Most popular car sales website

In the past, we’ve written about the best-used car websites for buyers (along with how to book car transport after completing a sale), but buyers are only one half of the equation. Sellers flock to used car websites, too! But, as you might imagine, their needs are quite different. In this post, we review the top 13 sites for buying and selling used cars and then talk a bit about how sellers and buyers thousands of miles apart complete these sales.   

But let’s step back. You may have found this post because you have a car to sell and you’re wondering where to sell it. These days, there are tons of websites where you can list a car for sale, and so finding the best-used car website can be tricky. Here are some of our favorite used car websites for sellers, along with some other sites where sellers can unload cars and trucks quickly.  

Cars.com

This site is still the gold standard for auto sales because they syndicate their listings so widely, and they have a huge inventory. When you sell a car on Cars.com — whether you choose the free listing option or one of the paid options — your listing may be syndicated on their other properties (Auto.com, PickupTrucks.com, and NewCars.com) and on the sites of Cars.com affiliates. They also offer sellers the option of making quick sales to dealers, so if you need to move your vehicle fast, you can.   

Why do some people opt to make quicker dealer sales when it usually means selling for less? While the site’s huge inventory is an obvious pro for buyers, it can be a drawback for sellers. Unless you have amazing photos of your car or truck or you’re selling a model that’s in high demand, you may find it tough to make your listing stand out from the crowd.  

AutoTrader

Buyers like AutoTrader because the advanced search tools make it easy to find very specific models and option packages. Sellers like the fact that some listing packages come with a money-back guarantee (no sale, no charge) and listings are syndicated on Kelley Blue Book. There’s also the option to sell to a dealership for a faster sale or even to get an instant cash offer on the site. Again, if a speedy sale is more important to you than getting top dollar, AutoTrader is one of the sites that make it easy to unload a vehicle fast.  

eBay Motors

Once upon a time, most people would have found the idea of buying a car on eBay pretty shocking, but nowadays it happens all the time. If you’re already familiar with how selling on eBay works and/or you want to sell your car locally (which some people do because they don’t have to help a faraway buyer coordinate car transport), then selling your vehicle on eBay Motors might be a great option for you.  

Setting up listings is simple. Local listings are free and national listings are just $60-$125 and, according to eBay, most cars and trucks sell relatively quickly. Are there downsides to listing on eBay? The biggest downside may be that bids are non-binding, so a buyer can back out for any reason at any point in the process.  

Hemmings

Hemmings is where buyers who are looking specifically for classic and collector cars go to buy. So if that’s what you’re selling, this site is where you want to be. Hemmings is super popular with classic car enthusiasts, and they’re not kidding when they say a listing (which will be published online and in print in Hemmings Motor News) can reach millions of buyers. The best part is that these buyers love cars and usually know exactly what they want. If you’re selling, say, a 1963 Chevy Impala, you’ll attract buyers who love that car as much as you do and understand how classic car transport works. 

Facebook Marketplace

If you’re most interested in selling locally, Facebook Marketplace is a good place to start because let’s face it…everyone is on Facebook and a lot of people look at those Marketplace posts. If you already have a Facebook account, you’re halfway to posting your vehicle, as that is the only prerequisite for creating a listing. The biggest advantages of using Facebook Marketplace to sell a car are that the listings are free and you can take a peek at potential buyers’ Facebook profiles to check if they’re legit. The biggest flaw? As with all online marketplaces, there are more than a few flakes.  

CarGurus

This is another site that lets sellers create listings for free, though be aware that if you sell your vehicle via the listing, you’ll be charged $99 regardless of the purchase price. There are lots of buyers on the site — 20 million per month — because of a feature unique to CarGurus (that not all sellers like). Every listing is assigned a deal rating that can range from great to overpriced, so if you’re trying to get top dollar for your ride and you’re not willing to adjust your price, this might not be the best place to post your listing.  

