| You may have referred to the Blue Book to identify | | | | led the government to put a ceiling on car prices and |
| a classic car's value or used its logo to sell your old | | | | used the blue as a ceiling. Because of this, dealers |
| car. Indeed, Blue Book has become an integral part of | | | | must acquire a copy of the Blue Book. Kelley has |
| the automotive industry. Let's have a peek on how | | | | earned its reputation to be innovative in terms of |
| the Blue Book became the most trusted valuation | | | | selling car. Car dealership then was different form car |
| company. Kelley Blue Book is the largest and most | | | | dealership today. A purchase of an automobile before |
| popular automotive vehicle valuation company in the | | | | would include driving lessons. The company also |
| United States. The company started with car | | | | ventured to insurance. The insurance was part of |
| dealership in 1918. It was founded by Les Kelley with | | | | their package. They reinvented the car paints as well, |
| the help of his thirteen year old brother Buster. He | | | | instead of following the traditional black paint; they |
| started with three units of used Model T Fords. For | | | | took a risk and painted a car pink. It paid of because |
| inventory purposes, he came up with a list of cars he | | | | it was sold almost instantly. This led to a number of |
| wanted to acquire with specifications of the amount | | | | pink cars driven down the street. The company also |
| he was willing to pay for it. He distributed the list to | | | | changed marketing strategies through time. They |
| different dealers and banks. Automotive stakeholders | | | | used media to advertise their cars. It started with a |
| began to trust his judgment and took his price list as | | | | full page news paper ad followed by a fifteen minute |
| an accurate value of the cars. If one wanted to | | | | long television ad. Although the dealership business |
| know how much an old car is worth, they would | | | | was successful, Les Kelley decided to sell it in the late |
| simply refer to his list. In 1926, Les Kelley came up | | | | 1950s and concentrated on the Blue Book together |
| with the first Kelley Blue Book. It contains values of | | | | with his brother Buster and nephew Bob. The Blue |
| old cars. With its publication, the term blue book value | | | | Book became a trade publication. It has continued to |
| became a popular term in the automotive community. | | | | evolve. It was the first reflect the effect of mileage |
| But what is a blue book value? It is a term used to | | | | with the car's value. The company took advantage |
| refer to how much a car is worth. In accounting, it is | | | | of the information age when Bob's son, Mike, joined |
| simply the market value of one's car. Because of the | | | | the company in 1978. It has continued to innovate as |
| company's popularity, the terms used by the | | | | the need arise. They were able to identify those |
| company became synonymous with car values. The | | | | needs and addressed them properly as well. |
| term blue book value is still used up to the present. If | | | | Find the best deal on the auto insurance coverage |
| a person wants to know the value of his car, he'd | | | | you need. Visit us today for money-saving tips and |
| simply ask, "What is my car's blue book value?" | | | | receive free quotes for cheap online auto insurance |
| During the World War II, car prices skyrocketed. This | | | | from respected insurance companies. |