Estate vehicle valuation

A real number for the vehicle on the probate inventory.

Court-ready Fair Market Value report. Sourced from live retail comparable sales, mileage-adjusted to your vehicle, backdated to the date of death using ZIP-localized depreciation. Sixty seconds. From $29.

The problem

Three options. None are good.

Consumer pricing-guide screenshot

Free

Range, not a number. Courts can reject it.

Consumer-facing pricing guides give a $19,500–$24,000 range. Probate filings want one number with a defensible methodology. The range alone won't survive an examiner's questions.

Independent USPAP appraiser

$200–500

Defensible, but slow and expensive.

A licensed appraiser physically inspects the vehicle and produces a USPAP-compliant report in one to two weeks. Worth it for taxable estates and disputes; overkill for the median estate.

Vehicle-history report screenshot

~$40

Not actually a valuation.

A vehicle-history report tells you what happened to the vehicle, not what it was worth at the date of death. Filing it as the FMV source on a probate inventory is a common rejection trigger.

What you get

Nine sections. One PDF. Built to be filed.

  • 01

    Cover and executive summary

    Estate name, vehicle identification, valuation date, prepared-for line. Final FMV and defensible range up front.

  • 02

    Vehicle identification

    VIN-decoded build, factory MSRP, body / drive / engine / transmission, optional photos.

  • 03

    Comparable sales

    Up to 50 retail listings (same year / make / model) from live market data, mileage-adjusted to your odometer.

  • 04

    Mileage adjustment methodology

    Standard residual-curve method (−0.6% per 1k over, +0.4% per 1k under) shown explicitly so the math is auditable.

  • 05

    Depreciation backdate

    Today's mileage-adjusted median rolled back to the date of death via a year-by-year prorated depreciation schedule.

  • 06

    Condition and title adjustments

    Multipliers for self-reported condition and title status, methodology disclosed.

  • 07

    NHTSA recall history

    Complete recall list with publish dates, components, and any "do not drive" advisories at date of death.

  • 08

    Sources and methodology

    Plain-English methodology paragraph. Data sources cited. Limitations stated up front.

  • 09

    Final valuation page

    Stand-alone summary suitable for attaching to Form 706 or a state probate inventory.

How it works

Three fields. One page. Sixty seconds.

  1. 01

    Enter the required fields

    VIN, date of death, mileage, ZIP, state, and email. Condition, title status, and estate metadata are optional and improve the report.

  2. 02

    We pull live market data

    We decode the VIN, pull 30–50 comparable retail listings, and fetch the per-VIN depreciation schedule and recall history.

  3. 03

    Download the PDF

    A nine-section report ready for the inventory binder. Email delivery and attorney branding available on the higher tiers.

Pricing

Per report. No subscription.

Self-serve

$29/ report

Executor / family

  • Full nine-section PDF
  • Email delivery
  • Carriage default branding
  • Same-VIN re-runs free for 24 hours
Start a report

Attorney-branded

$99/ report

Probate / estate firm

  • Everything in Self-serve
  • Firm logo on every page
  • Custom signature block and report ID
  • Estate-of and case-number on cover
Start with branding

Defensibility

What this report is. What it isn't.

Suitable for

  • Routine probate inventory filings in the forty-plus states that accept market-based valuations with sourced methodology.
  • Vehicles below the federal estate-tax threshold (≈ $13.99M in 2025), where Form 706 doesn't require a USPAP appraisal.
  • Self-administered estates and uncontested probate where the executor needs a defensible number quickly.

Defer to a USPAP appraiser for

  • Estates above the federal estate-tax threshold or subject to disputed valuations.
  • Specialty, classic, or collector vehicles that require physical inspection.
  • Litigation contexts where a licensed appraiser's certification will be cited.

This report is a comparative market analysis prepared from public retail listing data. It is not a USPAP-compliant appraisal. The methodology is disclosed in full inside every report so that any probate examiner, IRS reviewer, or opposing counsel can audit the calculation.

Frequently asked

Questions worth answering up front.

How is this different from a consumer pricing-guide screenshot?
Consumer guides give a price range. This report gives a single Fair Market Value with a defensible range — sourced from live retail listings, mileage-adjusted, backdated to the date of death. The methodology is disclosed so an examiner can audit the calculation.
Is this an appraisal?
No. This is a comparative market analysis suitable for routine probate filings. For estates above the federal estate-tax threshold or disputed valuations, use a USPAP-licensed appraiser.
How long does it take?
About sixty seconds. The market data fetch and PDF generation happen synchronously after payment confirms.
What if there are no comparable listings?
The report falls back to a residual-curve estimate anchored to the original MSRP and discloses the fallback in the methodology section. For specialty or collector vehicles, a licensed USPAP appraiser may be more appropriate.
Multiple vehicles in the estate?
Each additional vehicle is discounted: +$59 on Self-serve, +$79 on Attorney-branded. Bulk credits available for firms running 10+ estates per quarter.
Can I see a sample before paying?
Yes. The "See a sample report" link in the hero downloads a complete report against a real VIN. The contents and formatting match what you receive.

Ready when you are

A real number, in the time it takes to make coffee.