Those of us over a certain age will remember what car shopping used to be like. You bought the local paper or a classified ads magazine, pored over the listings, circled some potentials in biro then phoned the sellers. It was pure Marmite; buyers either relished the process or found it truly painstaking.
The internet quickly dominated used car advertising, replacing weekly, smudgy classifieds with instantaneous ads on a screen, and the best of today’s used car websites do far more than just display listings. Modern digital tools give buyers a clear idea of what they’re in for from the off; deals, comparisons, price guides and abundant resources all help Joe Bloggs consumer graduate from ‘I’m sorry, I haven’t a clue,’ to a solid feel for their next purchase – and none of them require inky fingers or a biro. Here’s our pick of the best.
- Our Recommended Best Used Car Website
- What Makes a Used Car Website the Best?
- Best Used Car Website Breakdown
- FAQs
Our Recommended Best Used Car Website
Of course we’re going to recommend CarGurus, but we wouldn’t do that if we didn’t genuinely believe it were the pick of the bunch. Transparency is one the biggest worries for used car buyers, and spans everything from whether a car is advertised for a reasonable price to a dealer’s customer service. CarGurus was conceived to address those sorts of concerns by creating the clearest picture of a potential purchase from the very beginning.
The site was launched in its US home market in 2006 by Langley Steinert. He was a co-founder of the online travel platform TripAdvisor and applied a similar methodology to used car buying – the idea that consumers could have a better understanding of what is and isn’t a good deal and the reputation of who they’re buying from before they proceed.
The site launched in the UK in 2015 and pioneered the same format, adding supplementary tools and research facilities that major on the scientific. Our price trends pages soak up data from millions of used car prices for a snapshot of what’s happening in the market at any given moment. The data isn’t limited to a broad overview, either; buyers can view price changes by make, model and body style, while our what’s my car worth? tool generates an accurate market value for any car based on the same data.
The research section is chock full of expert reviews and buying and selling advice and we recently launched our AI-powered Discover tool. That’s designed to help people at the beginning of the car shopping process who are stumped about what to buy and where to start. You can give it a few pointers about the kinds of things want from your next car, and it’ll help you to refine your search. There’s a full explanation of exactly what that involves here.
Finally, CarGurus has a whopper of an inventory – there were around 180,000 cars on the UK site at the time of writing – so buyers are far from short of choice.
What Makes a Used Car Website the Best?
- Quality and Quantity: This really is the best of both. A large selection of quality used cars is what buyers want
- Transparency: Feeling confident that car is advertised for a fair price and its condition reflects its description in the advert count for a huge amount
- Comparison Tools and Price Data: Comparing similar cars side-by-side and cross-referencing them with current market prices are top metrics for ensuring a good deal
- Verified Adverts: This comes back to transparency. Knowing that a seller is the genuine article goes an incredibly long way
- Research Features: Expert reviews, buying guides and advice all add to a used car buyer’s armoury
Best Used Car Website Breakdown
| Website | Key Strengths | Key Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| CarGurus | A big focus on transparency with heaps of data-driven tools | Dealer cars only, so no private seller listings |
| Autotrader | The biggest name in used car advertising with a huge inventory | The sheer number of cars can be bamboozling |
| Cazoo | A heavy-hitting site that amalgamates well-known names | Lacks the tools and data of fellow big players |
| Pistonheads | The best and biggest selection of used sports and performance cars | Not for those in the market for conventional models |
| RAC Cars | Trusted brand and effectively a used approved car scheme for independent dealers | Fewer data-based tools than rivals |
| Cinch | Direct online sales with an emphasis on simplicity | Smallest used inventory of any site we analysed |
| Carwow | Great resource for car reviews, videos and advice | Bigger focus on new cars than used |
CarGurus
At a glance: Transparency is the name of the game. Buyers have a huge choice of quality used cars plus the tools and the clarity to know exactly what they’re getting
Pros:
- The pioneer of the deal rating algorithm
- Loads of transparency-themed tools
- In-depth used car pricing data
- New AI tool helps buyers pick the right car
Cons:
- Dealer cars only, so no private seller listings
CarGurus was conceived to make the used car buying process more open. It established the deal rating system – subsequently adopted by other used car websites – so buyers can tell whether a car is advertised for a good price. That’s calculated based on heaps of current market data, which users can access via the price trends pages and even see how much their car is worth. The research section is packed with expert reviews and buying guides, while a pioneering AI tool called Discover helps buyers work out exactly what sort of car they’re after. Adverts are limited to those from franchised and independent used car dealers, so there’s no opportunity to interact directly with private sellers, but there was a whopping 180,000-strong inventory at the time of writing. Yes, we’re biased, but we genuinely reckon it’s the best used car website for clear, confident buying.
