CarsDirect Data Parser & API
CarsDirect is a US new- and used-car aggregator — an estimated under 5M visits per month — built on dealer feeds, and Carapis can extract its listings, pricing and spec data through one REST API. A lead-generation-oriented aggregator, CarsDirect pulls inventory and pricing from dealer feeds and pairs it with research content — accessible structured data delivered without you building or maintaining a scraper.
On request — not in the live feed today. We do not continuously crawl CarsDirect right now. Activation takes 2–3 weeks of engineering and is quoted per source, because each one ships with dedicated proxies, anti-bot tuning and ongoing maintenance. Ask us to add it.
| Country | USA |
|---|---|
| Type | Aggregator |
| Vehicle types | used, new, dealer |
| Monthly visits | <5M/mo (est.) |
| Active listings | dealer feeds |
| API access | No public API (parse-only) |
| Parse priority | ★☆☆☆☆ |
| Official site | www.carsdirect.com |
What is CarsDirect?
CarsDirect is a long-running US automotive site that aggregates new- and used-car listings from dealer feeds alongside buying-guide and research content. Traffic is estimated at under 5M visits per month. It is primarily a lead-generation and research aggregator rather than a top-tier shopping portal, with listing depth tied to the dealer feeds it ingests.
Market Position
CarsDirect sits in the long tail of US automotive aggregators, with an estimated under 5M visits per month — below the major portals (CarGurus, Cars.com, AutoTrader.com) and the valuation aggregators (KBB, Edmunds, TrueCar). Its inventory comes from dealer feeds, so its coverage overlaps with other feed-based sources; its value is as a supplementary aggregator with light anti-bot protection, making it one of the more accessible US sources to parse.
What the API returns
Response schema
Indicative — this is the shape, not a guarantee. Every source returns the same structure, so what you build against does not change when you add one. Which fields carry a value depends on the source and on the individual listing: a site that does not publish mileage returns null there, and CarsDirect is no exception.
List — GET /apix/api/vehicles/ — returns 30 fields per vehicle:
idstringsource_codestringbrand_namestringbrand_slugstringmodel_namestringmodel_slugstringtrimstringyearintegerprice_usdintegermileageintegerfuel_typeFuelTypeEnumtransmissionTransmissionEnumbody_typeBodyTypeEnumcolorColorEnumseller_typeSellerTypeEnumregionstringsource_locationobjecthas_accidentbooleanis_new_vehiclebooleanis_verifiedbooleanstatusVehicleStatusEnumis_availablebooleanfirst_seen_atstringlast_seen_atstringthumbVehiclePhotophotosarrayphotos_countintegerhas_valuationbooleanhas_llm_analysisbooleananalysisobject
Detail — GET /apix/api/vehicles/{id}/ — adds 23 more:
generationstringprice_originalstringprice_original_currencystringoriginal_msrpstringengine_ccintegerseat_countintegerdrive_typeDriveTypeEnumhas_simple_repairbooleanhas_recallbooleanrecall_fulfilledbooleanwarranty_typestringinspection_passedbooleanowner_countintegeris_undervaluedbooleanvaluation_scorenumberfeaturesarraydescriptionstringlisting_urlstringlisting_idstringvinstringvehicle_nostringavailability_checked_atstringstatus_changed_atstring
Abbreviated example:
{
"id": "0193f2c1-...",
"source_code": "encar",
"brand_name": "BMW",
"model_name": "320i",
"trim": "M Sport",
"year": 2021,
"price_usd": 28400,
"price_original": "38900000",
"price_original_currency": "KRW",
"mileage": 45000,
"fuel_type": "gasoline",
"transmission": "automatic",
"has_accident": false,
"listing_url": "https://...",
"photos": [{ "url": "https://cdn.carapis.com/..." }],
"first_seen_at": "2026-09-28T11:04:22Z",
"is_available": true
}Which sources you can actually query is answered by GET /apix/api/sources/ with your API key — it is the list your account can pull today, and it is the one to trust over any page on this site.
Coverage mirrors the dealer feeds CarsDirect ingests, making it a useful supplementary source alongside the major US portals.
API Quick Start
Python
import requests
resp = requests.get(
"https://api.carapis.com/v2/listings",
params={"source": "carsdirect", "limit": 20},
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
)
for car in resp.json()["results"]:
print(car["make"], car["model"], car["year"], car["price"])Get an API key at my.carapis.com and see the full API reference. Pricing is on the pricing page .
Use Cases
- Market research — supplement major-portal data with an additional dealer-feed aggregator. See market research.
- Pricing intelligence — cross-check dealer pricing across multiple feed sources for dealers.
- Inventory monitoring — track dealer-feed availability at low parse cost.