Evening star., 1934-01-28

value. but It would not always be fair
to the public. n
Now under the law Of supply and
demand q used car of the same year,
make and model, Is worth more In
one place than another. So the guide
appears in 20 editions, one for each
OF 20 districts which have been de-
fined by systematically cross-checking
a vast amount Of economic data OBJ
tanned from almost innumerable
sources, indicating the natural trends
IN all lines OF business as well - "a.
tomobile sales. II the value Of your
used car is to be "as good a. the
wheat" or gold or any other stand
ard OF value, it must conform to the
same laws which govern all staple
evaluations. State lines were ignored,
perforce, and market centers only con-
ddered Later there may be more or
less than 20 districts as further expe.;
rience may determine.
250,oo0 Sales Studied.
The first N. A. D. A. oflcial guide
u based on actual used car sales oc.
curing in the three months Of Sep
tember, October and November More
than $50 600 sworn reports of used car
sales, representing 80 per cent Of all
sales, were gathered from dealers in
these zones. Where sales Of certain
makes and models were too few to be
usable for averaging the value, investi.
cations were made and the value fixed
In the light Of this research. More
than 100000 separate tabulations
were necessary In the preparation Of
the book
The method Of handling the figures
Is a marvel of system and absolutely
protected against manipulation Of any
sort. The methods employed are the
same as used by the United States
Census Bureau and many great private
enterprises.
1. There came the process Of coding,
or identifying each make model, body
style and year Of each car by numbers.
2. The sales record is transferred to
cards by machines which punch the
predetermined code number into the
card.
g. The punched cards are stacked
In automatic sorting machines that ar
range them according to make, model
and year.
4. The carsA arranged in proper Sc
quence, are placed in an automatic tab
ulating machine which transfers the
coded information to q master sheet
for final checking and averaging. 4.
Finally, the averaging completed, the
sales information is typed on a large
page which, after careful proofreading,
is turned over to the engraver. who
makes the zinc plate from which that
page Of the guide is printed.
Cheapest Buys Out.
In arriving at the average Of sales,
which average is the published price,
the lowest 20 per cent of prices for
that particular make and model are
automatically rejected by the tabulat.
ing machines. This prevents the ex.
csssive lowering of the average by un.
justifiably low prices.
Thus it is established that the own
er or purchaser Of a used car today
owns, sells or buys an article Of spe-
cif1c, established worth, and possesses
or makes an investment that Is COM
parable to any other investment In
things Of recognized value. The guide
book price of a used car Is Just as
much an index Of value as the list
price Of new car. Trade and public
are now dealing in real values in used
car marts. The N. A. D. A. Official
Used Car Guide is received monthly By
all dealers who are operating under
the code. A simple but efficient sys-
tenn Of policing the used car section Of
the code assures it against chiselers
in all parts Of America.