How our market price trend works
The market trend on a car answers one question, plainly and checkably: is this price actually below what the same car goes for nearby, or does it just say so. Here is exactly what we compare and where the numbers come from.
What the number compares
We take our final price for the car, the price after incentives and any dealer discount, the number you would actually sign, and set it against the average listed price of the very same trim at dealers near you. The gap is shown in dollars and as a percent. If our price is not below that average, the block says so instead of pretending.
Where the market average comes from
The average is built from real dealer listings of the same trim in the Los Angeles market, pulled from MarketCheck, the listings data source dealers themselves use. We show the exact number of comparable cars behind the average, so you can see the sample is real, not a round-number guess.
Why we measure from the final price
A sticker price flatters no one. We compare from the price after incentives and dealer discount, what you pay for the car, because that is the honest side of the trade. If anything the gap is conservative: those listed prices are asking prices, before a buyer negotiates, while ours is already the discounted number.
When we do not show it
If there are not enough comparable cars of that exact trim nearby to form an honest average, we show nothing rather than a shaky number built on two or three listings. A comparison you cannot trust is worse than no comparison, so we hold it to a real sample.
Common questions
It is the average listed (asking) price of the same trim nearby, the price public in dealer listings. We compare our already-discounted final price against it, so the gap is if anything conservative, not inflated.
It depends on how many of that exact trim are listed near you right now. A common trim has hundreds of comparable listings, a rare one only a handful, and we show the real count either way.
Yes. The market average and the count refresh when we re-pull inventory and listings data, so the comparison tracks the current market, not a stale snapshot.