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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace vs Cars.com

OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 4.8★ · Free + IAP 45
Winner Cars.com
Cars.com 4.8★ · Free to download 65

Cars.com is the better choice for dedicated car shopping due to its specialized focus and generally positive user experiences with finding vehicles, despite recent app stability issues, while OfferUp struggles with widespread scamming and a less focused marketplace.

Full reviews: OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace · Cars.com

Cars.com excels as a dedicated platform for buying vehicles, with users praising its search capabilities and ability to find good deals, though recent updates have introduced stability and usability issues. OfferUp, a general marketplace, faces significant challenges with scammers, unreliable buyers/sellers, and an intrusive ad experience, making it less ideal for serious transactions, including car sales.

Head to head

Features & Marketplace Focus edge: Cars.comR12R18R38R62
OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace OfferUp is a general marketplace where users can sell a wide variety of items, including furniture and cars. However, its broad scope means that car listings are often mixed with dealership posts, and users desire better filtering options R12R38. The app has also removed shipping, limiting its utility for non-local transactions R18.
Cars.com Cars.com is specifically designed for buying and selling vehicles, offering a focused experience for car shoppers. Users appreciate its search engine and ability to find good deals R62. However, some users report issues with insufficient photos in listings, particularly interior shots , and a lack of Carfax reports in the updated app .
Ease of Use & User Interface edge: OfferUp Buy & Sell MarketplaceR3R27R41R43
OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace OfferUp's user interface is generally described as user-friendly and well-designed . However, recent updates have changed the layout, making it less efficient for some users, especially when searching for vehicles R41R43. Issues like strict grammatical search bars and pop-up ads also detract from the experience R3R27.
Cars.com Cars.com was once praised for being a slick and easy-to-use app . However, recent updates have significantly degraded the user experience, with many reporting freezing, crashing, and navigation issues, such as being unable to go back from a listing or exit photo views R61R69R81. The app's performance on iPads is particularly poor, often only showing pictures without details .
Reliability & Trustworthiness tieR1R9R10R13
OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace OfferUp is plagued by issues of scammers, fake profiles, and bot activity, making it difficult to find legitimate buyers or sellers R1R9R10R13. Users frequently report non-communicative sellers and buyers who ghost after initial inquiries R10. Some users also experience account deactivation without clear reasons .
Cars.com Cars.com faces criticism for bait-and-switch tactics by dealers and misleading listings that claim to be by owner but are from dealerships . Some users also report issues with fake prices and an inability to report such postings . However, some users have had seamless and reliable experiences buying cars .
Price/Value & Monetization tieR3R4R6R7
OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace OfferUp is a free app but has increasingly become a 'money-grabbing app' with intrusive pop-up ads R3R6R27. Paid promotion features are often ineffective, with users reporting little to no increase in views or sales despite paying R4R7.
Cars.com Cars.com is free to download. While specific monetization strategies aren't detailed in reviews, the app's recent updates have introduced frustrations that users attribute to an 'overstuffed' or 'AI-driven mess,' suggesting a shift in focus that negatively impacts the free user experience R61.
Support & Technical Issues edge: OfferUp Buy & Sell MarketplaceR6R21R30R31
OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace OfferUp users report issues with notifications, app freezing, and messages not showing up R6R21R30. Some also struggle with location settings not working correctly, leading to irrelevant search results, and report unhelpful support when trying to resolve these issues R31.
Cars.com Cars.com has significant technical issues, especially after recent updates. Users report constant freezing, crashing, inability to sign in with email, and problems with search filters R61R69R70. There are also complaints about forced updates and the app not loading on older devices . Despite these issues, some users have had positive experiences with responsive support .
Pick OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace if

you are looking for a general marketplace to buy or sell a wide variety of items locally and are prepared to deal with scammers, unreliable communication, and intrusive ads .

Pick Cars.com if

you are specifically looking to buy or sell a car and prefer a dedicated platform, even if it means navigating recent app stability issues and some dealer-centric listings R62.

Evidence note: Cars.com's lifetime rating is higher, but recent reviews heavily skew negative due to significant app updates that introduced numerous bugs and usability issues. OfferUp's reviews show a consistent pattern of issues with scammers and app monetization over time, despite many positive experiences with individual transactions.

