Bureau of the car world, serving as a way to see value and quality in new and used vehicles on the market. On top of offering car backgrounds and pricing out vehicles, KBB also sells new and used models.

Get started quick with helpful filters

To get started buying new cars on KBB, you just need to use the top navigation bar and click on the "Cars for Sale" tab. Then, you'll be taken to KBB's entire inventory where you can browse or start filtering down to the car you want. Some of the filters include mileage, body style, fuel economy, fuel type, color, transmission cylinders, features, and payment. You can limit your options to those that won't exceed your maximum ideal monthly payment too, so you don't have to worry about loving a car and then being blindsided by the loan costs later.

28,000+ new vehicles

KBB has an impressive selection with 28,000+ new vehicles in its current inventory. All of those models include long-distance delivery, which is an impressive feature. Most of KBB's competitors only offer local delivery. 4,496 of these cars were sedans, 15,950 were SUV/crossovers, 6,214 were trucks, and there were 613 coupes (2 doors).

Calculate your payment details on the listing page

KBB provides clear and straightforward listings, showing which dealership is selling the car, how long it's been listed, the important details about the car and its trim level, any price changes, and a price analysis comparing it to similar vehicles. You can view photos, look up the VIN, check out the features, and preview available financing. Each listing also includes a payment calculator tool where you can enter your planned down payment amount and estimated credit score to see likely monthly payments on different terms.

Prices from $14,195

The pricing at KBB is highly competitive, offering some of the lowest prices in the industry for similar cars. The prices range from $14,195 to $367,820. The cheapest car is the Mitsubishi Mirage and the most expensive is the Mercedes-Benz G 63 AMG. You can also find some other high-end vehicles on the KBB market including a new Aston Martin DB-12 (James Bond, anyone?) and a couple of 2024 McLaren Arturas if you want to check out some supercar eye-candy. We also priced out the three cars we checked at each site to show the changes in price across competitors. We looked at the Toyota Corolla, the Nissan Rogue, and the Tesla Model 3. Here's what we found:

• Toyota Corolla: $22,643 to $51,420
• Nissan Rogue: $26,876 to $43,750
• Tesla Model 3: No new models on KBB

Long distance delivery

KBB stands out from the competition by offering long-distance delivery for the vehicles in its inventory. The shipping fees for this service will vary depending on what car you get, what dealership you go through, and how far away you are from the location, but this does open up your options significantly if you want to shop for cars outside your local zip code.

Returns are based on dealership policies

There are no return policies specifically facilitated by KBB. So, you'll want to check in with the dealership you end up ordering from to talk about test-drive periods and return policies for your chosen vehicle, especially if you're planning to have it shipped to you long distance.

Customers seem confused about KBB's function

At the moment, KBB has a "D-" rating from the Better Business Bureau due to a range of complaints in the past year. However, they are primarily put forward by sellers rather than those buying cars through the KBB platform. Complaints usually range around the KBB pricing system where you can look up the estimated price of your car or the "value" on KBB. But, as KBB is clear that this estimate does not count as an offer or promise of value, the customers' complaints about getting less than KBB's value during a trade-in or sale are more confusing than concerning. For the buying portion of KBB, we struggled to find any reviews related to that, indicating that selling cars is still a newer service for KBB to gauge as of yet.

Top option for long-distance delivery

At the end of the day, the high inventory and low prices make KBB a perfect place to shop for your new car. With long-distance shipping (that we didn't see offered anywhere else) KBB stands out from the pack. While it currently has a lower-than-average rating from the BBB, this is mostly due to customers complaining about the valuation of used cars. With all things considered, KBB is an excellent source to go to in your search for a new car.

On the Kelley Blue Book website