Edmunds vs PrivateAuto for Private-Party Car Transactions

Edmunds is an online vehicle research and shopping platform. PrivateAuto is a transactional marketplace that uses technology to make it easy to sell your car online or buy a private-party used car.

Let’s compare how the two sites stack up for private-party car transactions.

Edmunds provides vehicle reviews, pricing information, consumer tools, and a whole lot of cars for sale—all from dealerships. It’s great for vehicle research, and not so great for the private-party transactional experience.

Not applicable.

Edmunds does not allow private-party sellers to list a car for sale on the platform. It sells dealer inventory only.

PrivateAuto is the world’s only automotive transactional marketplace and is exclusively for peer-to-peer car transactions. We connect private-party buyers to private-party sellers, and then we give them all the tools they need to get the deal done, from secure messaging to instantaneous payments.

Everyone knows that it’s better to buy from a private party than a dealership. You get a better car for the same money when you cut out the middleman. You avoid dealer fees. And, in some states, you skip the sales tax.

PrivateAuto is the best website to find cars for sale by owner. Opposite of Edmunds, we have all private-party cars for sale, with no dealer inventory. We also provide a full suite of transactional solutions for you to get the deal done.

Sellers can easily create a listing for their vehicle and manage incoming offers via their dashboard, with the option to accept, reject, or make a counteroffer. They can chat with potential buyers via the in-app messaging feature without ever giving out their personal contact info.

With PrivateAuto’s ability to verify funds, sellers can stop dealing with buyers who can’t afford their car.

PrivateAuto doesn’t have a lot of downsides. We designed it that way after looking at the pain points associated with other platforms. If you find any flaws, let us know!

Edmunds and PrivateAuto are both free to buyers. Edmunds does not serve private-party sellers, while PrivateAuto charges sellers a mere $99 (pay now) or $150 (pay when the car sells).

Edmunds allows buyers to shop dealership inventory but doesn’t provide transactional infrastructure to get the deal done.

PrivateAuto is a fully transactional marketplace, with technological solutions for every stage of the deal. Private-party buyers and sellers can message one another without exchanging contact info, schedule test drives, do a step-by-step walkthrough of the entire transaction process, sign the bill of sale, and transfer funds–all through the PrivateAuto app. Because payments are instantaneous, a PrivateAuto deal can be done very quickly.

PrivateAuto is the clear winner in the payments round. Our PrivateAuto Pay banking integration allows buyers to send any amount instantly and fee-free.

PrivateAuto Pay offers the following benefits:


Edmunds offers no payment integration.

PrivateAuto lets users buy used cars for sale by owner, with technology to make it easy and efficient.

PrivateAuto has no dealer listings, meaning that all cars for sale are by private owners. With an average of around 250,000 listings at any given time, PrivateAuto is by far the best website to shop cars for sale by owner.

Edmunds's inventory consists of dealership vehicles only. Considering all the advantages of a private-party transaction, Edmunds fails to serve buyers looking for used cars for sale by owner.

The verdict on Edmunds vs PrivateAuto?