by Andrew Rohrlich
Are you thinking about buying a used car from a private party? If so, you've probably considered using an online car-buying service. These are becoming increasingly popular as they offer a convenient and stress-free way to buy a car from the comfort of your own home. One popular online car-buying platform is CarSoup for used cars.
What is CarSoup, and what are its benefits for sellers? You'll find the answers to those questions in this article. You'll also learn six simple steps to find the perfect used cars on CarSoup.
What Is CarSoup?
CarSoup is an online car buying and selling service that helps you find your dream vehicle. It features a website and app and provides a large selection of new and used motor vehicles, including:
- Cars
- Trucks
- SUVs
- Motorcycles
- Boats
- RVs
- ATVs
- Snowmobiles
It even includes accessories and part resources as well.
Dealerships and private sellers can post new and used cars for sale on CarSoup. The website guides them through the steps to create an ad, providing an easy way to promote their auto sales among a large network of buyers nationwide.
Buyers can search for vehicles locally or in other states on the mobile app or website.
It's important to note that CarSoup is an aggregate website, which means you don't buy or sell vehicles directly on the website. Instead, CarSoup gathers listings from various dealerships and sellers across the internet and displays them on its platform.
When you click to get more information on the vehicle or want to contact a seller, you are taken to the seller's website to contact them directly.
What Are the Benefits of CarSoup for Private Buyers?
CarSoup offers many benefits to private buyers, including its vast listings, ease of use, and abundance of helpful tools and resources.
1. Impressive Amount of Listings
One of the biggest benefits of CarSoup is its large inventory of vehicle listings. With thousands of choices available for you to pick from, you can find anything from old 1930s vintage cars to the newest high-tech 2024 Tesla.
2. Easy To Use
CarSoup makes finding a car easy with its user-friendly home page, which includes a search function that allows you to filter by make, model, year, and more. Each listing also includes detailed descriptions, pictures, and interactive links for you to see if the vehicle is good for you.
3. Provides Helpful Tools and Resources
Finally, CarSoup provides a variety of helpful resources for buyers, including:
- Vehicle pricing information
- Carfax reports for vehicles for sale
- A comparison tool to compare models side-by-side
- A discussion forum for advice from other car owners and experts
Buying a Car Privately on CarSoup: A 6-Step Process
It is very easy to buy a used car privately on CarSoup. You can start browsing and purchasing your new vehicle in six simple steps.
1. Create a CarSoup Account
The first step to buying a car on CarSoup is creating a free account. This allows you to save your favorite listings and searches, track and compare prices, and contact sellers to check availability.
2. Use Advanced Filters To Find the Right Car
Once you've created your account, you're ready to start your search. You can make your search much easier by using advanced filters to find the right car.
The home page allows you to do a basic search by inputting several parameters:
- Make
- Model
- Miles from your desired zip code
- Your desired zip code
However, using advanced filters can help you narrow down your choices, saving you plenty of time. You can find advanced filters under the "Advanced Search" tab on the very right of the page.
Start by Choosing "Private Sellers" Under Seller Type
The very first step once you are in the advanced search section is to go to the right of the page and choose "private sellers" under the seller type. This step will remove all dealerships from your search and save you a lot of time.
You can further categorize the sellers by choosing between featured sellers and standard sellers.
Consider the Delivery Process and Vehicle Make, Model, and Year
Once you've chosen private sellers, you should also consider the delivery process. Sellers on CarSoup may offer home delivery or public meetup, or require you to pick up the vehicle.
You can also narrow your search based on the vehicle make, model, and year to only view the particular vehicle you're interested in buying.
