I'm looking to buy a used car private party and it seems like the major sites, autotrader.com, cars.com, etc... are all taken over by dealers. The only site that has a majority of private party sales is craigslist. Any other websites I should be looking at? Thanks!
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private party online auto listings
- Thread starter SaberX
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funny, i asked this exact same question almost word for word about a week ago. i got nothing specific back in regards to websites, just some recommendations about a couple of individuals who dealt in used vehicles. i can't believe everything has been taken over by dealers... what happened to sites like classifieds2000.com which had almost no dealer ads in the late 90s.
It depends on the kind of car. For example, NSXs for sale by private parties tend to be listed on NSXprime's marketplace forums, ITRs on honda-tech.com's marketplace forums (and, to a lesser extent, on ITRCA.com), etc.
That's a PITA if you aren't looking for a special vehicle (or any vehicle in particular). For example I'm looking for either an SUV or pickup for the wife. I don't have the time to hit the forums for the various types of vehicles she might be interested in and searching through the forums and taking notes. It used to be you could just go to website that had thousands of vehicles for sale by private parties however all those sites have been taken over by dealerships. That kind of sucks.
The theory that there are no private parties advertising on those websites is just not true. Right now there are 167 listings on Autotrader.com for NSXs for sale, and 73 of them (44 percent) are for sale by private parties.
I suspect what has happened is that those sites (Autotrader, cars.com, vehix.com, etc) have gotten popular, and the dealers realized that they were a good place to advertise. It's not that private parties can't, or don't, advertise there, but rather, that there are now many dealers advertising as well. That's all part of having a free market economy - anyone is welcome to do business wherever they please!
And there's nothing wrong with having dealer ads as well. They're entitled to advertise. I think it's better to have a site containing 73 private party listings and 94 dealer listings, than to have one containing only 73 private party listings. The more listings, the more competition, and the better it is for buyers and sellers. If you don't want to buy from a dealer, then just don't respond to those ads!
I suspect what has happened is that those sites (Autotrader, cars.com, vehix.com, etc) have gotten popular, and the dealers realized that they were a good place to advertise. It's not that private parties can't, or don't, advertise there, but rather, that there are now many dealers advertising as well. That's all part of having a free market economy - anyone is welcome to do business wherever they please!
And there's nothing wrong with having dealer ads as well. They're entitled to advertise. I think it's better to have a site containing 73 private party listings and 94 dealer listings, than to have one containing only 73 private party listings. The more listings, the more competition, and the better it is for buyers and sellers. If you don't want to buy from a dealer, then just don't respond to those ads!
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