Two weeks ago I was looking at a '92 BMW 525iT (station wagon), the owner had allowed me to have a dealer check it out. When I was waiting for my wife to pick me up, I struck up a conversation with the sales manager. I asked him for a ballpark figure on what the car would be worth.

He told me that for newer cars, they go by the Blue Book, then correct for condition. For older cars, he goes on the web and gets Kelly blue book, NADA, and Edmunds values, corrects for condition and adds his intuition.

BTW the car looked and drove great, had 91,000 miles and was well maintained - BUT - It had a head gasket leak, a VANOS problem, a power steering pump issue, bad U-joint, needed two fog lights and two headlights, a dent in the exhaust and gas tank, rear hatch electrical problems, and several other small problems,

The final verdict was $2400 in parts and $4000 in labor. Although I still covet a BMW wagon, I suspect that our next wagon will say "Volvo" on it!

The moral, have any car you are looking at checked by a good tech. My dealer will do a "certified" Volvo check for 2 hours labor, and gives me a two page report, add an hour for a compression check - the best money I ever spent.
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3 8s & 2 7s 725,000 miles total