Cars.com - New & Used Cars Reviews

Cars.com - New & Used Cars Reviews

Published by on 2023-11-27

About: Shopping for a new or used car or truck? Ready to meet your match? Download the
free Cars.com app to find the perfect car for you today.


About Cars com


What is Cars com? The Cars.com app is a free app that helps users find the perfect car for them. It provides access to millions of car listings, over 10 million reviews, and tools to calculate payments on cars. The app has focused search filters to help users zero in on the best new and used cars and trucks for sale near them.



         

Features


- Millions of car listings: The app has access to millions of car listings, with 50,000 cars added daily. Users can scroll through detailed photos and get to know all of a vehicle’s features before visiting the dealership.

- Millions of consumer reviews: Users can see review rating breakdowns from drivers to help them make the right choice.

- Shopping filters: The app has an extensive list of filters to make car shopping easier. Users can narrow their search by price, mileage, year, exterior and interior color, fuel type, body style, and more. They can also narrow down cars from dealerships offering contactless services like home delivery and virtual tours.

- Dealer reviews and directions: Users can easily find a five-star dealer in their area. The app has more dealership reviews than any other source, with over 10 million reviews. Users can see review ratings from real shoppers, find hours of operation, and get directions to the dealership.

- Hot car badges: The app has a "Hot Car" badge to help users narrow down which vehicles they should act fast on.

- Deal badging: The app has deal badges to show how well a vehicle is priced within the market. The badges consider many factors impacting a vehicle's value, such as condition, ownership history, and features, along with other market factors.

- Check availability and price quotes: Users can call, text, or email dealers right from the app to request a price quote or schedule a test drive.

- Save favorites: Users can save their favorite cars and searches. They can also set up price drop notifications to be alerted any time one of their favorite cars drops in price.

- Payment calculators: The app has a car loan payment calculator to estimate monthly loan payments and an affordability calculator to find the user's max budget price.



Overall User Satisfaction Rating


Negative experience
78.1%

Positive experience
21.9%

Neutral
16.8%

~ from Justuseapp.com NLP analysis of 518,841 combined software reviews.

Key Benefits of Cars com

Pros

- When it works, it's great

- Volume of information provided

- Easy to use

- Brings pertinent information to the fore front

- Max Digital gives you all the vehicles’ market values

- Easy to add vehicles and photos to inventory

- Representative Maryann Iglesias is one of the best




20 Cars com Reviews

4.8 out of 5

By


TMI

When it works, it's great! Too bad it only works about 10% of the time. Crashes more often and works more slowly than any other app I have ever tried. Maybe the volume of information they provide is just too much for my little phone to handle.
UPDATE: Not sure whether it was an upgrade to the software, or the fact that I got a new phone, but for the past several months (other than having Carscom freeze when you first open it, presumably while it is connecting to the remote servers) there has been no instability or any other issues. So, to quote myself, "When it works, it's great!"
UPDATE 2: Really wish they would re-develop Carscom for iPad. Nice that the old version still functions. It’s just kind of odd to view because the iPad version looks as though you have set your phone on top of your iPad screen.


By


Making car buying even more of a headache

If they would simply put the necessary fixes into Carscom , this would be invaluable. But pictures never load, and the sorting of info is terrible. It must be the method the sellers input info that doesn’t get detected when you filter. If you choose you want a sunroof, well it will narrow down 500 vehicles to 10. But if you don’t filter that way, there are waaaay more vehicles that actually have a sunroof than it showed through the filter. So you’re forced to manually search through hundreds of vehicles, and pray to God a picture will load showing whether it has the features you’re looking for or not. There is also a tooooon of shady business practices done by dealers here. They consistently mis label vehicles, say they have features they don’t, and out ridiculously low prices ($1000 on a brand new vehicle) just to get them to show up in every search. It’s clear this company is just collecting money from the sellers, and pocketing it. Carscom has been this way for years, it’s nothing new. Autotrader has its own issues, but it does at least work the way you’d expect it to.


By


App is ok, please update

Picture loading time takes too long. This could possibly be due to too many posters have too large of file size they’re uploading & it’s doesn’t compress properly.

I feel that allowing a user to select multiple models from a manufacturer (or from several manufacturers). For instance, let’s say I’d like to only see Toyota: 4Runners & Landcruisers as well as Jeep: Wranglers all in one feed. That’d be nice.

Perhaps another feature would be to allow to shop for engines without models. Meaning, maybe I wanna see any auto which features a GM LS3 motor. Or anything with a Cummings?