Narrow Your Search Based on a Wide Variety of Key Features
Once you've chosen your desired make and model based on these broader parameters, you can narrow down your search based on the wide variety of key features in the advanced search, which includes:
- Body Style: Chassis, convertibles, coupes, full-size, full-size vans, hatchbacks, mini-van, pickup-truck, sedans, SUVs, or wagons
- Price: From $0 to $100,000+
- Mileage: From 0 miles to 100,000+ miles
- Year: From 1932 to 2024
- Exterior Color: Black, blue, gray, green, orange, purple, red, white, yellow, beige, brown, gold, silver, maroon, bronze, or other
- Cylinder Count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, or 12 cylinders
- Transmission: Automatic, direct, manual, or other
- Drivetrain: 4WD-AWD, FWD, Forward Front Axle, RWD, or unknown
- Fuel: Diesel, electric, ethanol, natural GAS, flex-fuel, gasoline, hybrid, or other
- Listing date: Last 24 hours, last 3 days, last 7 days, last 14 days, or last 30 days
- Features: Adaptive cruise control, Android Auto, Apple Carplay, ABS brakes (Anti-lock Braking System), blind spot monitor, handicap, heated leather seats, cooled seats, hybrid, lane assist, keyless entry, navigational system, weather floor liner package, surround-view camera, 3rd-row seats, tow package, and more
3. Check Availability for the Vehicles You're Interested In
Once you narrow down your options according to key features and choose a few vehicles you're interested in, CarSoup aggregates listings of relevant vehicles for sale.
You can easily check availability from the vehicle listing page. Each listing includes a prompt box where you enter your first and last name, a message, and your email address. You can send the message straight from the listing page. CarSoup and the sellers will contact you via text message or phone call to follow up.
4. Research Up-to-Date Price Comparisons and Negotiate
Another excellent benefit of CarSoup is the ability to compare prices. Each listing includes the option to track the price of different listings for easy comparisons and get notifications of any price drops.
You can also check the tracked prices against other reputable car websites, such as Kelley Blue Book, to ensure the price is fair according to the current market.
You can use these comparisons to negotiate prices with the seller. CarSoup does not facilitate vehicle transactions, so you can't negotiate directly through the website or the app. You negotiate the price directly with the private seller.
5. Review and Select Financing Options
What if you don't have enough cash to buy the vehicle outright? Though CarSoup does not offer financing or sales through the site, the service can connect you to finance dealers to help you get financing for your desired vehicle.
CarSoup includes a finance calculator so you can estimate your monthly payment. There's also an option to click through to their financing partner LendingTree — an online third-party marketplace that aggregates multiple lenders upon receiving your information.
LendingTree offers lenders who will provide financing even if you have credit challenges such as:
- No credit history
- Bad credit
- Car repossession
- Bankruptcy
It's best to look through all the options available and view the terms and conditions closely to ensure you're getting the best loan possible.
6. Close the Deal, but Don't Forget About Paperwork
Once you have your financing secured and have negotiated a satisfactory price with the seller, you're ready to close the deal. During the closing process, you'll set up your delivery and pay the seller.
Before you close, you should make sure you receive and research important documents, such as:
- Vehicle history report
- Maintenance records
- Vehicle title
- Emissions test results (if applicable)
- Odometer disclosure statement
- Proof of factory warranty (if applicable)
It's also important to make sure you complete all the important paperwork once you close the deal, including:
- Bill of sale
- Vehicle title transfer
- Vehicle registration
- Insurance
A Checkout Platform To Simplify the Private Party Car Buying Process
Searching for a car online can be time-consuming and even overwhelming, but CarSoup makes it easy. CarSoup for used cars saves you time by aggregating various listings in one place, providing detailed filtering options, and connecting you with the seller to get the used car you want.
An excellent way to simplify the buying process is using a private party car purchase checkout platform like Caramel. This revolutionary platform securely handles all aspects of the car purchasing process, so you don't have to, ensuring that it's safe, hassle-free, and easy.
This article was written by Andrew Rohrlich. As a brand and product marketing expert, Andrew Rohrlich has crafted products, experiences and communications for household names like Gap and for multiple automotive technology businesses. For nearly a decade Andrew has studied automotive retail in depth from a customer point of view and aggregated the industry’s best research, thought leadership and know how to provide credible and important information to auto shoppers and sellers.
Start your transaction with Caramel, learn more about how the process works, or reach out to our Support team with any questions.
