How to scrape Cars.com
Cars.com (cars.com) is a website. This guide is built from our own checks of its public pages: what the pages contain, whether our requests get through right now, and the request settings that worked.
Ujeebu scrapes any public website. Not listed here? Try any URL in the Playground or ask us about a site.
28 of 32 of our checks passed in the last 7 days (87.5%).
Last check 2026-11-05 00:03 UTC · last pass 2026-11-05 00:03 UTC · checked with our own requests, never customer data.
Recipe one call
Use the Cars.com recipe: send the URL, get JSON
curl -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H "ApiKey: $UJEEBU_API_KEY" \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true' \
--data-urlencode 'recipe=cars-com'
The answer is {"result": {...}} with the fields of the recipe. Billed like any /scrape call: successful responses cost credits; blocked, timed-out and failed requests are free.
Run the code on this page with your own key: 5,000 free credits for 7 days, no card. Get a free API key →
Recipe
Call the recipe by name with the recipe parameter: the Scrape API applies its extract rules and the settings that work on Cars.com. Each recipe was run on two real Cars.com pages and keeps only the fields that came back on both; it is checked again every week, and hidden if it stops working.
Detail pages
Validated 2026-11-04One call: recipe=cars-com 5 credits (JS) a page
curl -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H "ApiKey: $UJEEBU_API_KEY" \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true' \
--data-urlencode 'recipe=cars-com'
The answer is {"result": {...}} with the fields below; the Ujb-Recipe header names the version (for example cars-com/detail@v1) and Ujb-Credits the cost.
What this recipe extracts
| Field | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
title | text | Used 2024 Honda Civic Touring |
description | text | Used 2024 Honda Civic Touring for sale at Eddy's Toyota of Wichita... |
url | URL | https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4e... |
price | text | $28,677 |
mileage | number (as text) | 47,804 |
interior_color | text | Black interior color |
engine | text | 1.5L I4 16V GDI DOHC Turbo engine |
vin | text | VIN: 2HGFE1F91RH328691 / Stock #: IT45549 |
estimated_monthly_payment | text | $523 |
Examples from www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf... on 2026-11-04, shortened.
Sample output (real, trimmed)
{
"title": "Used 2024 Honda Civic Touring",
"description": "Used 2024 Honda Civic Touring for sale at Eddy's Toyota of Wichita in Wichita, KS for $28,677. View now on Cars.com",
"url": "https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/",
"price": "$28,677",
"mileage": "47,804",
"interior_color": "Black interior color",
"engine": "1.5L I4 16V GDI DOHC Turbo engine",
"vin": "VIN: 2HGFE1F91RH328691 / Stock #: IT45549",
"estimated_monthly_payment": "$523"
}
extract_rules (9 rules): the rules behind the recipe
The API applies these rules and the settings js=true for you when you send recipe=cars-com. To change what comes back, send your own extract_rules (they replace the recipe's) or any setting (yours always win). Sites without a recipe work the same way with extract rules.
{
"title": {
"selector": "h1",
"type": "text"
},
"description": {
"selector": "meta[property=\"og:description\"]",
"type": "attr",
"attribute": "content"
},
"url": {
"selector": "link[rel=\"canonical\"]",
"type": "attr",
"attribute": "href"
},
"price": {
"selector": ".list-price",
"type": "text"
},
"mileage": {
"selector": ".pricing-box__value p span.fuse-body-large",
"type": "text"
},
"interior_color": {
"selector": "[data-qa='basics-entry']:nth-of-type(2)",
"type": "text"
},
"engine": {
"selector": "[data-qa='basics-entry']:nth-of-type(4)",
"type": "text"
},
"vin": {
"selector": ".subtitle",
"type": "text"
},
"estimated_monthly_payment": {
"selector": ".pricing-box[href='#calculator'] .pricing-box__value p span.fuse-body-large",
"type": "text"
}
}
Code
Complete scripts: set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable and run them as they are. Each one calls the recipe by name (the Go SDK has no recipe field, so the Go script sends the recipe's rules and settings itself), prints the extracted JSON, and prints the credits the request cost (the Ujb-Credits response header) on stderr. A non-200 answer stops the script with the API's error message.
