Let’s compare how the two sites stack up across different value propositions.
Is Cars.com Good for Selling and Buying Cars?
The good: Cars.com has a large user base. This means a lot of buyers and a large selection of cars for sale. Unfortunately, the platform poses some serious challenges.
Cars.com pros and cons
Cars.com Pros and Cons
Cars.com has an intuitive website that’s simple enough to navigate and has no listing fees. Their lack of transactional infrastructure leaves buyers and sellers in the lurch to navigate all the logistics of the deal.
Cars.com Pros
- Wide selection of vehicles, including classic cars
- Trusted brand (even if there are some horror stories—see below)
- Vehicle advertising available
- Vehicle history report available
- Integrated vehicle financing option
- Integrated car shipping option
- Integrated vehicle photography service
Cars.com Cons
- No integrated banking gateway
- No integrated insurance option
- No integrated warranty option
- No payment support
- No test drive scheduler
- Buyer and seller exchange contact info, exposing them to scams
- No electronic signing of the bill of sale
- No built-in negotiation feature
- Few private-seller cars diluted by many dealership listings
PrivateAuto pros and cons
PrivateAuto Pros and Cons
PrivateAuto is a vehicle marketplace combined with an integrated banking and payment gateway and a full array of other transactional features to get the deal done. Its DealNow bridge product allows you to start a deal on another platform–Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, eBay Motors, or Cars.com–and then finish the transaction with PrivateAuto’s infrastructure.
PrivateAuto Pros
- Tech-enabled transactionality for every stage of the deal
- 100% private-party listings, no dealers
- Seller can choose a standard listing or an auction format
- Self-serve, intuitive listing and auction process
- Low seller fees
- No buyer fee
- Start a deal on another platform, finish it on PrivateAuto with our DealNow bridge product
- Vehicle advertising available
- Vehicle history reports available
- Integrated vehicle photography service
- In-app messaging and test drive scheduling
- Built in negotiation feature allows buyers to make an offer
- Intuitive mobile app and website
- Buyer and seller verification
- In-app vehicle inspection scheduling.
- Integrated car shipping
- Electronic signing of an official bill of sale protects both parties
- Integrated banking enables instantaneous payments of any amount, 24/7/365
- Instant payments provide escrow-like safeguards so you can forgo expensive and cumbersome third-party escrow companies
- In-app car financing from a third-party FDIC-insured lender at competitive rates
- In-app car insurance provider integration
PrivateAuto Cons
PrivateAuto doesn’t have a lot of downsides. We designed it that way after looking at the pain points associated with other platforms. If you find any flaws, let us know!
Which platform has better pricing?
PrivateAuto vs Cars.com: Pricing
Cars.com wins this round as it doesn’t charge any fees to buyers or sellers.
PrivateAuto fees are among the lowest in the online car-selling market. The seller pays a $150 listing fee with no additional costs thereafter. The buyer is responsible for paying only for the vehicle and has no transaction-related costs.
Which platform is more transactional?
PrivateAuto vs Cars.com: Transaction Features
Cars.com is a non-transactional platform. It connects buyers and sellers. We call it a “meetingplace” rather than a true marketplace.
PrivateAuto is a fully transactional marketplace, with technological solutions for every stage of the deal. Buyers and sellers can schedule test drives, do a step-by-step walkthrough of the entire transaction process, sign the bill of sale, and transfer funds–all through the PrivateAuto app. Because payments are instantaneous, a PrivateAuto deal can be done very quickly.
Which platform offers better payment options?
PrivateAuto vs Cars.com: Payments
PrivateAuto is the clear winner in the payments arena. PrivateAuto Pay allows buyers to send any amount instantly and fee-free. Funds appear instantly in the seller’s PrivateAuto Pay account, allowing both parties to function as their own escrow service and even conduct remote car transactions.
Cars.com offers no payment integration. The parties must negotiate payment outside of the platform—a cumbersome, risky, and time-consuming process.
There aren’t a lot of good ways to send large sums of money to a stranger, as Cars.com users quickly learn.
With the speed and security of PrivateAuto Pay, PrivateAuto is the only private vehicle transaction platform that allows a seller and buyer to conclude the entire deal in a few minutes when they meet for a test drive.
In addition to being instantaneous, PrivateAuto Pay offers the following benefits:
- Available on nights, weekends, and holidays
- Instantaneous
- Allows for split payments; a buyer can break a payment up between financing, cash, PrivateAuto Pay, and cryptocurrency
- Allows for full or partial buyer financing that is directly integrated into the PrivateAuto platform
- No transfer fees
- No limits on funds transferred: you can buy (or sell) that $1.5M supercar in a flash.
Which platform delivers the best user experience?
PrivateAuto vs Cars.com: User Experience
PrivateAuto and Cars.com both have websites and apps.
PrivateAuto Website
PrivateAuto has an intuitive website. It’s easy to shop used cars for sale and filter by make, model, geographical proximity, and other criteria. Sellers can quickly list a vehicle for sale and choose from standard listing or auction format, with a step-by-step guide helping them through the process.
PrivateAuto has no dealer listings, meaning that all cars for sale are by private owners. With an average of around 250,000 listings at any given time, PrivateAuto is by far the best website to shop cars for sale by owner.
Cars.com Website
The Cars.com website is easy to use, for the most part. The process of listing your vehicle is quite simple. For the potential buyer, Cars.com does not offer a way for buyers to filter and see only private-party listings.
