Cars.com Scraper

Scrape vehicle listings from Cars.com — the leading US automotive marketplace. Extract detailed car data including price, mileage, dealer info, vehicle specs, photos, and VIN from search results and individual listing pages.

Features

• 🔍 Search by Make/Model — Filter by manufacturer, model, year, price, and location
• 📍 Location-Based Search — Search by ZIP code with configurable radius (10–500 miles)
• 📄 Pagination Support — Scrape multiple pages of search results automatically
• 🔎 Full Detail Extraction — Optionally visit each listing page for complete specs (VIN, colors, engine, transmission, drivetrain, MPG, dealer contact info, photos)
• 🛡️ Cloudflare Bypass — Built-in stealth browser (Camoufox) with residential proxy support to bypass Cloudflare WAF protection
• 📊 Clean Structured Output — JSON dataset ready for analysis, databases, or downstream pipelines
• 🏷️ Stock Type Filtering — Search Used, New, or Certified Pre-Owned vehicles
• ⚡ Smart Limits — Control costs with maxPages and maxListings parameters

Use Cases

• Market Research — Track vehicle pricing trends across makes, models, and regions
• Dealer Inventory Monitoring — Monitor competitor inventory and pricing strategies
• Price Comparison — Compare vehicle prices across dealers and locations
• Data Analytics — Build automotive market datasets for ML models and analysis
• Lead Generation — Identify vehicles matching specific criteria for buying services
• Fleet Management — Find vehicles matching fleet specifications and budget requirements

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
searchUrls	array	—	Direct Cars.com search URLs (overrides make/model filters)
make	string	—	Car manufacturer (e.g., toyota, honda, ford)
model	string	—	Car model (e.g., camry, civic, f-150). Requires make.
zipCode	string	60601	US ZIP code for location-based search
maxDistance	integer	50	Search radius in miles from ZIP code
yearMin	integer	—	Minimum model year filter
yearMax	integer	—	Maximum model year filter
priceMin	integer	—	Minimum price filter (USD)
priceMax	integer	—	Maximum price filter (USD)
stockType	enum	used	Listing type: used, new, or certified
maxPages	integer	5	Max search result pages to scrape per search
maxListings	integer	100	Max total listings to scrape
includeDetails	boolean	false	Visit each listing page for full specs
proxyConfiguration	object	Apify Residential US	Proxy settings (residential required)

Input Example

{
    "make": "toyota",
    "model": "camry",
    "zipCode": "90210",
    "maxDistance": 100,
    "yearMin": 2020,
    "priceMax": 35000,
    "stockType": "used",
    "maxPages": 3,
    "maxListings": 50,
    "includeDetails": false
}

Or use direct search URLs:

{
    "searchUrls": [
        "https://www.cars.com/shopping/results/?stock_type=used&makes[]=honda&models[]=honda-civic&zip=60601&maximum_distance=50"
    ],
    "maxPages": 5,
    "maxListings": 100
}

Output Data

Basic Output (search results only)

{
    "title": "Used 2021 Toyota Camry SE",
    "price": 25999.0,
    "mileage": "32,450 mi.",
    "year": 2021,
    "make": "Toyota",
    "model": "Camry",
    "trim": "SE",
    "stockType": "used",
    "dealerName": "AutoNation Toyota",
    "dealerRating": "4.7",
    "reviewCount": "(523 reviews)",
    "dealerLocation": "5 mi. away",
    "listingUrl": "https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/abc123/",
    "imageUrl": "https://...",
    "scrapedAt": "2026-03-28T07:45:00+00:00"
}

Extended Output (with includeDetails: true)

All basic fields plus:

{
    "vin": "4T1G11AK5MU123456",
    "exteriorColor": "Celestial Silver Metallic",
    "interiorColor": "Black",
    "engine": "2.5L I4 203hp",
    "transmission": "8-Speed Automatic",
    "drivetrain": "FWD",
    "fuelType": "Gasoline",
    "mpg": "28 city / 39 highway",
    "bodyStyle": "Sedan",
    "stockNumber": "MT12345",
    "dealerPhone": "(555) 123-4567",
    "dealerAddress": "123 Main St, Chicago, IL 60601",
    "dealRating": "Great Deal",
    "photos": ["https://...", "https://..."],
    "carfaxUrl": "https://www.carfax.com/..."
}

Pricing

$2.00 per 1,000 results (Pay-per-event)

Volume	Cost	Per Listing
100 listings	$0.20	$0.002
1,000 listings	$2.00	$0.002
10,000 listings	$20.00	$0.002

Tip: Use includeDetails: false for faster, cheaper runs when you only need basic listing data (price, mileage, dealer, location). Enable it when you need full vehicle specifications.

Performance

• Basic mode (includeDetails: false): ~100 listings in 1–2 minutes
• Detail mode (includeDetails: true): ~20–30 listings in 5 minutes
• Default input completes well within the Apify 5-minute test window

Technical Notes

• Cars.com is protected by Cloudflare WAF — this actor uses Camoufox stealth browser with residential proxies to bypass protection reliably
• Residential proxies required — datacenter IPs are blocked by Cloudflare. The actor defaults to Apify residential US proxies.
• Human-like delays (2–5 seconds) between page loads to avoid rate limiting
• Automatic retry logic with Cloudflare challenge detection and wait loops

Changelog

v0.1 (2026-03-28)

• Initial release
• Search results scraping with make/model/zip filters
• Optional detail page extraction
• Cloudflare bypass via Camoufox
• Pagination and smart limits