Detail pages
Runs the recipe on the two pages it was validated on, one after the other.
pip install ujeebu-python==0.1.5 # Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
# Calls the recipe cars-com: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-04). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
# Uses the official SDK ujeebu-python 0.1.5: pip install ujeebu-python==0.1.5
# Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key python3 cars_com_detail_sdk.py
import json
import os
import sys
import time
import requests
from ujeebu_python import UjeebuClient
API_KEY = os.environ.get("UJEEBU_API_KEY")
URLS = [
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true",
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/135e37db-53cd-4baf-9fe1-1a9e00dd2036/?openLeadForm=true",
]
RECIPE = "cars-com" # rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
def scrape(client, url):
# a GET with recipe=: the API applies the recipe and answers {"result": {...}}
try:
response = client.scrape(url, params={"recipe": RECIPE})
except requests.RequestException as error:
sys.exit(f"Request failed for {url}: {error}")
if response.status_code != 200:
try:
message = response.json().get("message", response.text)
except ValueError:
message = response.text
sys.exit(f"HTTP {response.status_code} for {url}: {str(message)[:300]}")
print(f"Ujb-Credits: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Credits')}, Ujb-Recipe: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Recipe')}", file=sys.stderr)
return response.json()["result"]
if not API_KEY:
sys.exit("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.")
client = UjeebuClient(api_key=API_KEY)
for i, url in enumerate(URLS):
if i:
time.sleep(2) # be polite: one page at a time
print(json.dumps(scrape(client, url), indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
npm install @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk@0.1.2 // Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Calls the recipe cars-com: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-04). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
// Uses the official SDK @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk 0.1.2: npm install @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk@0.1.2
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key node cars_com_detail_sdk.mjs
import { UjeebuClient } from '@ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk';
const API_KEY = process.env.UJEEBU_API_KEY;
const URLS = [
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true",
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/135e37db-53cd-4baf-9fe1-1a9e00dd2036/?openLeadForm=true",
];
const RECIPE = "cars-com"; // rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
async function scrape(client, url) {
let res;
try {
// a GET with recipe=: the API applies the recipe and answers { result: {...} }
res = await client.scrape(url, { recipe: RECIPE });
} catch (err) {
const status = err.response?.status ?? 'error';
const message = err.response?.data?.message ?? err.message;
console.error(`HTTP ${status} for ${url}: ${String(message).slice(0, 300)}`);
process.exit(1);
}
console.error(`Ujb-Credits: ${res.headers['ujb-credits']}, Ujb-Recipe: ${res.headers['ujb-recipe']}`);
return res.data.result;
}
if (!API_KEY) {
console.error('Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.');
process.exit(1);
}
const client = new UjeebuClient(API_KEY);
const pause = (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
for (const [i, url] of URLS.entries()) {
if (i) await pause(2000); // be polite: one page at a time
console.log(JSON.stringify(await scrape(client, url), null, 2));
}
pip install requests # Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
# Calls the recipe cars-com: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-04). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
# Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key python3 cars_com_detail.py (pip install requests)
import json
import os
import sys
import time
import requests
API_URL = "https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape"
API_KEY = os.environ.get("UJEEBU_API_KEY")
URLS = [
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true",
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/135e37db-53cd-4baf-9fe1-1a9e00dd2036/?openLeadForm=true",
]
RECIPE = "cars-com" # rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
def scrape(url):
response = requests.get(
API_URL,
headers={"ApiKey": API_KEY},
params={"url": url, "recipe": RECIPE},
timeout=180,
)
if response.status_code != 200:
try:
message = response.json().get("message", response.text)
except ValueError:
message = response.text
sys.exit(f"HTTP {response.status_code} for {url}: {str(message)[:300]}")
print(f"Ujb-Credits: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Credits')}, Ujb-Recipe: {response.headers.get('Ujb-Recipe')}", file=sys.stderr)
return response.json()["result"]
if not API_KEY:
sys.exit("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.")
for i, url in enumerate(URLS):
if i:
time.sleep(2) # be polite: one page at a time
print(json.dumps(scrape(url), indent=2, ensure_ascii=False))
// Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Calls the recipe cars-com: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-04). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key node cars_com_detail.mjs (Node.js 18 or later)
const API_URL = 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape';
const API_KEY = process.env.UJEEBU_API_KEY;
const URLS = [
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true",
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/135e37db-53cd-4baf-9fe1-1a9e00dd2036/?openLeadForm=true",
];
const RECIPE = "cars-com"; // rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
async function scrape(url) {
const params = new URLSearchParams({ url, recipe: RECIPE });
const res = await fetch(`${API_URL}?${params}`, {
headers: { ApiKey: API_KEY },
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(180000),
});
const text = await res.text();
if (res.status !== 200) {
let message = text;
try {
message = JSON.parse(text).message ?? text;
} catch {}
console.error(`HTTP ${res.status} for ${url}: ${String(message).slice(0, 300)}`);
process.exit(1);
}
console.error(`Ujb-Credits: ${res.headers.get('ujb-credits')}, Ujb-Recipe: ${res.headers.get('ujb-recipe')}`);
return JSON.parse(text).result;
}
if (!API_KEY) {
console.error('Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.');
process.exit(1);
}
const pause = (ms) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
for (const [i, url] of URLS.entries()) {
if (i) await pause(2000); // be polite: one page at a time
console.log(JSON.stringify(await scrape(url), null, 2));
}
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
# Calls the recipe cars-com: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-04). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
# Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key bash cars_com_detail.sh (curl 7.76 or later)
set -euo pipefail
curl -sS --fail-with-body --max-time 180 -D headers.txt -G 'https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape' \
-H "ApiKey: ${UJEEBU_API_KEY:?Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.}" \
--data-urlencode 'url=https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true' \
--data-urlencode 'recipe=cars-com'
echo
grep -i -E '^ujb-(credits|recipe)' headers.txt >&2
<?php
// Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Calls the recipe cars-com: the API applies its extract rules and validated settings (validated 2026-11-04). Send extract_rules or any setting to override them.