Furthermore, you’ve a lot of post which are incomplete. There should be a fail safe that a seller cannot post a listing if the form isn’t complete. Too many, “unspecified” vehicles in here. This could also allow for potential user to discover/search for a feature which they may be unaware of as an available option on other autos. For instance, a rear (back) window which rolls up and down. Some Tacoma’s, 4Runners & Tundras have this feature but another manufacturer has a model with this feature too (I’ve forgotten who & which model. See, this is a useful feature to have).

I’ve more ideas, but you get it. I’m not putting it in blast. It’s a decent app. It’s my ‘go to’ when researching rides. It’s not been updated in...forever. Perhaps some of these things are in the next version.


By


The ups and downs of ever changing software!

I use Carscom daily for the past 6 years. I’ve seen it improve to the point of being a useful tool and then it goes the wrong way. I’m wondering if they are using a different software company? Anyway the most effective tool for me is the filter/features after defining the make and model. Currently the most popular vehicles in the US are pickups, SUV’s and crossovers. The software does a pretty good job on SUV’s and crossovers. However, on pickups the features options available are missing some very important options. First, on half ton pickups we need an option of long or short bed. For example, the f-150 crew cab can be configured in 5.5 bed or a 6.5 bed. If I want to find a 6.5 bed, I’m SOL and will have to look at every single truck to find the few 6.5’ beds out there. It would also be nice to specify max trailer tow options or max payload options. These are important options and should be part of the options list.


By


No help from the company

I have tried reporting problems the the developers, and I’ve read the reviews here. I feel like the developers are ignoring the people who use Carscom . My biggest problem is that I can’t save cars on Carscom any more. Carscom tells me the limit is 100 cars, the problem is when I go to my saved cars there are only 20 in there. Not 100. So I have reported this and I feel ignored, they don’t write back and say we’ll look into this, they don’t tell me it’s a problem they know about and are looking into, and it’s not getting fixed. I just want to save and look at cars. I use Carscom all the time and don’t understand how Carscom was so amazing and it lost everything in one update. When the update first came out I couldn’t even search cars cause suddenly there were none for sale according to Carscom . Carscom also doesn’t load pictures. I feel that these are basic things that worked fine before. I’m sad Carscom is no longer worth the space it takes up on my phone.


By


Bug report

Devs, when you select multiple features, it treats it as an OR operator instead of AND. That means that searching for cars with heated seats and a moonroof actually returns more results than if I just search for cars with a moonroof, since searching for both will return any car that has heated seats OR a moonroof. It doesn't work this way when using the website so I assume this is a mistake with Carscom . Also, it becomes more difficult to specify price as a filter after the initial search. While these bugs make Carscom less usable, it's overall much better than other apps. Not just because of better design but saved searches, alerts, and filter by auto-emergency braking are hugely helpful features that I haven't found elsewhere.


By


Mobile App and Max Digital

The DealerCenter Mobile App is amazing. It is very easy to use and brings all pertinent information to the fore front. Max Digital gives you all the vehicles’ market values so that you know exactly how to properly price your vehicles. It is also easy to add the vehicles and photos to your inventory from Carscom . Our representative for DealerCenter Maryann Iglesias is one of the best that I ever encountered. She goes over and beyond to make sure that all of our needs are handled and always seems to be available. I totally recommend this application and its service to anyone looking to making their car marketing experience the best!


By


Love it but needs some tweaks!

I love using Carscom, especially being able to check the Carfax with one click. What would put Carscom over the top for me would be the ability to add notes to my saved cars. Especially if I could share with my husband and he could see my notes on why I liked that specific car. I also really wish I had the ability to eliminate cars from my search. Sometimes the Carfax reveals something I’m not ok with but then I see it in the search again the next day and forget that it wasn’t up to par for our needs. I end up feeling like I’m wasting time viewing the same cars over and over again accidentally. Other than that, it really is my go-to car finder app!


By


Bad update

Whatever update y’all just did totally ruined the efficiency of Carscom and created bugs. Having to go back and choose the manufacturer before being able to choose the model , every single time, is ridiculous. It worked great before, with the manufacturer and model in 2 sections, why change it? I also noticed that since the update you can’t select the mileage option under the filter section, you have to go all the way back to advance search to use the mileage criteria. I’ve used Carscom nearly every day for the past 3 years and usually the updates are helpful and y’all seem to listen to your users, I hope you’ll listen this time when I say, you’ve made Carscom worse with this update. Also, side note, an iPad specific app would be great, just a thought.


By


Glitchy and Too Narrow for iPad Screen

What’s wrong with Carscom? I have used it on my iPhone for years and liked it. However, I loaded it onto my new iPad and it does not fill the entire screen, but is instead too narrow, much like a standard definition TV program that fails to fill an HDTV screen. This is pretty basic, isn’t it? Failing to fill an iPad screen? It’s also glitchy, as it locked up several times and would not allow me to return to the home screen. I’ve tried it several times, hoping they had corrected these problems, but ended up deleting it every time.


