Craigslist Cars for Sale – Free Buying Guide
The craigslist cars for sale section is home to thousands of new and used cars available for purchase in your area. They are listed by both dealerships and individual owners looking to make a quick sale, which means that you need to do your research and know what you are looking for to avoid being scammed and to make sure that you get a great deal. For the most part, Craigslist and the community do a pretty good job of getting rid of the irrelevant and fraudulent postings, however, they can’t find them all.
Since we want you to have the best shopping experience and find a car that is truly a good deal, we have some information to help you along. Keep in mind, there are a lot of cars posted in the craigslist cars for sale section each day so do your research ahead of time and know what you are looking for to make sure you have an edge over the other shoppers and to make sure that you have a safe and happy shopping experience. Read the information below and check the bottom of this page to download your free guide on Craigslist Car Buying Tips!
Finding Craigslist Cars for Sale in Your Area
Craigslist is a global classifieds marketplace and you can find listings in just about every major city across the United States. So, finding craigslist cars for sale in your area is actually quite easy. With that in mind, we wanted to provide you with some tips for finding cheap cars for sale on Craigslist and using the search and browse features of the Craigslist community.
In most cases, upon opening the Craigslist website you will automatically be forwarded to your city, or to the city nearest you. They do this based on the location of your computer’s IP address and is not always accurate. So, if you find that you are not in the city directory you prefer, you can do the following:
- Select a city name under “nearby city” on the right hand side of the page.
- Or, select the “US Cities” link on the right hand side of the page and navigate to the city of your choosing from there.
Once you are in the correct city directory of their website, you can find craigslist cars for sale by:
- Clicking “cars + trucks” under the For Sale heading on the main page.
- Then select “All cars and trucks” from the left side of the page.
- Next, enter the type of car you are looking for if you have a preference, as well as the maximum amount you are willing to spend and click the search button. This will narrow the search results to vehicles within your price range.
Before You Purchase a Car on Craigslist
Regardless of whether you are purchasing a car on Craigslist, from a dealership or even from your next door neighbor, you need to be careful and know what you are buying. Since there are several different things to consider before purchasing a vehicle on Craigslist, let’s take a look at each one:
Know what kind of car you are looking for – There are a lot of different makes and models of vehicles, but do you know which ones you are interested in? Knowing what type of car you want is important for several reasons. Those being:
- You will have a better understanding of what the car is worth, which gives you bargaining power.
- You will be more familiar with how the car should handle and what features should be included.
- You will be able to narrow down your search and make sure that you are happy with the car that you purchase. Saving you both time and money.
Contact the seller – Before you get to excited about buying a new car, you need to contact the seller. Many sellers neglect to take down their Craigslist posting after the car has been sold, you also want to make sure that you can even reach the seller with the contact information that they have provided in their listing. Most of the time, in the craigslist cars for sale section, sellers will provide their phone number for you to get in touch with them. However, not all sellers like to give out their personal details on a public classified posting, so you may need to contact them through Craigslist.
This can be done easily enough by clicking on the “Reply to” link at the top of each item description page.
Inspect and test drive the car – Once you have made contact with the seller you will need to schedule a time to take a look at the car and test drive it. Make sure that you let the seller know that you will want to take it for a drive so that they can be prepared for that. Inspecting the car is pretty straight forward. Here are some tips to get you started:
- Check the exterior of the vehicle for any damage, broken lights, scratches, flat or worn out tires and cracks in the bumpers.
- Inspect the engine for any leaks and loose or missing parts.
- Check the interior to make sure all of the accessories work. Make sure that there are not any holes or tears in the upholstery, make sure the seat belts work, check the AC and heating systems to make sure those work and so forth.
- Finally, take the car to your mechanic to have any potential underlying problems diagnosed.
Get Our Free Craigslist Car Buying Guide
Craigslist Car Buying Tips
Buying a car on Craigslist can be risky, but we have you covered! Take a moment to download and read our free guide titled “Craigslist Car Buying Tips”! It offers tips on dealing with sellers, inspecting your new car and making sure that you get the best price possible. Nobody else offers a free guide like this to help you find craigslist cars for sale and it is just one more way we are showing our appreciation to our readers. Use the link below to begin downloading.
Download your free guide today!
