What is CarValue?
CarValue is a pricing insights tool available on ADESA Clear listings. It uses advanced predictive technology trained on millions of real wholesale and retail transactions to generate price predictions for specific vehicles.
CarValue appears on the bid card for eligible vehicles, as well as on search results and My Bids pages.
Have feedback about CarValue or the calculator? You can submit that here and it will be reviewed by our product team. All feedback requests are reviewed!
Wholesale Price
The wholesale price predicts what a specific vehicle will sell for at wholesale auction. It is calculated using a machine learning algorithm that analyzes millions of historical transactions, taking into account factors such as:
- Sale price history
- Odometer reading
- Location
- Vehicle grade
- Sale light
The wholesale prediction may differ from traditional guidebook values because it is tailored to each individual vehicle rather than relying on broad category averages.
Retail Price
The retail price predicts what a dealer can list the vehicle for. It is calculated using millions of online retail listings and represents a national average. This estimate does not take “condition” into account since retail listings do not provide a CR grade, so the listing price can be thought of as assuming an “average retail condition” as well.
Important Considerations
CarValue prices are data-driven guidelines. They do not account for:
- Your specific customer base or local demand
- Local vehicle availability
- Your dealership’s market positioning
- Local economic conditions
Use CarValue as a starting point and apply your own market knowledge when making purchasing decisions.
The Profit Calculator
The Profit Calculator is built into the bid card on every ADESA Clear listing. It uses CarValue pricing along with your estimated costs to show your projected profit in real time as you bid.
Note: The Profit Calculator is only available on ADESA Clear inventory.
How It Works
The calculator shows your Projected Profit on the bid card. Tap or click to expand it and see the full breakdown:
Your Retail Estimate
- Your Transport Costs
- Your Recon Costs
- Your Bid
- Buy Fee = Projected Profit
All cost fields (retail estimate, transport, and recon) can be edited directly on each listing. The buy fee is automatically calculated based on your current bid amount.
Personalized Max Bid
Your Personalized Max Bid appears above the bid input field. This is the highest you can bid and still hit your minimum profit target.
It is calculated as:
Your Retail Estimate – Transport Costs – Recon Costs – Buy Fee – Profit Target = Max Bid
Click Edit next to the Personalized Max Bid to quickly adjust your profit target for that vehicle.
If the calculation results in a negative value, the display shows “–” instead.
Customizing Costs
The calculator supports two levels of customization:
- Default Settings: Set your baseline values for retail adjustment, transport cost per mile, recon cost per CR grade, and minimum profit target in Profit Settings (found in your account settings). These defaults apply to all listings automatically.
- Per-Vehicle Edits: Edit costs directly on any listing by expanding the calculator. Per-vehicle edits are saved and will not be overwritten if you change your default settings later.
Default Cost Calculations
Buy Fee: Automatically calculated based on your current bid. Note: If you have a negotiated buy fee, the calculator uses the standard fee schedule and may not reflect your actual rate.
Transport: Distance from your location to the auction, multiplied by your per-mile rate (default: $1.25/mile).
Recon: Difference between the max CR grade and the vehicle’s actual CR grade, multiplied by your per-0.1-CR cost (default: $10 per 0.1 CR).
Frequently Asked Questions
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How is the CarValue™ Wholesale Price Different From Other Guidebooks?
Unlike other guidebooks, CarValue™ does not calculate the wholesale price as a weighted average of recent transactions for the same year/make/model/trim. Instead, CarValue uses Machine Learning to predict the sale price of a specific VIN based on the overall ADESA market. This is possible because CarValue takes all transactions at ADESA auctions into account in its predictions.
The CarValue™ wholesale model also takes all of the attributes of the specific VIN into account, including variations beyond the trim level such as packages and options. This allows for more variation in pricing within year/make/model/trims.
Additionally, CarValue™ is the only wholesale pricing model largely based on ADESA transactions, making it the most useful valuation guide for buying and selling with ADESA.
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How can I see the Base CarValue™ Wholesale Price?
CarValue™ wholesale does not calculate a “base price” for a year/make/model/trim or apply “adjustments” to a “base price” in order to reach the final predicted price for a specific VIN. This is because the “base price” that is provided by other guidebooks is based on an average mileage and Condition Report for a given year/make/model/trim, and CarValue does not calculate average prices.
Instead, CarValue™ wholesale predicts a unique VIN-specific price which factors in not only the vehicle’s odometer, Condition Report, and sale location, but also dozens of other data points including vehicle attributes from the VIN, market depreciation, and seasonality.
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Why don’t I see CarValue prices for some vehicles?
CarValue prices are not displayed when we have insufficient transaction data from similar vehicles to make a confident prediction. This typically happens when:
The vehicle is especially rare or unique
It’s a very new model with limited sales history
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How accurate are these predictions?
CarValue predictions are based on millions of real transaction records. On average, across all ADESA transactions, CarValue Wholesale predicts prices at roughly 100% retention, and CarValue retail tracks closely to retail price indexes.
However, individual predictions will not always be correct, and actual selling prices will vary.
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Why do some similar vehicles have different CarValue prices?
Even vehicles that have the exact same Year, Make, Model, Trim, and Odometer can have different price predictions based on:
Installed options
Sale location
Grade, sale light, or other vehicle properties
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Does the CarValue wholesale prices include fees?
No, the CV Wholesale price is a gross estimate before:
Auction fees
Transportation costs
Reconditioning expenses
Holding costs
Additional overhead
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How often are CarValue prices updated?
All prices are re-calculated once a week to take new transactions into account.
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Can I get CarValue prices for vehicles not at auction?
CarValue prices are only available for vehicles listed on ADESA, and we do not currently provide a separate calculator or pricing tool for other vehicles.
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How do I see the Profit Calculator?
On any ADESA Clear listing, the Projected Profit appears on the bid card. Expand it to see the full cost breakdown and edit values.
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How do I set my default costs?
Go to your account settings and select Profit Settings. See the Profit Settings help article for details on each setting.
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Can I edit costs for a specific vehicle without changing my defaults?
Yes. Expand the calculator on any listing and edit the values directly. These per-vehicle edits are saved separately and won’t be affected by changes to your default settings.
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What does it mean if I see “–” for Projected Profit or Max Bid?
This means the calculation resulted in a negative number. Your projected costs exceed the expected retail value at the current bid.
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Is the Profit Calculator available on mobile?
Yes. The Profit Calculator works on both web and mobile for all ADESA Clear listings.
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What happened to the CarValue spread?
The spread (Retail Price minus Current Bid) has been replaced by the Profit Calculator, which provides a more complete picture by factoring in your transport, recon, and fee costs. The CarValue wholesale and retail estimates are still displayed on each listing.