Frequently asked

Is OfferUp good for selling cars?
OfferUp can be used to sell cars, but users report issues with a lack of specific filters for owner vs. dealer listings and a general problem with low sales traffic and scammers, making it a frustrating experience for some R7R12R24R37.
Does Cars.com have issues with its app?
Yes, Cars.com has significant issues with its app, particularly after recent updates, including constant freezing, crashing, inability to sign in, navigation problems (like no back button or exit from photos), and poor performance on iPads R61R69R70R81.
Are there many scammers on OfferUp?
Yes, many users report that OfferUp is flooded with scammers, fake profiles, and bot activity, making it difficult to trust transactions and find legitimate buyers or sellers R1R9R10R13.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R12] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US App user face: Everyone knows the app. But it would be nice if we can filter out owner and dealer.. especially when searching for cars I’m tired of seeing all these dealerships posts and repost the same shixty cars everyday also bring back the multi view instead of the column view. It honestly just narrows the search down to a single view. I’d like to be able to see multiple listing and have an op
  2. [R18] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US Meh: Bring back shipping seriously. It created a way for so many people to ship and sell and get rid of their things. I understand you want OfferUp to stay local but completely taking off shipping is crazy.
  3. [R38] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 4/5 · US Love it, Hate it: I love OfferUp. I can spend hours looking at things. I can imagine most people loving it, too. Love how I have been able to purchase things, sometimes so easily. What I hate is the longer advertisements and not being able to get out of them quickly. Also hate that when looking for a car, I have to deal with those people that sell many cars and even dealerships. There should be a
  4. [R62] Cars.com 5/5 · US Great App: I used this to find a great deal on my last two vehicles. It helps isolate the better deals from the noise.
  5. [R3] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US it works: good market but the pop up adds make it much worse then facebook marketplace and craiglist and the search bar is really grammatically strict
  6. [R27] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US Pop up adds: Pop up adds are redundant and annoying when you’re looking at adds. Back to Craigslist.
  7. [R41] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 2/5 · US New Layout: I’ve never had a problem with this app. I’ve been using it since I stopped using craigslist. And this recent update that changed the layout when you search for vehicles or things is terrible please change it back to how it was. It was easier to view things.
  8. [R43] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US Not appreciating the new features at all: The new version of OfferUp is very in efficient comparing to how easy it was to locate and contact sellers or buyers. Not sure why the drastic change
  9. [R1] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US Scams and fake profiles: No real people on this app so fake
  10. [R9] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US Spam and scammers: This app used to be very good. Now is full of spammers and scammers. Why is the OfferUp management doesn’t crack on this and make it the good place used to be to buy and sell items ?
  11. [R10] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US Trust: You can’t trust that strangers will be honest. I’ve sold on this app before and had great experiences. My first time trying to buy I’ve encountered nothing but scammers and the 1 person whom seemed legit would never answer any of my messages. Why list an item for sale if you’re not going to communicate with potential buyers. Whatever item you’re trying to buy off this app, you’re better of
  12. [R13] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US Scammers: App opens links and takes you to weird websites. 90% bot activity on the site which they might be involved in. sketchy behavior don’t trust your info with these people
  13. [R4] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US Sucks: Sucks that now you’re asking me to pay for views and faster responses
  14. [R6] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US As years went by: I used to love offer up now it has become a money grabbing app with spam. Not only that I turned all of my notifications for alerts except messages and they still harass me with other none relevant stuff I don’t want to turn phone notifications off because I wouldn’t get any messages….all in all offer up degraded rather than upgraded
  15. [R7] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US IF YOURE IN THE OCALA AREA: Yea this gets no sales in my area. From Ocala on the way to Orlando. I scroll past the same items every single day. My items has been up for so long not a single like or reply. Just views, and not that many either. I even used the promote thing I promise you it doesn’t work. Used it twice, just wasted my money honestly.
  16. [R21] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US Great app: Gr8 app if it would work. Says I have 4 unread messages but nothing shows
  17. [R30] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US Feedback: I’ve had so much problems, each time I opened the app, the Error from ur side will pop up n told me to try again; even when I was notified that I had new notification in Inbox. This has been very frustrating n time consuming f me. Hope u can resolve this. As of 6/20/26, there r some improvements since this last paragraph above. A bit easier to reach the app, but will freeze sometimes. 6/2
  18. [R31] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US Location: I live in Oklahoma and all of my suggested searches come from California. I have tried to get a hold of somebody with support here and absolutely nothing happens ever.
  19. [R24] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 3/5 · US Selling: A truck. It’s a different marketplace I understand. Just frustrating.
  20. [R37] OfferUp Buy & Sell Marketplace 1/5 · US It’s not a great app anymore for selling and buying: Since I used the app I was enjoying it. But now Tried to sell things but now you barely get any buyers. You are lucky even if you find one buyer in a month. It’s useless now Monty
  21. [R61] Cars.com 2/5 · US Classic example of overstuffing: Why take a perfectly usable app and turn it into a bloated “ai” driven mess? The app freezes constantly, AI interface prompts do always interpret the prompts correctly. Beta test with real users.
  22. [R69] Cars.com 3/5 · US Worked fine until most recent update..: Since the update, the app refuses to let me sign back in, and can’t even search without signing in. The app was at its peak before, this update ruined it.
  23. [R70] Cars.com 1/5 · US Can’t Sign in with email: I started using this app years ago. Now i have a new phone, i downloaded the app and i can’t sign in with my email address. I can sign in on the website with my email address, but the app has now determined I no longer have a valid email address. Thank you for nothing cars.com. I will just use CarGurus or Autotrader.
  24. [R81] Cars.com 3/5 · US Can’t exit out: Once you click on the photos there is no exit or x to click to leave and once you click on a car you can’t get off of it. Please fix this glitch because I have to constantly re open the app every time!

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store