Those of us over the age of around 40 will remember the old-school way of car shopping. You grabbed the local paper or a classifieds magazine, thumbed through pages of listings, circled a few contenders with a pen, then phoned sellers one by one. Some people loved the ritual; plenty of others found it a real slog.
The internet quickly took over, trading weekly, ink-smudged classifieds for listings you could browse instantly on a screen, and today’s best used car websites do a lot more than simply show off what’s for sale. The latest digital tools give buyers a clear picture of what they’re getting into right from the start—deals, comparisons, price guides, and no shortage of resources help the average car buyer go from scratching their head to feeling genuinely confident about their next purchase, and nobody’s fingers need to get inky along the way. 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
Yes, we think CarGurus is the best of the bunch, but we wouldn’t say that if we didn’t genuinely believe it. Transparency is a huge concern for used car buyers, and covers everything from whether a car is priced fairly to how a dealer actually treats its customers. CarGurus was built to tackle exactly those issues by giving buyers the clearest possible picture of the car they’re looking at and who’s selling it right off the bat.
The company launched in the U.S. in 2006 and was founded by Langley Steinert, who also happened to be a co-founder of the online travel platform TripAdvisor. He applied a similar philosophy to used cars—the idea that buyers deserve a clear read on what does and doesn’t count as a good deal, and on the reputation of whoever they’re buying from, before they commit to anything.
CarGurus arrived in Canada in 2015, bringing the same approach north of the border along with extra tools and research features built on hard data. Our price trends pages draw on millions of used car values to provide an overview of what’s happening in the market right now, and that data isn’t limited to a general picture. Buyers can track price changes by make, model and body style, while our how much is my car worth? tool generates an accurate market value for any car using the same data.
The research section is packed with expert reviews and buying advice and tips on how to sell your car, and CarGurus recently rolled out Guru, an AI-powered shopping assistant built specifically on Canadian market data. It’s aimed at buyers who are just starting out and aren’t sure what to buy or where to begin; give it a few details about what you’re after, and it’ll help narrow down your search.
Finally, CarGurus has a huge inventory of vehicles for sale across Canada—there were more than 300,000 listed at the time of writing.
What Makes a Used Car Website the Best?
- Quality and Quantity: The best of both worlds. A broad selection of quality used cars for sale is exactly what buyers want.
- Transparency: Knowing a car is priced fairly and that its condition matches the description in the ad make all the difference.
- Comparison Tools and Price Data: Examining similar models side-by-side and checking them against the latest market prices can help to land a good deal.
- Verified Ads: This comes back to transparency. Knowing a seller is the genuine article goes a long way.
- Research Features: Expert reviews, buying guides and advice all add to a used car buyer’s toolkit.
Best Used Car Website Breakdown
| Website | Key Strengths | Key Limitations |
|---|---|---|
| CarGurus | Data-driven transparency with robust deal ratings and the most inventory | Not a direct-to-consumer retailer like Clutch |
| AutoTrader | Best-known name in the business with a huge inventory | Pricing data requires a VIN entry |
| Kijiji | Strong marketplace for peer-to-peer sales | Some listings lack detail |
| Clutch | Highly convenient, fixed-price, all-online sales | No test drives and no chance to negotiate |
| Carpages.ca | No-fuss listings with verified sellers | Limited depth compared to competitors |
CarGurus
At a glance: Transparency is at its core. Shoppers get a huge selection of quality used cars, plus the tools and clarity to know exactly what’s what.
Pros:
- The first to establish the deal rating algorithm
- Lots of tools to make the buying process transparent
- Extensive, easily accessible pricing data
- Guru, the AI tool, helps buyers pick the right car
Cons:
- Dealer listings only, so no private-seller ads
CarGurus was built with transparency in mind. It established the deal rating system—since adopted by other used car websites—so shoppers can tell whether a car is priced fairly. That’s calculated from a huge amount of current market data, which users can access via the price trends pages, and even get an accurate valuation for their own car.
The research section is chock full of expert reviews and buying guides, while Guru, its AI tool, helps buyers narrow down their options if they’re unsure about what to buy. Listings are limited to those from franchised and independent used car dealers, so there’s no option to deal directly with private sellers, but there’s a massive inventory to browse, the option to connect with multiple local dealers for a instant trade-in value, and pre-approval for financing.
Yes, we’re biased, but we honestly think it’s the best used car website for shoppers who want to know what they’re getting upfront.
AutoTrader.ca
At a glance: Huge inventory and arguably the best-known name in used car listings.
Pros:
- Massive selection of used cars
- Longstanding, trusted international name
- Links to Carfax vehicle history reports
Cons:
- Lacks a customer-facing AI tool
- Pricing data requires a VIN entry
AutoTrader is the best-known name in Canadian car advertising. It first launched as a print publication in 1975, became the country’s first major online car classified website in 1996, and incorporates AutoHebdo, the Quebec-based brand for buying and selling cars in French.
Its inventory is huge — there were more than 400,000 vehicles listed on the site at the time of writing—and it doesn’t just do cars, as Canadians can find anything from trailers, RVs, boats, snowmobiles, and farm equipment advertised on the site.
