A furor arose in 1987 when the Kelley Blue Book Co. said that it had decided to bar libraries and other nonautomobile industry subscribers from receiving its 1987 guide to prices that dealers pay for new autos. (Gordon, Bill, "State Probe—Auto Blue Book Excluding Public," San Francisco Chronicle, January 16, 1987:5.) A spokeswoman in Kelley's subscription department explained that the company changed its policy in response to pressure from manufacturers who did not want consumers to compare the dealers' cost for an auto with the retail price. She said, "We're strictly a trade publication. Libraries are for the public." The California attorney general announced plans to investigate whether the policy violated unfair business practices or antitrust laws.

Kelley did not stick to its exclusionary policy. Today you can get detailed information about new, wholesale car prices on the Internet from Kelley, Edmund's, and a variety of other sources.