Are you looking for a used car online? As this can often be a laborious, drawn out process, starting with a search for the trustworthy websites, Screan ‘Googled’ and checked out several of South Africa’s most popular 2nd hand car websites, to save you some valuable time.
Our rankings are based purely on web traffic* and are by no means a definitive metric in finding your most suitable, affordable used car.
However, all of these websites are from the top three pages of Google search results, and at least provide a good indication of the reliability and range of each of these websites – and is a great starting point for any proper online search for a pre-owned vehicle in South Africa.
But before we dive in, remember that a great place to start is also the second hand goods website Gumtree, which offers thousands upon thousands of used cars from both private owners and dealerships, as well as advice, tips – and even financing through Nedbank.
https://www.gumtree.co.za/c/cars-bakkies-for-sale
Otherwise, let’s get into the rest of the sites.
South Africa’s most popular used car websites - Over 100,000 monthly visitors
https://www.autotrader.co.za/ (5,960,000 monthly visitors)
Arguably South Africa’s most well-known and reputable used car website, with several million monthly users, Autotrader offers prospective car buyers complete peace of mind when searching for a pre-owned vehicle. You can search for more than 67,000 cars across all vehicle categories and criteria, as well as take advantage of advice and several other related services offered by Autotrader, including direct links to auto dealers whose cars are available on the site.
https://www.cars.co.za/ (1,650,000 monthly visitors)
The second largest South African used car site we could find, cars.co.za also offers the widest range of vehicles (nearly 70,000) nationwide we could find, which are also numbered by region (unsurprisingly Gauteng comes first, with nearly 40,000). Like Auto Trader, the make and model search functionality is combined, and you can easily search for and browse for any kind of vehicle available on this site, which also features a rich library of other car-related content.
https://www.automart.co.za/ (383,000 monthly visitors)
With more than 47,000 cars listed on its site, automart.co.za is another reasonably well-known online used car vendor, with arguably the most-user friendly layout of the top three, allowing you to search for your ideal vehicle by brand, body type or location. While like the above sites Automart also features special offers on select cars, there were none available when we visited the Automart site.
https://www.carmag.co.za/ (198,000 monthly visitors)
Car Magazine is another well-known brand in the automotive industry in South Africa. As a long-established print publication, there is a wealth of car-related content on their site and while we are sure their web traffic is skewed by people simply browsing their articles, they do feature more than 7,500 cars. As a trusted name in the business, you can search for cars here confident in the knowledge that this is also going to be a reputable used car sales platform.
https://www.webuycars.co.za/ (147,000 monthly visitors)
With a legacy in the used car game that started decades with a family business and eventually became We Buy Cars, as the name suggests, this website specialises in purchasing second hand vehicles. However the site also naturally offers used cars for sales, with more than 5,000 cars listed, including a section called ‘New Arrival Auction’ for newish vehicles with low mileage that users can bid for online.
https://www.autopedigree.co.za/ (109,000 monthly visitors)
Yet another recognisable name in the local used car business, Auto Pedigree also offers an upfront ‘Deal Assistance’ package of up to R50,000 for those who purchase vehicles from their website. Indeed, unlike the other sites, though some of them do offer something similar, this site highlights their ‘Financial Services’ to help buyers not only find, but get better terms on any used car purchase. At the time of writing they offered more than 3,000 pre-owned vehicles.
https://www.surf4cars.co.za/ (105,000 monthly visitors)
Offering more than 10,000 used vehicles countrywide Surf4cars lets you either typing in your ideal make and model etc, or allows you to search for your next vehicle by clicking on either the make, body type, region or body type, or using a different kind of click and search function, which is found by scrolling down to the bottom of the home page. They also offer a handy directory of car dealerships nationwide, searchable by province, including the vehicles on offer at each.
https://www.changecars.co.za/ (60,000 monthly visitors and growing)
All though Change Cars have under 100,000 monthly visitors per year, they are the notable new player in the online used car space and is growing its presence fast. With over 600 5 Star rated dealerships, Change Cars offers users of the site a safe user friendly platform. Trusted by buyers and sellers alike.South Africa’s most popular used car websites
- Under 100,000 monthly visitors
While all experience much lower traffic than the above websites, here are nine other sites to help you on your search for a used car online. While not as extensive as the above portals, these sites and others like them that we might have missed may just offer up a great find and better prices, so perhaps you should check them out too, as your ideal vehicle may be listed on one of these sites and nowhere else:
https://www.usedcarsouthafrica.com/ (52,000 monthly visitors)
https://www.williamshunt.co.za/ (50,000 monthly visitors)
https://www.carfind.co.za/ (36,600 monthly visitors)
https://www.carshop.co.za/ (36,000 monthly visitors)
https://www.reeds.co.za/ (27,000 monthly visitors)
https://www.inspectacar.co.za/ (25,000 monthly visitors)
https://motus.cars/ (18,000 monthly visitors)
https://weelee.co.za/ (17,000 monthly visitors)
https://zambezicars.co.za/ (4,300 monthly visitors)
For more advice on how to go about purchasing a vehicle online, please read our blog post here.
Disclaimer: Screan has compiled the above list to make searching for a used car easier for our users and to save you some Googling fingerwork as you begin your research. However, please note our reviews are purely observational and we will not be held responsible or liable for any difficulties or problems you may incur when using any of the websites listed above to search for or purchase a used or new vehicle.
Found a vehicle you would like us to check out for you? Book a Screaning here.
- Article by Masterson Communications.
*Traffic stats obtained via Uber Suggest, on August 26, 2021.