By


Stop abusing the app with excessive ads.

Nothing feels better than finding what you’re looking for and making a satisfying purchase. Carscom is very intuitive and compliments the desktop version, but the latest updates makes the mobile experience horrible. There are ads within the search listings, there is non removal banner ad at the top and there pop up ads when you press a button just to navigate through Carscom . This is ridiculous. Bombarding users with non relevant ads is very annoying and counter-intuitive. I recommend creating an ad-free “Pro” version for those who enjoying querying through your database of a million plus listings without the headache. It’s only a matter of time when users will realize this and uninstall Carscom, while going to competitors who offer a better experience, or simply use a mobile ad-blocking alternative.


By


I really tried to like it....

I’ve used this Carscom for the past 5 years. I even found a my first luxury pickup and purchased it because of Carscom; If it wasn’t for that I would not have been as long suffering with it’s many consistent flaws. I’ve used it on the iPhone5, iPhone X, and now the iPhone 11pro Max. It has literally had the same quirks (sluggish, crashing, not seeing a network connection, etc) and the developers have still not been able to resolve them. Normally I wouldn’t give such a bad review before at least working with the support team to let them know of the issues; however, the updates stated that these were the issues they were addressing, yet to no avail. I’ve just given up and turned to AutoTempest. I’m looking for another luxury heavy duty pickup and I just can’t deal with Carscom issues any more.


By


The app is incredible and makes finding the best vehicle easy to find

Carscom is so slow / glitchy that every time I scroll through I almost inevitably click on the wrong car or on one of there MANY ads they have playing all the time. I get the need to make money but every time I click back another full screen ad pops up. And after 5-10 I have to watch a 20-40 second long video about a game I will never play in my life. They keep adding new features and Carscom keeps getting slower. I would recommend just using the online version as it is much easier to navigate and much better functioning.


By


Best App to search for cars!

I have been using Carscom and a couple of competitors apps for some time now searching for a car to get at the end of this year. I can say with 100% confidence this is the best/easiest app to navigate. The UI is incredible with all of the different filters you can add to your search. I love how it narrows it down and tells you how many cars are going to be in the search based on which filter you select i.e exterior color, year, etc. I don’t typically write reviews so, obviously Carscom has given me a great experience!


By


Great app....has a serious Glitch and crash issue though

I just downloaded the application. The search filters are pretty good but I would like to see more filter options for specific options, specifically for the interior, and the ability to search multiple different brands/models at one time for a direct comparison.

The glitch and crash....After you select a vehicle to view out of the filtered list you have created you cannot return to the original list without Carscom crashing and restarting. It happens every time.

All in all it’s a great app and it seems to have a connection with more dealers than the “other” automobile search app. Please fix the issues.


By


Better than most

If you’ve been searching for a car you’ve probably downloaded every app and realized most of them work and feel like they were built by an intern. Carscom is slightly better than that, but that’s not saying much. Honestly I’m surprised Carscom has so many five star ratings. I guess the average person has extremely low expectations when it comes to buying a car.

One “must have” feature I wish someone would implement is the ability to block/filter dealerships from results. There are dealerships I don’t ever want to see because I know they’re shady. And I absolutely do *not* want to see anything from Vroom, ever; who the heck buys a car online without driving it?! That’s insane.


By


Bad update

After the last update Carscom became not user friendly. You search for a make and after looking at cars and if you want to search for another make the make from the first search stays checked!!! To select the year now you have to select newest and oldest year in two different screens and you cannot skip a year between oldest and newest instead of checking the years you want in one screen like before!!! With this update you need to go over many screens and clicks which is too much and annoying. Why make complicated an app that was working great ???


By


Almost unusable, pictures don’t load

I’ve been using Carscom for years and bought a lot of cars through it. But I’m the lady two years it has become almost unusable. The thumbnail pictures only load on about 20% of the search results. And when you click on a listing, almost no pictures load. Same on all my devices and even on the web version. I literally can’t use it to find a car anymore. I’ve left feedback dozens of times over the years and they don’t seem to care about users. There are so many little things that make Carscom annoying and they don’t seem to have any care for the actual user experience. I guess I’ll have to use one of the others apps


By


Can’t use anymore :-(

I am very disappointed in the required updates. Due to the pandemic money has been very tight and I am now forced to upgrade my phone because the model I have does not support iOS 13.... As of now, this is not possible financially which means I can no longer utilize Carscom to search for my next vehicle.... thanks for nothing Apple!!! 😡 The developers should be aware that not everyone has the funds available for a new phone and not require users to have updates that are not compatible with their phones. I know several other people with the same issue and it’s very frustrating trying to use an app that up until recently “requires” a certain software to function.