TrueCar

Traditionally a site for buyers, TrueCar’s mission is to put some transparency back in the buying process. They analyze timely and comprehensive pricing information from dealers and then publish it in an easy to understand format. Armed with that data, buyers can approach TrueCar Certified Dealers with confidence, knowing they have what they need to get a great price. But TrueCar is also a resource for sellers looking to unload vehicles fast. Their True Cash Offer process is easy and you can get an offer right on their website that you can cash out at a Certified Dealer.  

Craigslist

The big, obvious benefit of selling a car on Craigslist is that you can create a hyper-local, photo-rich listing for free and make a no-stress sale without having to worry about coordinating car transport with a faraway buyer. That said, selling your car or truck may take longer because you’re not putting it in front of a nationwide audience of buyers. It’s up to you whether the convenience of selling locally is worth waiting for. 

Carvana

Buyers who want to be able to search listings from around the U.S. but don’t want to deal with setting up car transport like Carvana because the site delivers. What’s great is that buyers also have the option to pick up vehicles in one of the company’s car vending machines. Sellers also like Carvana, which like many of the sites above, buys cars and trucks. If you sell to Carvana, the process is fast and easy, and they’ll come with a truck to hand off a check and cart your vehicle away. 

Bring-A-Trailer

This is another niche buying and selling site for auto enthusiasts. On it, buyers find everything from souped-up sports cars to rare antiques. It’s an auction site, but buyers pay most of the fees while sellers just pay a single $99 fee for the listing. If you’re selling a vintage vehicle or something special, there are some good reasons to choose this site. First, it gets a lot of traffic, and second, that traffic is mostly made up of passionate people who are actively looking to buy.  

Vroom

This is another one of the cars buying sites that has made spending weekends browsing dealerships a thing of the past. Much like Carvana, the company sells cars right on its website and delivers the cars it sells anywhere in the U.S. It also caters to sellers looking for that quick sale. You tell them about your car or truck, they make an offer in 30 minutes or less, and if you accept that offer, they’ll come to pick up your vehicle and pay you for it via a direct deposit.  

CarMax

CarMax is yet another website that will give you a real offer, in writing, for your vehicle online. Actually completing a sale with CarMax, however, will require you to go to one of their stores for an in-person appraisal of your vehicle. As is the case with almost all the sites that buy cars, you’ll probably get less for your ride than you would if you sold it to a person. But the upside is that you will leave CarMax with a check in hand, and they’ll be the ones handling all the necessary paperwork.  

AutoTempest

Buyers like AutoTempest because it aggregates listings from sites like CarSoup, eBay Motors, and CarsDirect, so they have a lot of vehicles to choose from when shopping. When you’re on AutoTempest, you’ll see the option to sell your car but when you click on it, you’ll be taken to their partner site, Cars.com. That might seem like a bait-and-switch, but, don’t worry, it isn’t. If you create a listing on Cars.com or one of the other sites listed on the AutoTempest homepage, your car will appear for sale on AutoTempest, too. 

Car Transport After an Online Sale

Long-distance car buying is more popular than ever, but a lot of people still choose to sell their used cars locally, so they don’t have to deal with the hassle of completing a sale with an out-of-town buyer and then coordinating car transport. The fact is, however, that it’s actually pretty easy to get your old car to its new home. And Montway can help. We have more than 13 years of experience in the auto shipping industry and know how to get your old car to its new home easily and efficiently.   

If you’re not sure whether you want to show your used car listing to private buyers outside of your state, know that in the vast majority of sales, it is the buyer who will take care of car shipping. You’ll have to be present when the vehicle is inspected and picked up, but that’s where your responsibility will end.  

As you might have gathered after reading through our list of the best used car websites for sellers, it’s even easier if you’re selling to a dealer. They’ll have their own carriers or auto transport companies they contract with and will come and pick up your car without you having to do anything more than hand over the keys. It doesn’t get much easier than that! 

Ready to have your new car delivered? Contact us today for a free shipping quote and check out what our customers are saying about their experiences with Montway at Montway Auto Transport reviews.