The short version
If the number will be filed with a court, submitted to the IRS, given to an insurer, or disputed by another party, you need a certified appraisal. If the number is for your own decision-making — what to ask for the car, whether an offer is fair, what an inherited vehicle is worth — a valuation is sufficient and costs considerably less.
What a certified appraisal carries
A certified appraisal is prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. It states its intended use and intended users, fixes an effective date, documents comparable sales with sources, shows the adjustment grid, records condition photographically, and closes with a signed certification that the appraiser has no interest in the vehicle and no contingent compensation.
That structure exists because the document is built to survive scrutiny — from a probate court, an opposing attorney, an insurance adjuster, or the IRS. It is why probate inventories, Form 706 filings, total-loss disputes, and litigation all call for one.
- Probate inventory filings
- IRS Form 706 and stepped-up basis
- Insurance claims and agreed-value policies
- Litigation and expert testimony
- Divorce and asset division
- Diminished-value claims
What a valuation covers
A valuation runs the same inspection and the same market research, and arrives at the same kind of documented figure. What it does not do is claim USPAP compliance or present itself as court-admissible. It is a signed professional opinion prepared for the client’s own use.
For a private seller setting an asking price, an owner weighing a dealer trade offer, or a family deciding what to do with a vehicle they inherited, that is the right scope — and at $199 rather than $350 upward, the right cost.
When in doubt, ask before you book
The distinction matters, because the wrong document is an expensive mistake in both directions: a valuation rejected by a court means paying twice, and a certified appraisal bought for personal curiosity means overpaying for formality you will never use.
If you are unsure which applies, describe the situation on the request form and we will tell you which one you need — including when the answer is the cheaper one.
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