Markets / Measured
Los Angeles private-party used car market report
Private sellers in Los Angeles posted at least 935 cars on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp in the 24 hours to 10:38 PM Pacific on September 29, 2026, by VinCount's count. The median ask over the last 7 days was $6,500, across 2,362 cars.
Every figure is a count of cars VinCount collected, printed with its n. A car posted more than once counts once.
How many cars LA sellers post
Nobody reads 935 ads a day by hand. Cut the list by year, make, price and title first, then read what is left.
935
new cars posted in the last 24 hours
Craigslist 203 · Facebook Marketplace 365 · OfferUp 367
24 hours to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
2,404
cars first posted in the last 7 days
7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
2,307
of those still up, the cars on the sheet now
n = 2,404 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
| Site | Last 24 hours | Per whole day collected | Last 7 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craigslist | 203 | 173 (3 days, Sep 26 to Sep 28) | 982 |
| Facebook Marketplace | 365 | 214 (2 days, Sep 27 to Sep 28) | 1,054 |
| OfferUp | 367 * | not yet | 368 |
| All three | 935 | 2,404 |
* OfferUp counted from 4:00 PM Pacific on September 29, 2026, when VinCount began collecting it.
A whole day is a Pacific day VinCount collected the site from midnight to midnight. It began collecting Craigslist on September 25, Facebook Marketplace on September 26 and OfferUp on September 29. A car posted before a site's first day counts only if it was still up then. Facebook Marketplace figures are the cars VinCount collected there, not every car posted on Facebook.
What private sellers ask
Half the cars ask $6,500 or less. 67% ask under $10,000, so a buy box that starts at $10,000 skips that share of what gets posted.
$6,500
median ask
n = 2,362 cars · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
67%
ask under $10,000
1,592 of 2,362 cars · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
| Model years | Median ask | n |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 and newer | $23,998 | 232 |
| 2015 to 2019 | $10,200 | 507 |
| 2010 to 2014 | $5,900 | 535 |
| 2000 to 2009 | $4,000 | 789 |
| 1999 and older | $7,000 | 299 |
| Ask | Cars | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under $5,000 | 879 | 37% |
| $5,000 to $9,999 | 713 | 30% |
| $10,000 to $19,999 | 485 | 21% |
| $20,000 to $39,999 | 210 | 9% |
| $40,000 and up | 75 | 3% |
| Site | Median ask | n |
|---|---|---|
| Craigslist | $7,800 | 968 |
| Facebook Marketplace | $5,900 | 1,030 |
| OfferUp | $5,500 | 364 |
| Type | Median ask | n |
|---|---|---|
| Cars and trucks | $6,500 | 2,279 |
| RVs | $16,950 | 46 |
| Commercial | $12,000 | 37 |
A median is the middle ask, not a value. It mixes trims, miles and condition. Hold your own buy against its year group, and compare the same car across sites before you read anything into the site medians.
n = 2,362 cars first posted in the 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026. Left out: 42 cars whose listed price is a payment, a placeholder such as $1 or $12,345, or an ask under $500 the ad does not repeat.
The makes and models LA sellers post most
Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chevrolet make up 48% of the cars with a make.
| Make | Cars | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota | 367 | 16% |
| Ford | 273 | 12% |
| Honda | 255 | 11% |
| Chevrolet | 239 | 10% |
| Nissan | 145 | 6% |
| Mercedes-Benz | 124 | 5% |
| BMW | 115 | 5% |
| Dodge | 71 | 3% |
| Kia | 62 | 3% |
| Lexus | 62 | 3% |
n = 2,356 cars with a make · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
| Model | Cars | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Honda Civic | 90 | 4% |
| Toyota Camry | 89 | 4% |
| Honda Accord | 65 | 3% |
| Toyota Corolla | 45 | 2% |
| BMW 3 Series | 41 | 2% |
| Toyota Prius | 38 | 2% |
| Ford F150 | 33 | 2% |
| Toyota Tacoma | 33 | 2% |
| Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 32 | 2% |
| Chevrolet Silverado 1500 | 27 | 1% |
n = 2,102 cars with a model · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
VinCount files each car under one spelling of its make and model, so "chevy" and "Chevrolet" count as one make. A car it could not place counts under neither.
