Preferred online truck shopping site?

[Legend]

I get the idea of buying local and I often do. But when I am looking at a big expense, like a truck, all I want is a good price.

So does anyone have a favorite online tool (website, app) for buying a truck?

 

[Crowmangler]

I've had the best luck with Autotrader using the advanced search & set notifications. Be sure to look at the new listings without the picture yet. I bought my Jeep that way & the dealer didn't even know it was coming to them.

 

[norcal7.3]

Auto trader for sure. Unless you are looking for something older or oddly specific, then there are sites for those

 

[03mossy]

CarGurus

 

[robtattoo]

CarGurus

I'll second car gurus.
They seem to give far more useful spec info (bed length)
A lot of other sites I've tried don't mention that & that seems really dumb for a truck ad.

 

[jimh406]

I use a few different ones because different people/dealers don't use them all.

Do a very broad search and filter only a bit at a time. You can find really good deals sometimes when you aren't filtering too much.

I prefer a few year old vehicle with lower miles over a newer one to let someone else take the depreciation. I used to only buy new, but one day I realized that I was trading in perfectly good vehicles with lower mileage. Sometimes, it was to get something different, and sometimes because my needs changed. Of course, a lower cost vehicle will usually have less expensive insurance. As long as they have documented history of maintenance via CarFax or similar, they are most likely just fine. You can make a guess what they were used for and where they were used to avoid areas with lots of road salt, etc.

 

[snowymtnwolf]

Check eBay - narrow search to your options - sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough from a “private seller”.


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[TSAMP]

I've been using the manufacturer website to sort by specs. Then going to the dealer site from that.

 

[displacedtexan]

I'll second car gurus.
They seem to give far more useful spec info (bed length)
A lot of other sites I've tried don't mention that & that seems really dumb for a truck ad.

The picture tells you the length.

 

[robtattoo]

The picture tells you the length.

Not when dipshit sales-people try to be all artistic & insist on taking only pictures from quartering to, or quartering away angles, usually while laid or squatted.

 

[Headwaters]

Truecar is pretty good and you can do nationwide searches.

 

[Dirtbag]

Truecar is pretty good and you can do nationwide searches.

I used Truecar for my pickup. really like it.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

A few months ago someone posted a link to a site that had reliability records for all makes and models, anyone on this thread know what that might have been?

 

[Dust Rider]

We used to buy all local, until most dealerships went corporate or sold and we don’t know who the owners are anymore.
Way better deals in SLC than in SW MT. Test drive local, buy somewhere close to an airport. You can save thousands. Autotrader

 

[MidWesternHunter7]

I like and have used AutoTrader. On the advanced search you can filter searches by bed length (plus all the other basic criteria)

It's also well worth it to create an account. Then you can save searches so you don't need to reenter all the parameters every time you want to check out newly vehicles

 

[Aggie007]

cars.com or as mentioned, cargurus.com. Lot of good deals December and January if you can wait.

 

[fngTony]

Here are some nice place you can get very good/reliable trucks, Carfax, cargurus, Craigslist, offerup, auto trader.

Curious how Craigslist made your list? Seems to be mostly scams or really worn out cars.