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CarGurus or Auto Trader?

Where’s the best place to sell your car online? Here, we compare online marketplaces CarGurus and Auto Trader.

* All data below is accurate as of 28/09/21

Who is CarGurus?

CarGurus is a US-based business that was founded in 2006 by Langley Steinert, co-founder of TripAdvisor, as an automotive blog for consumers to review cars or ask questions. It now runs as an advertising platform for used and approved used cars. CarGurus started expanding internationally in 2014 and launched in the UK in December 2016.
Image of Vauxhall_Corsa

How is CarGurus different to Auto Trader?

CarGurus offers more than 80 car brands including Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Vauxhall and Volkswagen. Auto Trader have over 100 car brands for you to choose from.

Auto Trader

Auto Trader lets you buy or sell used, approved-used and brand-new cars, along with bikes, motorhomes, caravans, trucks, plant and farm machinery. Auto Trader lets you browse deals nationwide.

CarGurus

CarGurus provides a variety of used and approved-used to choose from. If you’re looking to sell your car, CarGurus sends you to their partner site at Pistonheads. CarGurus show deals within a 150-mile radius.

Finding the best deal

CarGurus ranks their search results by “best deal” sorted by an algorithm, which is based on CarGurus’ own instant market value alongside dealership ratings submitted by site users.

On Auto Trader, you can choose which criteria matter to you most by selecting from a range of filters available.

Filter your search according to your needs

You can filter and refine your search on Auto Trader by choosing the criteria that best suit your needs. Search by total price or monthly price or over a dozen further categories available, including gearbox, fuel type and car colour. You can also filter the distance of the dealerships or the method of car deliveries.

Find the best priced deals

Auto Trader ads also feature a price indicator, so you can still see when you’re getting a good deal. Our price indicator uses several data points to show you how the asking price compares to similar cars for sale on Auto Trader, and help you find the right car at the right price. We keep dealer profile reviews separate (you can see those on the dealer’s profile page) so you’re getting an accurate view of the car’s value, not tempered by who’s selling it.

Choice of stock

CarGurus UK lists used and approved used cars, vans and trucks on their site.

In addition to used and approved used cars, Auto Trader also stock new cars, bikes, motorhomes and caravans, trucks, and plant and farm machinery. We also offer car leasing, PCP and HP deals.

Auto Trader

Vehicles type
Finance available
Trade sellers
Private sellers

CarGurus

Vehicles type
Finance available
Trade sellers
Private sellers

Valuing your car

CarGurus offers a car valuation tool that is based on their instant market value, which compares data points including make, model, trim and year to estimate a fair retail price.

Auto Trader offer a free online car valuation to help buyers understand how much their car is worth.

Auto Trader’s free car valuations are 100% data-driven, powered by thousands of data points including over 3,500 dealer websites, adverts listed on our site, and values from major auctions, ex-fleet and lease cars. We use data from different sources to ensure we’re providing an accurate reflection of the market and getting the fairest price point for those buying or selling a car. CarGurus’ instant market value is based on other used cars listed on its site.

Checking vehicle history

CarGurus offers AutoCheck from Experian on car listings to check a vehicle’s history, with prices starting at £14.95.

Every car listed on Auto Trader has a basic vehicle check before it goes live to make sure it hasn’t been recorded as stolen, scrapped, imported, exported, or written off.

On Auto Trader, all cars go through a five-point vehicle check before they’re listed on our site. We encourage retailers and private sellers listing their cars to conduct and display a full history check. This gives information on outstanding finance, recorded mileage and more. Before you buy a vehicle, you also have the option to sign up for a full vehicle check, which comes with a data guarantee of up to £30,000 for complete peace of mind.

Saving and comparing adverts

You can save searches on both CarGurus and Auto Trader.

On Auto Trader, you can save and compare up to four cars without an account. If you have an Auto Trader account, you can save and compare as many as you like!

Compare key features

Once you’ve saved the vehicles you like on Auto Trader, you can revisit your saved preferences and easily compare their key features, including gearbox, fuel type, mileage and engine size. It also shows how different vehicles are priced. We also include additional information on the dealer’s rating and distance from your location so you can make a more informed decision on where you buy from.

Get notified when a specific car is listed

If you’re after something specific and it isn’t listed on Auto Trader, you can save your search and we’ll send you a notification when a car that matches your search criteria is added. In two simple steps you can save your search – just choose the make and model you’re after and select ‘save search’. We’ll notify you as soon as a car of your liking is listed so that you never miss a good deal.

How do we compare?

How do we stack up against other automotive websites?

* Please note this is a non-exhaustive list.

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