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key php cars_com_detail.php (PHP 7.4 or later with curl)
$apiKey = getenv('UJEEBU_API_KEY') ?: exit("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.\n");
$urls = [
'https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true',
'https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/135e37db-53cd-4baf-9fe1-1a9e00dd2036/?openLeadForm=true',
];
$recipe = 'cars-com'; // rules and settings come from the recipe; add your own to override them
function scrape(string $url, string $apiKey, string $recipe)
{
$ch = curl_init('https://api.ujeebu.com/scrape?' . http_build_query(['url' => $url, 'recipe' => $recipe]));
$headers = [];
curl_setopt_array($ch, [
CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 180,
CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => ['ApiKey: ' . $apiKey],
CURLOPT_HEADERFUNCTION => function ($ch, $line) use (&$headers) {
if (strpos($line, ':') !== false) {
[$k, $v] = explode(':', $line, 2);
$headers[strtolower(trim($k))] = trim($v);
}
return strlen($line);
},
]);
$body = curl_exec($ch);
if ($body === false) {
fwrite(STDERR, 'Request failed: ' . curl_error($ch) . "\n");
exit(1);
}
$status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE);
if ($status !== 200) {
$message = json_decode($body, true)['message'] ?? $body;
fwrite(STDERR, "HTTP $status for $url: " . substr((string) $message, 0, 300) . "\n");
exit(1);
}
fwrite(STDERR, 'Ujb-Credits: ' . ($headers['ujb-credits'] ?? '?') . ', Ujb-Recipe: ' . ($headers['ujb-recipe'] ?? '?') . "\n");
return json_decode($body, true)['result'];
}
foreach ($urls as $i => $url) {
if ($i > 0) {
sleep(2); // be polite: one page at a time
}
echo json_encode(scrape($url, $apiKey, $recipe), JSON_PRETTY_PRINT | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES | JSON_UNESCAPED_UNICODE), "\n";
}
go mod init scraper && go get github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go@v0.1.8 // Scrape Cars.com detail pages with the Ujeebu Scrape API.
// Sends the extract rules and settings of the recipe cars-com itself: the Go SDK v0.1.8 has no recipe field and always sends js, which would override the recipe.
// Uses the official SDK github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go v0.1.8: go mod init scraper && go get github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go@v0.1.8
// Run: UJEEBU_API_KEY=your_key go run cars_com_detail.go
package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"errors"
"fmt"
"os"
"time"
ujeebu "github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go"
)
var urls = []string{
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/42ab7011-4081-477e-94b7-648baf4ea516/?openLeadForm=true",
"https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/135e37db-53cd-4baf-9fe1-1a9e00dd2036/?openLeadForm=true",
}
// The extract rules of the recipe, as the JSON the API takes.
const extractRulesJSON = `{
"title": {
"selector": "h1",
"type": "text"
},
"description": {
"selector": "meta[property=\"og:description\"]",
"type": "attr",
"attribute": "content"
},
"url": {
"selector": "link[rel=\"canonical\"]",
"type": "attr",
"attribute": "href"
},
"price": {
"selector": ".list-price",
"type": "text"
},
"mileage": {
"selector": ".pricing-box__value p span.fuse-body-large",
"type": "text"
},
"interior_color": {
"selector": "[data-qa='basics-entry']:nth-of-type(2)",
"type": "text"
},
"engine": {
"selector": "[data-qa='basics-entry']:nth-of-type(4)",
"type": "text"
},
"vin": {
"selector": ".subtitle",
"type": "text"
},
"estimated_monthly_payment": {
"selector": ".pricing-box[href='#calculator'] .pricing-box__value p span.fuse-body-large",
"type": "text"
}
}`
var extractRules map[string]any
func fail(format string, args ...any) {
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, format+"\n", args...)
