Cars Review: Used Car Sites

Headquartered in Chicago, Cars is a service that works to provide essential information and listings to simplify the car-buying process. The site has a nationwide inventory of over a million cars and adds thousands daily. Few platforms match its level of service. Established in 1998, Cars supports you in a rapidly changing market. You gain direct access to dealerships and OEMs with innovative technical solutions for used cars. In 2018, Cars acquired Dealer Inspire, a technology company dedicated to streamlining and integrating digital platforms to improve the online buying process.

Start searching your way

If you know the make and model you're after, getting started on Cars is a breeze. Just use the search menu in the middle of the page when you land on the site. You can also set preferences for distance, maximum price, and location. For more specific needs, the "advanced search" lets you filter by mileage, color, and other criteria. Once you get your results, you can sort them by price, mileage, or other features. If you're not sure what kind of car you're looking for, don't sweat. You can also just search your general area to see what results you get on Cars. You can also filter by specific features or tech specs you're interested in. Cars provides a wealth of research materials, including expert reviews on the latest models with categories like "popular EVs" and other ways to start your search.

19,219 used vehicles available

Cars has a competitive selection of used vehicles to explore. During our review, within a 50-mile radius, the site showed 19,219 models available. Many of these cars can be shipped directly to your home. The inventory included 4,471 sedans, 9,389 crossovers, 2,837 trucks, and 6756 coupes (two-doors). With such a wide range of options, finding a car that meets your needs is straightforward.

Great transparency on listings

Cars' listings are very transparent, often showcasing photos, VINs, feature lists, dealership reviews, payment calculators, and direct links to the dealer's site. However, the amount of detail can vary by dealer; some listings might be missing a price or only have one photo. You can filter results to only show cars with full photo sets, avoiding placeholder listings. Cars also offers you a helpful "Deal Gauge" that indicates how competitively priced a vehicle is for the current market. Plus, you can easily find links to contact the dealer or visit their website for further details on each vehicle listing.

Prices from $4,998

The range of used car prices runs from $4,998 to $419,999. This range is noticeably smaller than some competitors who have cars priced under $1K and well over $3M. The cheapest car was a Toyota Yaris from 2004 and the most expensive was a Lamborghini Huracan STO from 2023. However, finding the more expensive cars requires you to actually search for the make and model. Plus, there are some annoying ads for cars at the top of results that may not fit your exact search parameters. These will be marked with a green border or say "sponsored" on them, and you have to scroll past them to get to the real results. Just using the pricing filters may leave out many of the high-end makes and models.

Price comparison

Now, for our price comparison with popular cars: we looked at the same four cars at every auto seller (a Toyota Corolla for a basic sedan, the Nissan Rogue to cover a good crossover, a Tesla Model 3 for electric cars, and a Jaguar F-Type for luxury/sport enthusiasts). Here's what we found at Cars:

• Toyota Corolla: $4,991 (2005 with 145,985 miles) - $39,976 (2023 with 9,663 miles)
• Nissan Rogue: $4,400 (2008 with 94,582 miles) - $40,991 (2021 with 7,345 miles)
• Tesla Model 3: $17,778 (2021 with 85,667 miles) - $37,491 (2023 with 11,272 miles)
• Jaguar F-Type:  $23,500 (2015 with 87,298 miles) - $69,745 (2023 with 5,456 miles)

Delivery, returns, and test drives offered

Cars provides delivery for many vehicles, and you can filter your search to include only those cars that will be shipped directly to your home. Some dealerships also offer at-home test drives upon request, though you must contact the dealership directly to start negotiations and get specific details. Many dealerships have return policies if test driving the car isn't possible, but these policies are set by the dealerships themselves, not by Cars.

Most customers like their experience

Customers appreciate Cars, giving it an average rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 across most review sites. The Better Business Bureau also gives Cars its highest "A+" rating and accreditation. Customers often praise the time and effort-saving tools that Cars offers on its site to help them find suitable vehicles. However, there are occasional complaints about customer service being inadequate at Cars. Resolving issues directly with the company can be challenging, and most customers need to deal with the dealership directly if problems with a purchase arise. Nonetheless, the majority of used car shoppers appear satisfied with their overall experience.

A great source for average-priced cars

Whether you're beginning your research or prepared to make a purchase, Cars proves to be a valuable resource. You can find vehicles from dealerships in your vicinity and in other states. However, there are certain inventory constraints and a slightly lower selection than competitors. Despite frequent updates to its inventory, Cars doesn't always feature all the options available from other sites, such as more affordable vehicles or top-tier luxury cars. As a result, Cars lands slightly lower in the rankings, but still achieves a solid rating overall in our evaluation.

On the Cars website