Like CarGurus, it offers a trade-in service with instant offers from local dealerships, and has a strong editorial section, with reviews, podcasts, and more. It makes use of AI tech but that’s aimed more at dealers than shoppers, while its pricing data requires a VIN lookup, and isn’t instantly accessible as it is on CarGurus.
Kijiji
At a glance: Peer-to-peer advertising site with a strong automotive section.
Pros:
- Detailed listings
- Covers far more than just cars
- Traditional features such as trade-ins and financing available
- Broad reach
Cons:
- Some listings lack detail
- Not every ad has a deal rating
Kijiji has been around since 2005 and is a peer-to-peer marketplace for all kinds of products, and while it isn’t a dedicated automotive site, there is a large and well-established car buying and selling section. Like AutoTrader, it is far from limited to conventional cars, as shoppers can browse classics, pickup trucks, motorcycles, farm machinery, ATVs, snowmobiles and more—and that’s before you get to the non-automotive categories.
Some of the listings are sophisticated enough to be up there with specialist auto sites, as they include a payment calculator, financing, trade-in estimates, Carfax reports, dealer reviews, and a mileage analysis.
Some listings have deal ratings like CarGurus, but not all of them, and the level of detail on individual listings is variable. If peer-to-peer sites are your thing, then well-known alternatives such as Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are also worth a look.
Clutch
At a glance: Online-only, fixed-priced sales with the option of cars delivered to buyers’ homes.
Pros:
- Immensely convenient
- Advertised price is exactly what buyers pay
- 10-day guarantee and optional protection plan
- Financing available
Cons:
- Non-negotiable price
- No test drives before the sale
Clutch was founded in 2016 and is a fully online used car retailer. It operates a no-haggle sales model, so the price you see is the price you pay, and vehicles can either be delivered to buyers’ homes for a fee, or they can collect them from one of its retail facilities.
Owners can sell their cars to Clutch, which is where the company says it sources 95% of its inventory, and it claims every vehicle undergoes a 210-point inspection before it’s sold. It offers financing, each car comes with a 10-day money-back guarantee, and there’s an available three-month protection plan.
It’s just the ticket for Canadians who are comfortable with and like the convenience of buying a used car completely online, less so for those who want to negotiate, touch, and feel the car before they decide to buy it, or see how its price stacks up against its contemporaries.
Carpages.ca
At a glance: Straightforward used car listing site with verified sellers.
Pros:
- Sellers are government-registered dealers or ID-verified private parties
- Reasonable inventory
- 20-year-plus history
Cons:
- Lacks data-based tools
- Relatively basic in comparison with heavyweight sites
An honest-to-goodness used car listing site, Carpages.ca has been around since 2004. It lacks the sophistication of the data-based systems found on CarGurus, but shares the same values of trust, because sellers advertising cars on the site are either government-registered dealers or individuals whose identify has been verified. Buyers can send direct messages to advertisers to enquire about a car, and there were more than 73,000 vehicles listed on the site at the time of writing.
FAQs
Where’s the most reliable place to buy a used car? Used car websites that put an emphasis on transparency, and those that specialize in dealer standards and aftersales coverage, are good places to start. Guaranteeing the reliability of an individual model is tricky, but sites that include customer feedback on dealers, and those offering things like warranties, vehicle checks, and roadside assistance are on the right track.
How do I know if a used car is priced fairly? Real-time data does most of the heavy lifting here. Feed a vehicle’s information into our car valuation tool and it’ll draw on current market pricing to tell you what it’s actually worth, while the pricing trends section allows shoppers to dig deeper, breaking down values by make, model, age and body style so you can see whether coupes, convertibles, and minivans are on the up or if SUVs continue to dominate all. There’s also deal rating with every listing, giving buyers an instant sense of how a given price compares to everything else out there.
Prefer to do it the old-fashioned way? That still works, even if it’s less precise. Search for cars that are as close as possible to the one you want—the same make, model, age, mileage, engine, and transmission—and look at how much they cost. If your car’s priced within the same ballpark, you’re probably looking at a fair deal.
How can I tell if a seller is trustworthy? This is where CarGurus earns its keep, if you’ll forgive the plug. Every listing comes with genuine customer feedback on the dealer behind it—real buyers describing real experiences—so you know exactly who you’re dealing with from the word go.
What’s the cheapest, most reliable used car to buy? Japanese manufacturers are usually hard to beat when it comes to reliability, and the Toyota Yaris and Honda Civic are two dependable, budget-friendly options worth putting on your list. Hatchbacks such as the Honda Fit, the Toyota Corolla, and the Mazda3 are worth a look, while sedans such as the Toyota Camry and the Hyundai Elantra (that one’s Korean, but Hyundai and its sister company, Kia, are also known for value and durability) are have reputations as reliable, low-cost used cars. If it’s an SUV you’re after, then consider models such as the Honda CR-V, the Toyota RAV4, or the Mazda CX-5.
What’s the most trustworthy used car website? We know how this sounds coming from us, but we wouldn’t make the claim if we didn't stand behind it. CarGurus is, in our honest opinion, the most trustworthy used car website around, because it was built for exactly that purpose. Deal ratings, extensive pricing data, and dealer feedback are all central to how the site works, and every bit of it is open to anyone who logs on. Why not see for yourself?
