GoCar.be Car Listings Scraper

Overview

GoCar.be Car Listings Scraper collects structured data from vehicle listings on GoCar.be. It is built for automotive search pages and turns filtered GoCar.be car results into clean, usable records for research, monitoring, analytics, and internal data workflows.

The actor starts from a normal GoCar.be search URL, opens the rendered GoCar interface in Chromium, captures GoCar's own native search responses, mutates browser-native search requests with the URL-derived filters and offsets, paginates through available result batches, and emits one structured record per listing.

For large result sets, the actor can automatically partition broad year ranges such as first_registration_year=2021:2026. This avoids GoCar's observed native search result-window limit of about 1000 hits by collecting smaller year-specific result sets and deduping the combined output.

The results are saved to an Apify dataset and can be exported in formats such as JSON, JSONL, CSV, Excel, XML, or accessed directly through the Apify API.

The Apify actor target is:

smtc/gocar-be-car-scraper

What information does the scraper collect?

The actor can collect fields such as:

Vehicle title and version
Listing ID
Listing URL
Brand and model
Description
Condition
Price and discount details
VAT deductibility
Seller or dealer name
Seller or dealer city
Seller type
Images
Body style
Mileage
First registration year
Fuel type
Gearbox
Transmission
Power in hp and kW
CO2 emissions
Emission class
Color
Number of doors and seats
Warranty months
Vehicle options and equipment
Publication and sync timestamps
Optional raw source data

Common use cases

This scraper is useful for anyone who needs reliable Belgian used-car market data. You can use it to:

Monitor vehicle prices on GoCar.be
Track available inventory by brand, model, mileage, year, fuel type, or dealer type
Analyze professional dealer activity
Build used-car pricing datasets
Compare supply trends over time
Feed automotive dashboards or valuation tools
Support sourcing, trade-in, and resale decisions
Create market intelligence reports for the Belgian car market

Input

The actor accepts a filtered GoCar.be car search URL and processes listings from that result set.

{
  "startUrl": "https://gocar.be/en/search/u_used-cars?kilometers=5000%3A125000&first_registration_year=2021%3A2026&price=5000%3A&vehicle_type=car&gbrands=BMW&point_of_sale_type=Professional&is_leasing=false&condition=second+hand",
  "searchResultMode": "native-ui",
  "nativeSearchEntryUrl": "https://gocar.be/en",
  "maxListings": 2300,
  "maxPages": 500,
  "nativeSearchPaginationPages": 500,
  "nativeSearchPartitioning": true,
  "nativeSearchPartitionThreshold": 950,
  "nativeSearchMaxPartitions": 25,
  "includeContactFields": false,
  "includeImages": true,
  "includeRaw": false,
  "useApifyProxy": true,
  "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"],
  "apifyProxyCountryCode": "BE",
  "apifyProxySession": "BE",
  "requestDelayMs": 500,
  "headless": true,
  "navigationTimeoutSecs": 45,
  "nativeSearchEntryWaitUntil": "commit",
  "nativeSearchEntryTimeoutSecs": 45,
  "challengeWaitSecs": 30
}

This example uses a bounded year range, first_registration_year=2021:2026, so the actor can partition the 2246-result query into year batches. An open-ended value such as first_registration_year=2021: is valid as a search filter, but it does not currently give the actor enough information to create exact-year partitions automatically.

Input fields

startUrl Required. A GoCar.be search-results URL, including any selected filters.

searchResultMode Recommended value: native-ui. This mode opens GoCar in Chromium, applies filters in the rendered UI, captures the site's own search responses, and avoids direct server-side API calls.

nativeSearchEntryUrl Entry page used for native UI response capture. Default is derived from startUrl, for example https://gocar.be/en.

maxListings Maximum number of listings to push to the dataset. Default: 300.

nativeSearchPaginationPages Maximum native search result pages to collect in native-ui mode, including the first filtered response. Default: 100. The actor may raise the effective page count to satisfy maxListings or the search response's estimated total, up to the hard cap.

nativeSearchPartitioning Automatically splits large native result sets into smaller range partitions when the result count is likely to hit GoCar's search backend window. Default: true.

nativeSearchPartitionThreshold Estimated result count at which partitioning is enabled. Default: 950.

nativeSearchMaxPartitions Maximum number of automatic partitions for one run. Current automatic partitioning supports first_registration_year ranges. Default: 25.