By


Best car site, very user friendly.

Love the site best user friendly one on the market. The only thing I do not like is there is no icon to have a post looked at by administrators to have a post removed because it is misleading. I always search lowest mileage but there are people who put 0 or 85 miles in which these are high mileage cars which I refuse to buy. Their should be a review icon so this can be modified or removed from site because sometimes I will scroll through a whole page of cars that have 0 miles which they have very high mileage when I look into it and waste my time.


By


Subtle paid searches

Overall Carscom is a great companion to the website. I have found the calculator tools especially useful in helping myself and friends find cars within our comfortable price range and being informed walking into a dealership.

However, recently I have noticed that when I go to search sometimes the search terms (new/used, make, model, price, etc) change when I do my search, and typically these are cars I would never consider buying. For example, today I started a search for a Honda Accord but was confronted with search results for a Buick.

The first time this happened I thought it was just an error, but in the numerous times this has happened since I have noticed that whatever my search changes to happens to be the same make and model of the ad displayed at the bottom of the main search page. An interesting, subtle, frustrating, and very unwelcome way to force advertisements on your users.


By


Thank you

Thank you, looking forward to seeing these features added back. Glad to see some developers taking the community’s feedback into account.

Why keep making Carscom more and more complex? Other than a few bugs/crashes Carscom was great prior the most recent update. Please go back to being able to set custom prices(not 30k-40k,big difference.) and have the option for make/model separate. In its current state I do not recommend as they keep making changes that are ruining Carscom .


By


Happy to review!

Short review:

It’s a great and intuitive app! So easy and detailed! You won’t find better results using anything else.

Long review:

Just find the make, model, price range, and distance (you’re willing to travel) and you get great results. (I usually ‘sort by’ “Newest First”)

If you want to search with more filters such as a mileage cap, or specific features you want, you can narrow down your results!

Carscom will save your preferences for your next session so you won’t need to go through the process every time.

You can contact dealers or users directly from the vehicle you’re interested in and even see dealer reputation, reviews, and other inventory.

It’s easy. I’ve been using it for years.

Btw. A really cool and rare thing is the developers of Carscom listen to its users and do their best accordingly. It’s greatly appreciated Devs!


By


Not good on iphone x and above

When you open a car page. The pictures on top are cropped due to ‘the notch’ on the phone and the remainder of the top of the picture is blurred out like it’s ‘tinted’ so you essentially get the bottom half really. Please change that so there’s a bar up there instead of the picture starting from the top.

I know it’s more minimalistic the way it is now but it’s not practical on these phones which are prevalent enough out there. It’d be great if you can take this feedback and improve on Carscom experience. The remainder of the experience is great!


By


Good app but broken in a bad way.

Two things, firstly, I was trying to filter the cars so that I would see used cars made by Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Nissan, that were under 10,000$, and had less than 10,000 miles on them. However for some reason the option to select maximum or minimum mileage was not an available on the filter. Secondly, there is an option to sort the cars by lowest milage to highest mileage, however when I had Carscom sort the cars by lowest to highest mileage, thousands of cars with NO mileage entered showed up. There should be an option to filter out cars than don’t have a mileage entered in on them. It’s a great app otherwise but those two things are unbelievably frustrating. Would not reccomend.


By


Very user friendly

I am pleasantly surprised at Carscom. I’ve always gone to autotrader for all my vehicles whether it be with through the website or app but I have a strong feeling I’m going to find my next vehicle and future vehicles through Carscom. This has vehicles that autotrader doesn’t using the same exact sections. This is extremely user friendly. I will get notified on price drops for vehicles I am interested in. Cars app just got a new user.


By


Great app

Only one thing im not happy with is that you should be able to save the cars you like without having to open an account... i dont sell cars im just interested on them... im looking to buy a car in the future but i cant save them to compare prices and packages... on safari if i leave the page open i can save all the cars i want... if thats the case then theres no point of having the free app.... just saying... maybe it will help more




Is Cars com Safe?


Yes. Cars.com - New & Used Cars is quiet safe to use but use with caution. This is based on our NLP (Natural language processing) analysis of over 518,841 User Reviews sourced from the Appstore and the appstore cumulative rating of 4.8/5 . Justuseapp Safety Score for Cars com Is 21.9/100.


Is Cars com Legit?


Yes. Cars.com - New & Used Cars is legit, but not 100% legit to us. This conclusion was arrived at by running over 518,841 Cars.com - New & Used Cars User Reviews through our NLP machine learning process to determine if users believe the app is legitimate or not. Based on this, Justuseapp Legitimacy Score for Cars com Is 38.7/100..


Is Cars.com - New & Used Cars not working?


Cars.com - New & Used Cars works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or Contact Support.



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