History

• Kelley Blue Book was started in 1926 by Les Kelley, who named it after a social registry that listed high society people and was referred to as a "blue book." The Black Book was established in 1955 by three businessmen who attended car auctions to track prices and realized the information was valuable to others.
  
  

Features

• The Blue Book provides retail, trade-in and private party values for new and used vehicles. The Black Book provides new and used retail and trade-in values, and also provides information on which models are most popular in various regions.
  
  

Data Collection

• The Black Book collects data from more than 50 auctions each week. Kelley Blue Book collects data from nationwide auctions as well as from new and used car dealers.
  
  

Considerations

• The Black Book provides information on three used car conditions--clean, average, and rough--based on information from their auto experts. The Blue Book asks the user to rate the condition of his vehicle--excellent, good, fair, or poor--based on a questionnaire on the website.
  
  

Availability

• New and used car dealers and wholesale buyers can subscribe to the Black Book for a fee. CarQuotes.com provides Black Book data for free online at http://www.carquotes.com/tools/black_book_valuation. Kelley Blue Book is available free at http://www.kbb.com.