Skip to main content

Use the best car-selling apps to buy your next ride with your smartphone

car-selling apps
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Smartphones have changed every aspect of our lives, from the way we communicate to the way we order food. They’re also changing the way we shop for a car. There are dozens of applications designed to let you buy or sell a car without leaving the comfort of your couch or having to boot up your laptop. The best car-selling apps for Android and Apple devices let you research a car and while making sure you’re not buying from a swindling dealer.

CarMax

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The CarMax application lets shoppers browse the retailer’s huge inventory of about 40,000 used cars scattered across the nation. The app provides key information about each model, and it also lets users compare up to 10 cars at a time. Imagine you’re hesitating between a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a BMW 3 Series, and an Audi A4. Decisions, decisions, right? You can use the CarMax app to put the three side by side to look at specs and features.

Once you’ve found your car, you can use the CarMax app to obtain a vehicle history report, read reviews written by experts and customers, and, when you’re ready, line up financing. Can’t find what you’re looking for? No problem! You can set alerts so you get a notification when a CarMax dealer lists a model that meets your requirements.

Edmunds

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Edmunds prides itself on offering the most comprehensive application for car buyers. It’s a one-stop app that lets you compare vehicles, check features and prices, and browse local listings. If you’re buying new, you can even configure your next car without leaving the app. How’s that for convenience?

The handy price calculator tool tells you how much you should expect to pay, regardless of whether you’re buying or leasing. You can also access safety, warranty, and fuel economy data. High-resolution photos and informative videos help you whittle down your options. Once you know what you’re looking for, you can use the app to contact the nearest dealer.

Used Car Search Pro

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Developed by website iSeeCars, the Used Car Search Pro application boasts 59 search filters to help you find the car of your dreams. You can even search for cars based on your height; it knows which cars you won’t fit into if you’re 6’5″. The app also calculates whether you’re getting a good deal or whether you’re about to get ripped off by examining the average price of the specific make and model you’re looking at.

Users can browse through roughly 40,000 ads posted by dealers and private owners, and they can track the price of a specific car to know immediately when it gets bumped down. We like that dealers are ranked using a star-based rating system. It gives them an overall score by taking into account price competitiveness and transparency.

Hemmings Classic Cars

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Hemmings is the most trusted name when it comes to buying and selling a classic car. Its app is unique because it only lets sellers list vintage cars. If you’re looking for a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, you’ve just downloaded the wrong app. If you want a 1972 Super Beetle, odds are you can find one among the roughly 20,000 ads packed into the app. There are parts, too, so you can source the missing pieces to complete your project.

As you look for your next pride and joy, you can refine your search by distance or seller type, among other parameters. The app also showcases relevant stories from Hemmings’ magazines and website so you can learn all more about your favorite car while you browse.

Instamotor

car-selling apps
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Instamotor is one of the newer apps on this list. It was designed specifically to make buying and selling a used car as easy and transparent as possible. To that end, every car listed benefits from a recall check, a fraud check, and a vehicle history report. It’s all free in a bid to give buyers and sellers much-needed peace of mind. Remember: it’s not unheard of for flood-damaged cars to hit the market after natural disasters like hurricane, and 2017 was rich in that respect.

Note Instamotor is only available in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Dallas, and Houston. The developers promise they’ll expand to more cities next year.

Ronan Glon
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
The next generation of Apple CarPlay will power your entire car, riding the trend of all-screen autos
Apple CarPlay interface

Apple is taking CarPlay to an entirely new level with a huge announcement at WWDC 2022. In what it called a "sneak peek," Apple showed off an entirely new generation of CarPlay that expands beyond infotainment and becomes the car's entire interface, from a gauge cluster screen to the center stack and including every car function.

Almost every car from the past handful of years has CarPlay, and it's one of the most-requested features from car buyers. Even still, it's a pretty disjointed experience that transports you to an entirely different interface and leaves you jumping back and forth to the car's own operating system anytime you want to perform "car" functions and not entertainment functions. With this shift, that all goes away: Apple wants to make CarPlay the only interface in your car.

Read more
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more
Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

Read more