os.Exit(1)
}
func short(s string) string {
if len(s) > 300 {
return s[:300]
}
return s
}
func params(target string) ujeebu.ScrapeParams {
p := ujeebu.ScrapeParams{URL: target}
p.JS = true
p.ExtractRules = extractRules
return p
}
func scrape(client *ujeebu.Client, target string) map[string]any {
// the int is the credits the request cost (the Ujb-Credits header), not an HTTP status
resp, credits, err := client.Scrape(params(target))
if err != nil {
var apiErr *ujeebu.APIError
if errors.As(err, &apiErr) {
fail("HTTP %d for %s: %s", apiErr.StatusCode, target, short(apiErr.Message))
}
fail("Request failed for %s: %v", target, err)
}
fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Ujb-Credits: %d\n", credits)
result, _ := resp.Result.(map[string]any)
return result
}
func printJSON(v any) {
enc := json.NewEncoder(os.Stdout)
enc.SetEscapeHTML(false)
enc.SetIndent("", " ")
if err := enc.Encode(v); err != nil {
fail("Cannot print the result: %v", err)
}
}
func main() {
apiKey := os.Getenv("UJEEBU_API_KEY")
if apiKey == "" {
fail("Set the UJEEBU_API_KEY environment variable.")
}
if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(extractRulesJSON), &extractRules); err != nil {
fail("Bad extract rules: %v", err)
}
client, err := ujeebu.NewClient(apiKey, ujeebu.WithTimeout(180*time.Second))
if err != nil {
fail("%v", err)
}
for i, target := range urls {
if i > 0 {
time.Sleep(2 * time.Second) // be polite: one page at a time
}
printJSON(scrape(client, target))
}
}
SDK tabs use the official Ujeebu SDKs (ujeebu-python 0.1.5, @ujeebu-org/ujeebu-sdk 0.1.2, github.com/ujeebu/ujeebu-go v0.1.8); there is no PHP SDK, so the PHP tab calls the API with curl. For agents and scripts, the same status and settings are at /scrape/cars-com.json.
Try it yourself
Run this on Cars.com with your own key
Get a free API key, set UJEEBU_API_KEY and run any script above as it is. 5,000 free credits for 7 days, no card.
Settings that work today
From our health checks over the last 7 days: the cheapest settings that return the real page most of the time.
| Endpoint | /scrape |
|---|---|
js | true |
| Cost | up to 5 credits a request |
For search and listing pages, change the query or the page parameter in the URL to paginate, and fetch the pages one after another rather than in bursts. Collect detail page URLs from listing pages first, then fetch each detail page. Our checks run with JavaScript rendering on (js=true): keep it on. Start with the default (rotating) proxy, the cheapest one that passed most of its attempts in our checks.
Proxies we tried on Cars.com (1), attempts and passes over 7 days
| Proxy | Attempts | Passed |
|---|---|---|
| Default (rotating) | 32 | 28 |
Highlighted: the cheapest proxy that passes most of our checks of this site.
Troubleshooting
The failures our own checks of cars.com ran into over the last 7 days, and what got the page in the same check.
| What happened | Times | What fixed it |
|---|---|---|
| The site blocked the request (HTTP 403 or a block page) | 4 | None of the settings we tried got past it in 7 days. |
What people build with Cars.com data
- Research datasetsBuild datasets of public pages for analysis, search or LLM pipelines.More on this use case
Limits and etiquette
- Public pages only. Pages behind a login, and data shown only to signed-in users, are out of scope.
- Keep the rate modest: fetch pages one after another or with low concurrency, and cache what you already have.
- Read Cars.com's terms of service before you collect data at scale, and do not collect personal data you have no basis to process. This guide is not legal advice.
Questions
Can you scrape Cars.com with Ujeebu?
Yes. 28 of 32 checks of public Cars.com pages passed in the last 7 days with the settings on this page.
Which settings work for Cars.com?
Call /scrape with js=true. On the default (rotating) proxy, 28 of 32 attempts passed in the last 7 days.
How many credits does a Cars.com request cost?
With these settings a request costs up to 5 credits. Only responses with HTTP 200 or 404 are billed: a blocked or timed-out request is free.
Which fields can I extract from Cars.com?
With the extraction recipes on this page, validated on real Cars.com pages through our API: detail pages: title, description, url, price, mileage, interior_color, engine, vin, estimated_monthly_payment. Pass the recipe as extract_rules in a POST to /scrape and the API returns those fields as JSON.
How fresh is this page?
The status and settings come from our own health checks of cars.com, which run around the clock. Last check: 2026-11-05 00:03:15 UTC; last pass: 2026-11-05 00:03:15 UTC.