(October 23, 2011) IRVINE, Calif. — Kelley Blue Book's www.kbb.com has announced a partnership with AutoTrader.com to provide the Trade-In Marketplace tool on kbb.com. 

Consumers can visit the Trade-In Marketplace on the Kelley Blue Book website to generate instant offers for their current vehicles, which can be used towards the purchase of their next vehicle or redeemed for cash.

Consumers can use the instant trade-in offer, which is backed by a check from AutoTrader.com, to easily trade in or sell a car to a participating dealer.  If the vehicle description provided is accurate, consumers never have to accept less for their trade-in.

Kelley Blue Book has provided consumers with reliable trade-in values on its top-rated website kbb.com since 1995 and is backed by 85 years of trust.  Consumers can still use the Kelley Blue Book Trade-In Value, which is based on millions of actual trade-in transactions from across the U.S. and verified weekly by the company's statisticians, to negotiate with a dealer, or they can take the next step and use the Trade-In Marketplace to generate an instant trade-in offer.

The Trade-In Marketplace offer can then be redeemed with a participating dealer, and consumers can either use the amount toward the purchase of a new car or redeem the offer for cash.

"Kelley Blue Book has partnered with AutoTrader.com's Trade-In Marketplace to provide consumers with an easy way to trade in or sell their current vehicles," said Justin Yaros, executive vice president of Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com.  "In addition to Kelley Blue Book's top-notch values, this new option provides consumers further peace of mind that they can get an actual offer online to trade in or sell their current cars quickly and easily.  And best of all, that offer is backed 100% by AutoTrader.com."

A Trade-In Marketplace offer is:

    • A quick and easy way to trade in or sell a vehicle to a dealer
    • An actual offer, redeemable right now, pending inspection
    • 100% backed by AutoTrader.com
    • A safe bet for consumers to have in their pockets, so they never have to accept less
    • Based on specific elements of a car, like history, color, condition and market demand

Here's how it works:

    • Anyone looking to trade-in or sell a car can now visit Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com to get a free, instant trade-in offer backed by AutoTrader.com.  Click here for details.
    • The seller will then provide information about the vehicle, including its year, make and model, major factory-installed options, additional upgrades, maintenance information and details about the car's condition, including any major repairs or accident damage.
    • The Trade-In Marketplace from AutoTrader.com will calculate an instant trade-in offer using historical data from hundreds of thousands of vehicle transactions combined with up-to-the-minute supply and demand information.    
    • The seller will then print the offer certificate and take it to one of the local dealerships listed on the certificate honoring the offer.  The dealer will verify that the information provided by the seller is correct.
    • The seller can receive a check by redeeming the offer or can use the amount toward the purchase of another vehicle. And that's it! The process is fast, easy and free.

"Negotiating the value of their trade-in has long been a major pain point with consumers, and the Trade-In Marketplace helps alleviate that pain by giving them the certainty of an instant offer — backed by a check — from AutoTrader.com," said Brian Skutta, Trade-In Marketplace general manager at AutoTrader.com.

"We're excited to partner with Kelley Blue Book to bring this revolutionary tool to the millions of shoppers on kbb.com."

Participating dealers in the Trade-In Marketplace network are required to honor all instant trade-in offers generated through the tool, provided that the vehicle is described accurately by the consumer.