Who has the best used car classifieds?
Buying a used car can be fun. It helps to have the best resources available while you’re still deciding what to purchase and from whom. Using car classifieds is one of the best ways to locate cars for sale. When buying a used vehicle, it’s even more important to find the best classifieds. Any car that has had previous owners can be hiding defects. Before you make the big decision, be sure to check the history, take it for a test drive, or have a mechanic look your car over. It helps to make sure you have the best selection to pick from. That’s where used car classified sites come in.
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How We Compared Sites
We picked four of the top Used Car Classified sites to compare:
- Craigslist.org
- AutoTrader.com
- Cars.com
- KBB.com (Kelley Blue Book)
The site features we looked at were:
- Total listings: How many cars did the site feature, and how many were from private sellers? We looked in a 25-mile radius around our city
- Sort Options: How does the site let you narrow down cars to view?
- Pros: What were a site’s strengths?
- Cons: What was missing?
Unless otherwise mentioned, each site listed basic information such as vehicle mileage, price, transmission, drive train, and pictures. Sites that included additional helpful information such as VIN, engine size, and fuel economy (MPG), are noted.
Craigslist.org
Number of listings:
- Total Listings: Not given
- Private Seller Listings: 1,000
Sort Options:
- Dealer vs. private seller
- Keyword search
- Price range
Pros:
- Great range of private party listings
- Site updated daily with new vehicles
- Keyword sorting can be powerful if you know what you want
Cons:
- Images are not displayed with listings – you have to click through to view
- Different info in each ad, depending on what each poster decides to include
- Keyword sorting requires some creativity
Craigslist has the best selection of private party vehicles, which may save you money, but be prepared to scour the listings and contact sellers with questions they didn’t answer in their ads.
AutoTrader.com
Number of listings:
- Total Listings: 22,297
- Private Seller Listings: 943 (4%)
Sort Options:
- Zip Code
- New/Used/Certified
- Body styles
- Up to 3 makes/models can be selected
- Year range
- Price range
- Private seller vs. dealers;
- Additional options: mileage, color, engine, features, keyword
Pros:
- Very smart, well thought-out sort options
- Seller phone number listed
- Email seller from within page
- VIN available
Cons:
- Fuel Economy of cars not listed
- Engine size of cars not listed
AutoTrader had the greatest number of vehicles, including a very respectable selection of private seller vehicles. The sort options were thoughtfully planned and helpful in narrowing down the choices. While we would have liked to see MPG listed, this is a strong site for searching for used vehicles overall.
Cars.com
Number of listings:
- Total Listings: 15,334
- Private Seller Listings: 132 (less than 1%)
Sort Options:
- 17 total categories, including:
- Price ($5,000 ranges)
- Mileage range
- Year (specific year, not range)
Pros:
- Kelly Blue Book report can be accessed within page
- Consumer ratings of cars are listed for each vehicle
- Seller name and phone number are listed
- Extensive additional data for analysis, including JD Powers and Safety reports
- Mileage range is a nice sort option
Cons:
- Low % overall of private party cars
- Sorting by specific year is not as helpful as a range, unless you know a particular body style you want.
Cars.com provided the most extensive background information on each vehicle, from external reports to customer ratings, as well as a Kelley Blue Book report for determining vehicle value from within each vehicle page. A good site overall, especially if buying from a private seller is not as important to you.
KBB.com (Kelley Blue Book)
- Number of listings:
- Total Listings: 8,372
- Private Seller Listings: 0 (0%)
Sort Options:
- Price (progressively refined)
- Mileage (progressively refined)
- Fuel economy range (MPG)
- Make/model
- Fuel type (Gasoline, Diesel, Hybrid)
Pros:
- Blue Book value embedded in each page
- Seller contact form embedded on page
- Not forced to pick make/model in order to view cars.
- MPG listed
- VIN Listed
Cons:
- No private party listings
- Not a huge selection
While Kelley Blue Book may not have the most extensive selection of vehicles at this point, it has a great and intuitive interface for narrowing down your search just how you want it. The progressive refining of features like price and mileage is helpful in allowing you to choose how specific you want to be, and the site automatically includes helpful information such as VIN and the MPG. I would keep my eye on KBB.com as their listings grow.
Get Started
Used car classifieds can’t bring you all the way to a decision, but knowing what factors are important to you can help you choose the right site for selecting the cars you want to test drive, and hopefully save you a few steps in your research. Happy car hunting!
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