nativeSearchEntryWaitUntil Navigation readiness setting for the neutral native-search entry page. Default: commit.

nativeSearchEntryTimeoutSecs Navigation timeout for the neutral native-search entry page. Timeout on this page is tolerated in native-ui mode if the page is partially loaded. Default: 45.

includeContactFields Includes contact-related fields when available and permitted. Default: false.

includeImages Includes listing image URLs in the output. Default: true.

includeRaw Adds raw source payloads for debugging or advanced processing. Default: false.

useApifyProxy Uses Apify Proxy when the actor runs on Apify and proxy credentials are available. Default: true.

apifyProxyGroups Optional Apify Proxy groups. Default: ["RESIDENTIAL"].

apifyProxyCountryCode Optional proxy country code. Default: BE.

proxyUrl Optional explicit Chromium proxy URL. This overrides Apify Proxy settings.

requestDelayMs Delay between listing requests or detail-page actions. Default: 500.

headless Runs Chromium in headless mode. For GoCar cloud runs, false can be more transparent during diagnostics. Default: false.

Output

Each dataset item represents one vehicle listing.

{
  "source": "gocar",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-05-20T10:00:00.000Z",
  "id": 5124396,
  "vehicle_id": 5124396,
  "url": "https://gocar.be/en/cars/bmw/1-series/120-120i-m-sport-automaat-leder/id/5124396",
  "brand_name": "BMW",
  "model_name": "1 Series",
  "version": "120 120i M Sport Automaat Leder",
  "description": "Vehicle description...",
  "condition": "second hand",
  "body_style": "Hatchback",
  "gearbox": "Automatic",
  "fuel_type": "Petrol",
  "main_color": "Black",
  "first_registration_year": 2022,
  "kilometers": 44566,
  "horse_power": 184,
  "engine_power_kw": 135,
  "CO2_emissions": 131,
  "price": {
    "formatted": "EUR 28,950",
    "amount": 28950,
    "vat_deductible": true
  },
  "cover": "https://storage-04.gocarcdn.com/vehicles/example.jpg",
  "images": [
    "https://storage-04.gocarcdn.com/vehicles/example.jpg"
  ],
  "point_of_sale_name": "Dealer name",
  "point_of_sale_city": "Brussels",
  "point_of_sale_type": "Professional",
  "vehicle_options_list": [
    "Navigation",
    "Parking sensors",
    "Heated seats"
  ],
  "published_at": "2026-05-19T08:00:00Z"
}

The actor also defines Apify output metadata in .actor/output_schema.json and a dataset field/view schema in .actor/dataset_schema.json, so Apify Console and API consumers can discover the default dataset output and preview the listing records in structured table views.

Notes

This actor is focused on car listings from GoCar.be search-result pages.

GoCar currently protects direct detail URLs and non-native API calls more aggressively than the rendered home/search UI. The recommended mode is therefore searchResultMode: "native-ui", which lets the GoCar frontend establish a valid browser session, then captures and mutates successful browser-native search responses.

Observed production behavior:

• Plain direct HTTP calls to gocar.be and search.gocar.be are challenged.
• The rendered GoCar page can make successful native https://search.gocar.be/multi-search requests.
• One native response returns up to 51 hits in the observed InstantSearch flow.
• GoCar's backend result window appears to cap broad queries at about 1000 available hits.
• Broad year-range queries are partitioned by first_registration_year to collect beyond that 1000-hit window.
• A short final page, for example fewer than 51 hits, now stops that partition immediately.

For larger cloud runs, enable Apify Proxy with a residential Belgian proxy group if available. The actor includes diagnostic controls for troubleshooting Cloudflare/security verification pages.

Contact fields are excluded by default. Enable them only when they are needed for your use case and when your usage complies with applicable rules.

Please make sure your use of the data follows the GoCar.be terms of service, your permission scope, and relevant data protection regulations.

Technical implementation notes, diagnostics, and deployment commands are documented in /Users/barth/git/auto-finder-datalake/actors/gocar/docs/implementation.md.

Custom Development and Support

SMTC is a software development company specializing in web platforms, data extraction, and analytics applications. We help teams turn marketplace data into practical tools, from custom Apify actors and API integrations to dashboards, reporting workflows, and internal business applications.

If you need a tailored scraper, additional data fields, automation, or integration with your existing systems, contact us with your requirements. We can help design, build, and maintain a solution that fits your project.