# Cars.com Vehicle Scraper (`moving_beacon-owner1/cars-com-vehicle-scraper`) Actor Scrape used, new, and certified pre-owned vehicle listings from Cars.com for data on price, mileage, dealer info, and vehicle specs. It features TLS impersonation to bypass anti-bot protection and supports Apify Proxy for efficient scraping and IP rotation. - **URL**: https://apify.com/moving\_beacon-owner1/cars-com-vehicle-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Jamshaid Arif](https://apify.com/moving_beacon-owner1) (community) - **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation, E-commerce - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $10.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Cars.com Vehicle Scraper — Apify Actor Scrapes used, new, and certified pre-owned vehicle listings from [Cars.com](https://www.cars.com), with TLS impersonation to bypass fingerprint-based blocking and Apify Proxy support for IP rotation. ### Input | Field | Type | Default | Notes | | -------------------- | ------- | ----------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | `make` | string | `honda` | Cars.com make slug | | `model` | string | `civic` | Cars.com model slug; combined as `make-model` | | `zipCode` | string | `29405` | 5-digit US ZIP | | `radius` | integer | `50` | Miles from ZIP (0–500) | | `stockType` | enum | `used` | `used` / `new` / `cpo` | | `minPrice` | int? | — | Lower price bound | | `maxPrice` | int? | — | Upper price bound | | `minYear` / `maxYear`| int? | — | Model-year range | | `maxMileage` | int? | — | Odometer cap | | `maxPages` | integer | `5` | Stop after N pages | | `pageSize` | enum | `20` | `20` / `50` / `100` | | `fetchDetails` | bool | `false` | Visit each VDP for full info (slower) | | `requestDelay` | float | `2.0` | Seconds between requests | | `impersonate` | string | `chrome120` | curl_cffi TLS profile | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | Apify Proxy | **Use Residential group** — datacenter IPs blocked | #### Example input ```json { "make": "honda", "model": "civic", "zipCode": "29405", "radius": 25, "stockType": "used", "minYear": 2019, "maxYear": 2024, "maxMileage": 80000, "maxPages": 3, "fetchDetails": false, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] } } ```` ### Output Each dataset item is a `VehicleListing` (see `src/scraper.py`): ```json { "listing_id": "807123456", "title": "2021 Honda Civic LX", "year": 2021, "make": "Honda", "model": "Civic", "trim": "LX", "price": 21995, "original_price": 23495, "price_drop": 1500, "mileage": 42103, "monthly_payment": 389, "dealer_name": "Hendrick Honda", "dealer_rating": 4.6, "distance_miles": 8.4, "badges": ["Great Deal"], "url": "https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/...", "image_url": "https://platform.cstatic-images.com/...", "vin": "2HGFC2F69MH...", "body_style": "Sedan", "fuel_type": "Gasoline", "scraped_at": "2026-05-23T12:34:56+00:00" } ``` When `fetchDetails: true`, items also include `features`, `description`, and `photos` (up to 20). # Actor input Schema ## `make` (type: `string`): Vehicle make slug as used by Cars.com (e.g. honda, toyota, ford, bmw). ## `model` (type: `string`): Vehicle model slug (e.g. civic, camry, f-150, 3-series). Will be combined with make as 'make-model' for Cars.com's filter. ## `zipCode` (type: `string`): 5-digit US ZIP code used as the search origin. ## `radius` (type: `integer`): Distance from the ZIP code. Use 0 for nationwide (Cars.com may interpret 0 as 'any distance'). ## `stockType` (type: `string`): Used, new, or certified pre-owned listings. ## `minPrice` (type: `integer`): Lower bound for listing price. Leave empty for no minimum. ## `maxPrice` (type: `integer`): Upper bound for listing price. Leave empty for no maximum. ## `minYear` (type: `integer`): Oldest model year to include. ## `maxYear` (type: `integer`): Newest model year to include. ## `maxMileage` (type: `integer`): Maximum odometer reading. ## `maxPages` (type: `integer`): Stop after this many result pages (Cars.com shows ~20 listings/page). ## `pageSize` (type: `integer`): Listings per page. Cars.com supports 20, 50, or 100 — other values may be clamped server-side. ## `fetchDetails` (type: `boolean`): Visit each listing's VDP for VIN, full feature list, description, and photo gallery. Significantly slower. ## `requestDelay` (type: `number`): Pause between HTTP requests. Keep ≥ 1.5s to reduce block risk. ## `impersonate` (type: `string`): curl\_cffi browser fingerprint to impersonate. Chrome 120 is the safest default for Cars.com. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Use Apify Proxy or custom proxies. Strongly recommended — Cars.com aggressively blocks datacenter IPs. Residential group works best. ## Actor input object example ```json { "make": "honda", "model": "civic", "zipCode": "29405", "radius": 50, "stockType": "used", "maxPages": 5, "pageSize": 20, "fetchDetails": false, "requestDelay": 2, "impersonate": "chrome120", "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("moving_beacon-owner1/cars-com-vehicle-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"], } } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("moving_beacon-owner1/cars-com-vehicle-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } }' | apify call moving_beacon-owner1/cars-com-vehicle-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=moving_beacon-owner1/cars-com-vehicle-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Cars.com Vehicle Scraper", "description": "Scrape used, new, and certified pre-owned vehicle listings from Cars.com for data on price, mileage, dealer info, and vehicle specs. It features TLS impersonation to bypass anti-bot protection and supports Apify Proxy for efficient scraping and IP rotation.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "8HnOCm2pNAWcnx911" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~cars-com-vehicle-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-moving_beacon-owner1-cars-com-vehicle-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~cars-com-vehicle-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-moving_beacon-owner1-cars-com-vehicle-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/moving_beacon-owner1~cars-com-vehicle-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-moving_beacon-owner1-cars-com-vehicle-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "make", "model", "zipCode" ], "properties": { "make": { "title": "Make", "type": "string", "description": "Vehicle make slug as used by Cars.com (e.g. honda, toyota, ford, bmw).", "default": "honda" }, "model": { "title": "Model", "type": "string", "description": "Vehicle model slug (e.g. civic, camry, f-150, 3-series). Will be combined with make as 'make-model' for Cars.com's filter.", "default": "civic" }, "zipCode": { "title": "ZIP Code", "pattern": "^\\d{5}$", "type": "string", "description": "5-digit US ZIP code used as the search origin.", "default": "29405" }, "radius": { "title": "Search Radius (miles)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Distance from the ZIP code. Use 0 for nationwide (Cars.com may interpret 0 as 'any distance').", "default": 50 }, "stockType": { "title": "Stock Type", "enum": [ "used", "new", "cpo" ], "type": "string", "description": "Used, new, or certified pre-owned listings.", "default": "used" }, "minPrice": { "title": "Min Price (USD)", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Lower bound for listing price. Leave empty for no minimum." }, "maxPrice": { "title": "Max Price (USD)", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Upper bound for listing price. Leave empty for no maximum." }, "minYear": { "title": "Min Year", "minimum": 1900, "maximum": 2030, "type": "integer", "description": "Oldest model year to include." }, "maxYear": { "title": "Max Year", "minimum": 1900, "maximum": 2030, "type": "integer", "description": "Newest model year to include." }, "maxMileage": { "title": "Max Mileage", "minimum": 0, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum odometer reading." }, "maxPages": { "title": "Max Pages", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Stop after this many result pages (Cars.com shows ~20 listings/page).", "default": 5 }, "pageSize": { "title": "Page Size", "minimum": 20, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Listings per page. Cars.com supports 20, 50, or 100 — other values may be clamped server-side.", "default": 20 }, "fetchDetails": { "title": "Fetch Detail Pages", "type": "boolean", "description": "Visit each listing's VDP for VIN, full feature list, description, and photo gallery. Significantly slower.", "default": false }, "requestDelay": { "title": "Request Delay (seconds)", "minimum": 0, "maximum": 30, "type": "number", "description": "Pause between HTTP requests. Keep ≥ 1.5s to reduce block risk.", "default": 2 }, "impersonate": { "title": "TLS Impersonation Profile", "enum": [ "chrome110", "chrome116", "chrome119", "chrome120", "chrome123", "safari17_0", "edge99" ], "type": "string", "description": "curl_cffi browser fingerprint to impersonate. Chrome 120 is the safest default for Cars.com.", "default": "chrome120" }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Use Apify Proxy or custom proxies. Strongly recommended — Cars.com aggressively blocks datacenter IPs. Residential group works best.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```