Autotrader
At a glance: The UK’s biggest and most established used car website
Pros:
- Best-known name in the business
- UK’s biggest used car inventory
- Advertises new and used cars
- Offers car leasing
Cons:
- Breadth of stock can be overwhelming
For anyone old enough to remember the pre-internet age, Autotrader was the place to go looking for a second-hand vehicle. It was the name that made the old, classified magazine format we mentioned at the top of this article and launched into online sales with equal aplomb. Save for some niche specialist cars (see Pistonheads, below, for those) if you can’t find it on Autotrader, it probably isn’t there, because the site’s used – and new – car inventory is the biggest in the country. There is no shortage of additional features, either, such as car reviews, buying advice and even a car leasing service.
Cazoo
At a glance: A major player in used car websites, incorporating what was eBay Motors and Gumtree
Pros:
- Well-known name
- Pioneer in advertising cars by monthly payments
- Consolidates big players in the used car website business
- Sizable inventory
Cons:
- Lacks the tools and data of bigger sites
You’ll probably know the name, but Cazoo’s back story takes some explaining. It launched in the UK in its original form in December 2019 and was very heavily marketed, promising used cars delivered to buyers’ doors. That version of Cazoo closed in March 2024, but the name was so well known that one of its competitors, Motors, bought it. Motors itself is an amalgamation of two other big players – eBay Motors and Gumtree – so it wasn’t short of presence. Cazoo and Motors have combined into one used car website, and will soon be known only as Cazoo. Got all that? As far as buyers are concerned, it’s another big used car website so there’s plenty of stock, while Motors broke ground in 2015 with a then-new function to allow buyers to search for used cars via monthly cost, as well as the traditional sticker price. These days, it lacks breadth of shopping tools found on the likes of CarGurus, but the names alone keep it up there with the best.
Pistonheads
At a glance: The start point for the enthusiast community
Pros:
- The biggest name in specialist and performance cars
- Huge enthusiast community on the forum
- Organises enthusiast events
- Entertaining content
Cons:
- Lacks the scope of bigger used car websites, but that’s not the point
If a car is just a means of getting around to you, then look away now. Pistonheads is to enthusiasts what Autotrader is to conventional vehicles – a highly-established used car website with bags of pedigree. It was founded in 1998, has an immensely popular forum of more than 1.3 million members and is the go-to online advertiser for performance cars of all types (we should also mention that it’s owned by CarGurus). Expect the same number of cars for sale as you’d find on bigger websites and you’re missing the point; do expect content geared for enthusiasts, advice on buying and owning fast cars, a podcast and organised events for quick car owners and fans.
RAC Cars
At a glance: Like a manufacturer approved used car scheme, but for every car advertised on the site
Pros:
- Strong emphasis on customer service and dealer standards
- Vehicle check, warranty and breakdown cover for every car
- Dealers must operate to RAC’s Used Vehicle Code of Practice
Cons:
- Rival sites offer more tools and data
RAC Cars trades on the brand’s trusty name by offering a sort of approved used car scheme, which would typically be provided by manufacturers at franchised dealerships. Dealers advertising cars on the site – which is run by Heycar – include an 82-point vehicle check, a minimum three-month warranty backed by the RAC and a year’s breakdown cover. The organisation says it audits approved dealers “at least six times a year” to ensure they meet its standards, and they also sign up to the RAC’s Used Vehicle Code of Practice, which is approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute and designed to boost customer service. There were about 72,000 cars advertised on the site when we looked, so while it isn’t the biggest inventory on the scene, it’s still decent. The site also includes a valuation service and a series of offers.