Dealers posing as private sellers
About one "private" car in 10 reads like a dealer's. A dealer's ask already carries a markup, and the title may not be in the seller's name, so read the seller column before you call. The guide to spotting curbstoners covers the signs and what to ask.
240
cars VinCount marks as likely dealers
10% of n = 2,404 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
12
different cars carrying one seller's phone number
the most for any number on a car in the window · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
25
different cars carrying one passage of ad text
the most for any passage on a car in the window · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
One phone number behind 12 cars is a business, whatever the ad says.
| Site | Likely dealer | n | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Craigslist | 124 | 982 | 13% |
| Facebook Marketplace | 105 | 1,054 | 10% |
| OfferUp | 11 | 368 | 3% |
Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp cars here come from sellers the site lists as private. Cars a site itself marks as a dealer's are not on the sheet or in these counts. · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
| Reason | Cars |
|---|---|
| Reads like a business advertising stock | 105 |
| A passage of about 16 words on another car | 100 |
| Reads like dealer-website copy | 80 |
| Offers financing | 78 |
| Offers terms a car lot offers | 67 |
| Names a business as the seller | 37 |
| A phone number on 3 or more cars | 35 |
| Names a lot, an LLC or a stock number | 24 |
| Credit terms, such as "bad credit OK" | 12 |
| Links a business's website | 10 |
| Doc fees, or tax, title and license | 10 |
| Offers its own warranty | 10 |
| A money-down offer | 10 |
| Takes trade-ins | 4 |
n = 240 likely dealers. A car can show several reasons. · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
Titles, VINs, plates and price drops
Titles and VINs are what the seller wrote. VinCount shows them as the seller's word and does not check them against a title record.
176
name a salvage title, in the ad or the site's title field
7% of n = 2,404 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
About one car in 14 names a salvage title. Set your title filter before you sort by price.
9
name a rebuilt title
under 1% of n = 2,404 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
Ask to see the title itself. The word in the ad is the seller's.
300
posted a VIN that does not fail its check digit
12% of n = 2,404 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
About one car in 8 comes with a VIN you can run before you call. For the rest, ask the seller for it.
1,335
show a license plate VinCount read off the photos
56% of n = 2,365 cars checked · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
Hold the plate in the photos against the registration card when you see the car.
100
cut the ask at least once, across reposts too
4% of n = 2,404 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
A cut is a fact about the seller you can take into the call.
How long Craigslist ads stay up
193 Craigslist ads on the sheet came down in the 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026. 189 were deleted by their authors, 2 flagged by other users and 2 held for review.
40 hours
after posting, half the deleted ads were found down
n = 189 ads · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
The median deleted ad was last found up 30 hours after it was posted. Call the day a car you want goes up.
109
of the deleted ads were a car VinCount found in another posting too
58% of n = 189 · 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026
An ad deleted by its author is not a sale. Many are a repost, or the same car on another site.
VinCount checks Craigslist ads for take-downs every 3 hours from 6 AM to midnight, so each ad came down between the last check that found it up and the first that found it down. Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp are not checked for take-downs yet.
The next markets
Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix come next. VinCount does not collect them yet, so this report covers Los Angeles only. See markets for each one.
How these figures are measured
- The cars are the ones on VinCount's sheet: Craigslist owner listings, and the cars Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp list from private sellers. Motorcycles, boats, trailers, parts ads, wanted ads and rentals are left out.
- The window is the 7 days to 10:38 PM Pacific, September 29, 2026. A car posted more than once counts once, from its first posting, under the site it was first posted on. A repost does not make an old car new.
- The ask is the car's current asking price. A median is the middle ask, with its n beside it.
- Titles, VINs and the words behind the dealer marks are what the seller wrote. Plates and prices are what VinCount saw.
- This page changes each time VinCount measures again.
The Los Angeles cars in your buy box, on one sheet.
Early dealers pay $299 a month and keep that price after launch, when it goes to $499. Month to month, one flat fee per market.