In fact, the majority of Cars.com inventory consists of dealership vehicles. Of the hundreds of thousands of vehicles for sale, a mere 14,000 or so are private-party at any given time on average.
Considering all the advantages of a private-party transaction, Cars.com falls woefully short in serving buyers looking for used cars for sale by owner.
PrivateAuto App
PrivateAuto offers an app that’s available on both iOS and Android. You can list your car for sale, look through available vehicles, contact sellers, e-sign the bill of sale, and pay for your vehicle, all from your phone.
Cars.com App
Cars.com offers an app that’s available on both iOS and Android as well. It serves as a comprehensive mobile platform for car shoppers to research, discover, and connect with sellers throughout the car buying process as well as listing vehicles for sale.
The verdict
Choosing the Best Online Car Transaction Platform
The verdict on Cars.com vs PrivateAuto?
- PrivateAuto if you want fast, easy transactions with low costs and high convenience and security. Also PrivateAuto if you value private-party cars over dealerships.
- Cars.com if you want a free service that leaves you to deal with transactional logistics and gives you mostly dealership inventory.
Cars.com horror stories
Cars.com Horror Stories
Cars.com has its share of dissatisfied customers, with online complaints falling into the following five categories:
1. Misleading vehicle listings: some buyers have reported encountering vehicles listed on Cars.com that did not accurately represent the true condition of the car. Complaints include undisclosed accident history, hidden mechanical issues, and misrepresented features or upgrades. These misrepresentations have led to frustrating and costly purchases for unsuspecting buyers.
2. Difficulty finding private-party cars for sale, given that the majority of cars for sale on the platform are listed by dealerships.
3. Unresponsive dealers: a frequent complaint about the Cars.com platform is the lack of responsiveness from some dealerships. Buyers have reported difficulties reaching sales representatives, getting timely updates on vehicle availability, and resolving issues after a purchase. The disconnect between the online experience and the in-person dealer interaction has been a source of frustration for many customers.
4. Bait-and-switch tactics: there have been instances where buyers claim dealers have advertised a vehicle on Cars.com at an attractive price, only to pressure them into purchasing a different, more expensive model once they arrive at the dealership. This “bait-and-switch” approach has left some customers feeling misled and taken advantage of.
5. Financing and paperwork challenges: the process of securing financing and completing the necessary paperwork through Cars.com has been problematic for some buyers. Complaints include delays in processing, unexpected fees, and issues with contract accuracy that have complicated and prolonged the transaction.
6. Lack of recourse and customer support: when things go wrong, users have expressed dissatisfaction with the level of support and recourse available through the Cars.com platform. Navigating disputes with dealers or seeking resolution for issues has been described as a frustrating and drawn-out experience by some disgruntled customers.
Cars.com vs PrivateAuto FAQ
Is Cars.com worth it?
While Cars.com has long been one of the leading online platforms for buying and selling vehicles it offers no transactional support. If you want a platform that’s worth it, PrivateAuto is the way to go.
How much does PrivateAuto cost?
If you want to buy a vehicle through PrivateAuto, you can do so with no transaction fees. As a seller, you pay $150 for your listing. This price includes all premium features PrivateAuto offers.
How secure is the PrivateAuto Pay feature?
Your PrivateAuto Pay account is an FDIC-insured bank account that you own, hosted on the PrivateAuto app. You control your funds, and can easily move money between your PrivateAuto Pay account and an external bank account.
PrivateAuto Pay uses the highest levels of encryption and other safeguards so that your funds are as safe as they can possibly be.
How does PrivateAuto vet buyers and sellers?
In order to provide a safe experience for the buyer and the seller, PrivateAuto vets and verifies both using the latest facial recognition technology.
Verified buyers must provide an email address, driver’s license information, and phone number. This information is only used to verify the buyer’s identity and is hidden from other buyers and sellers.
Similarly, sellers must enter their vehicle’s VIN and create a PrivateAuto profile before they put up a listing. A vehicle’s VIN is critical to determine the ownership of the car and ensure that the title is clean.
How does the PrivateAuto loan process work?
The PrivateAuto loan and financing process is quite simple for both the buyer and the seller.
Buyers don’t have to pay the full asking price directly from their bank account. Instead, they can apply for financing through our convenient mobile app.
The buyer in need of financing is connected to a trusted partner bank to discuss their financing options. When the buyer is approved, the seller receives a direct transfer for the total amount, while the buyer makes payments according to the lender terms they have agreed upon when receiving a vehicle loan.
What are the most popular alternatives to Cars.com?
If you’re thinking about selling or buying a car online, alternatives to Cars.com include:
– Social media. Facebook Marketplace allows you to list your car for sale. There are also plenty of Facebook Groups designed to help people sell, buy, and trade vehicles.
– Classified ads websites. Craigslist is nationwide, but most cities have local classified ad websites for car transactions. For example, Salt Lake City, Utah, has KSL Cars.
– Other car listing websites such as CarGurus, and Autotrader allow you to list your vehicle for sale to reach targeted buyers actively searching for cars. These sites offer various listing options.
– PrivateAuto is a secure peer-to-peer marketplace designed specifically for private-party used car transactions. We give you technology solutions for every stage of the deal—from listing to paperwork to payments—for a streamlined experience. If you want to auction your vehicle, PrivateAuto’s auction feature gives you all the benefits of a self-serve auction, backed by the power of PrivateAuto Pay and our transactional infrastructure.
Whether you opt to use PrivateAuto or another site, you can always take advantage of our transactional features by using DealNow.