Cinch
At a glance: Fully online used car sales
Pros:
- Direct online sales are extremely convenient
- Cars are sold with MOT, warranty and breakdown cover
- Home delivery or click and collect available
Cons:
- Smallest inventory of all the websites we analysed
- Many prefer to see cars in the metal before they buy
The clue is in the name. Cinch’s angle is to make the process of buying a used car really easy, to the point where you can do the whole thing online. There are home delivery and a click and collect options, so it’s a lot like doing your grocery shopping on a supermarket website. Cinch says every used car it sells online comes with a minimum of a six-month MOT, a 90-day warranty and RAC breakdown cover, and it offers part-exchange and finance options. It’s owned by Constellation Automotive Group – an absolute giant that also owns WeBuyAnyCar, the dealer Marshall Motor Group and the auction firm BCA, so it can source cars from within its own ranks and even sells new models. Despite that breadth, it has the smallest inventory of any website we examined and was advertising around 9,100 used cars at the time of writing. It also loses its edge for those who want to see and try a used car before they buy.
Carwow
At a glance: A relatively minor player in used car adverts, but very big on content
Pros:
- Heaps of content
- Has increased its focus on used cars
- Strong research resource
Cons:
- Geared more towards new car buyers than used
Launched in 2013, Carwow is aimed more at the new car market, but it has increased its focus on used cars and had an inventory in the mid-50,000s at the time of writing. Its strong point is its content, as it’s huge on reviews, videos and advice, so it’s a solid research tool for those on the hunt for a new or a used car.
FAQs
Where is the most reliable place to buy a second-hand car?
Used car websites with an emphasis on transparency and those that specialise in dealer standards and aftersales cover are generally good places to start. Vouching for the reliability of an individual model is tricky, but sites that include customer feedback about dealers and those offering the likes of warranties, vehicle checks and breakdown cover are certainly leaning in that direction.
How do I know if a used car is a reasonable price?
This is much more scientific than it used to be. Our car valuation tool tells buyers what a car is worth using real-time market pricing data. You can also have a look at our used car pricing trends section, which breaks down current market prices by make, model, age and body style. Each of our adverts includes a deal rating, too, so buyers can see how a car’s price stacks up against the competition.
The old-fashioned way – which is still valid, just not as precise – is to look at similar cars. Get as close as you can to the car you’re interested in via the website’s filters – make, model, age, mileage etc – and search accordingly. If the car you’re looking at is priced similarly to equivalent models, then it should be about right.
How can I tell if a seller is trustworthy?
Forgive the plug, but that is yet another area in which CarGurus specialises. Our adverts include customer feedback about dealers – real people describing real experiences – so you can see what you’re getting from the off.
What’s the cheapest, most reliable used car to buy?
We’d point you towards our Best Cheap Cars Under £1,000 article for this one, and two models in particular. Japanese manufacturers have a reputation for sterling reliability, and a pair of the cars in the article – the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Civic – are solid bets for cut-price, dependable transport. We also have a piece on the Best Cars for Students, which includes cheap, reliable hatchbacks such as the Hyundai i10, the Honda Jazz, the Toyota Aygo and the Kia Picanto.
What’s the most trustworthy used car site?
Again, you’d expect us to say it, but we wouldn’t if we didn’t believe it. We honestly think CarGurus is the most trustworthy used car website, because that is precisely what it was designed to be. Deal ratings, heaps of pricing data and dealer feedback are among the site’s hallmarks, and they’re all accessible to anyone who logs on. Have a look, and find out for yourself.
