Buyer’s Report methodology

Metric definitions

Target Discount

The 75th-percentile verified discount — a strong result that roughly 25% of relevant verified buyers matched or beat. This is the report’s primary recommendation.

Average Discount

The arithmetic mean discount of the relevant verified-buyer transactions.

Best Seen

The strongest verified discount in the relevant pool. It shows what has actually happened — not a guaranteed or universally attainable price.

Target Negotiation Price

Configured MSRP × (1 − Target Discount). The Average and Best-Seen equivalents use the same formula with their respective percentages.

Price equivalent

A percentage applied to this exact VIN’s configured MSRP. Because comparable vehicles carry different factory options, percentages — not pooled dollar averages — are the honest basis for a per-VIN dollar figure.

Selling price

The vehicle selling price before sales tax, registration, trade-in, financing, dealer add-on products and manufacturer incentives. It is not an out-the-door price.

How the target is built

1. 1

   Scope the verified-buyer pool

   Gather completed CarWhere buyer-submitted transactions for the exact model year, make and model. Where possible, restrict to the exact trim; expand the trim, then the geography, then the model-year window only when the exact pool is too thin — and label how far the scope expanded.

2. 2

   Compute the discount distribution

   For each transaction, discount % = (MSRP − selling price) ÷ MSRP. From the cleaned pool, compute the Average (mean), the Target (75th percentile), and Best Seen (strongest verified discount).

3. 3

   Anchor to this exact VIN

   Apply each percentage to THIS VIN’s configured MSRP to produce price equivalents. Percentages are the source of truth; equivalents avoid mixing dollar figures across differently-configured vehicles.

4. 4

   Layer context — separately

   Add the estimated dealer invoice, current manufacturer incentives, and advertised local inventory as separate reference sections. None of these change the verified-buyer target, and none are labeled “what buyers paid.”

Trim & geography rules

We seek the tightest credible match first, then widen only as needed — and disclose how far we widened:

1. Exact model year, trim, and local market
2. Exact model year and trim, expanded radius
3. Exact model year and trim, nationwide
4. Same model year and a closely related trim
5. Broader model benchmark, shown separately

Weak matches are never silently blended into the exact-trim dataset. Each transaction carries an exact-trim / same-model and local / regional / nationwide label.

Transaction window & confidence

We favor recent transactions and disclose the date range behind every figure. Confidence is set by sample size and how much the scope had to expand:

What each number comes from

Verified transactions, advertised listings, incentives and the invoice estimate are separate data sets. Advertised third-party listings are never labeled “what buyers paid,” incentives are shown separately (and never summed unless the manufacturer confirms they stack), and the dealer invoice is an estimate — not necessarily the dealer’s final net cost.

Dealer-invoice estimate

The invoice benchmark is estimated from the configured MSRP using standard per-brand and per-segment ratios, plus manufacturer holdback where it applies. It is shown as a band, never a fabricated per-option “dealer cost.” Holdback, factory-to-dealer cash, volume bonuses and regional incentives mean the dealer’s true net cost is usually lower than the invoice — so we present invoice as context, and keep the verified-buyer target as the recommendation.

What this report is not

• Best Seen is not a guaranteed attainable price.
• Advertised prices are asking prices, not completed transactions.
• Incentive availability and eligibility change; confirm with the manufacturer or dealer.
• Taxes, registration, trade-in, financing and optional products are excluded from the selling-price comparison.
• This is not an accident, title, odometer or ownership-history report.