For some people, buying a used car can be as simple as going to a local dealership of choice and checking out their pre-owned vehicle inventory. But most people are looking for the best possible deal on a car we will love to drive for years to come. Since the majority of us probably don’t have a dealer’s license to have our pick at an auto auction, we must resort to scouring the internet for the right car. Thankfully there are many great sites to choose from, and although this list is by no means comprehensive, and possibly a bit biased, I came up with my favorite sites based on extensive personal experience.
Craigslist is on top of the list because it has by far the largest selection of private party car listings. This is primarily because a simple 4 picture 1 week posting is completely free meaning that unlike on other used car listings you can find cars as cheap as $0. The drawback is of course the abundance of scammer ads, but the community of car buyers does a good job of flagging bad posts. Rule of thumb is if a car deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Some tips for searching are to avoid being too specific; for example if you want a late model Nissan Maxima with a 5 speed transmission don’t type in “2003 Nissan Maxima SE 5 speed,” but rather “Nissan Maxima SE,” or “2003 Maxima.” For a car with 2 model names like Pontiac Firebird Trans Am search “Firebird” and “Trans Am” separately, and you might want to try “Transam” and “Trans Am” keeping in mind that quotations will search for the exact phrase. On Craigslist everyone has the freedom to write whatever title or posting they want, so there will be spelling errors and one car might be described in 3 different ways. That being said, if you have the patience you might find a great buy.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Autotrader allows you to be as specific as possible. Aside from the standard search options of Year Range, Price Range and Distance, Autotrader has a great advanced search option.
This allows you to find exactly what you’re looking for, even if you haven’t narrowed your search down to a specific make or model car.
Bottom line is, to find the right car at the best price we must have as many local listings as possible to choose from. Whether you want to be more specific in your search is up to you. Below are links to some other used car sites that are worth checking out. Happy car shopping!
