CashForCars.com vs PrivateAuto
Quick summary
CashForCars.com has a verified free tier; PrivateAuto does not.
Verdict
Which one should you pick?
Choose CashForCars.com when you want any condition, 200+ locations — it has a verified free tier.
Worth knowing: Payment is by check handed over at pickup rather than instant electronic transfer; no other limitations stated on site
Choose PrivateAuto when you want safer private-party sales — verified pricing: $29 listing + $150 closing.
Worth knowing: Not an instant-offer buyer — seller must find their own buyer and pay listing + closing fees; 'does not hold funds in the manner of an escrow service' and title transfer must happen in person
No universal winner — both entries are human-verified (dates in the Verification row below); weigh the limitations against your own setup.
Field by field
The verified fields
What it is
CashForCars.com
PrivateAuto
Pricing
CashForCars.com
No hidden fees + free towing
- 'No Hidden Fees'
- Free towing nationwide
PrivateAuto
$29 listing + $150 closing
- $29 per listing (one-time)
- $150 per deal closing fee (or $75 each if split with buyer)
Free access
CashForCars.com
PrivateAuto
Platforms
CashForCars.com
PrivateAuto
Standout feature
CashForCars.com
Immediate payment at handover — 'Hand over the keys, we hand over the check. No waiting for bank transfers' — backed by Copart
PrivateAuto
Facial-recognition identity verification plus 'Verified Funds' confirmation before meeting, built to kill common private-sale scams; buyers use it free
Limitations
CashForCars.com
Payment is by check handed over at pickup rather than instant electronic transfer; no other limitations stated on site
PrivateAuto
Not an instant-offer buyer — seller must find their own buyer and pay listing + closing fees; 'does not hold funds in the manner of an escrow service' and title transfer must happen in person
Verification
CashForCars.com
PrivateAuto
“—” means the official site does not state it — we leave it blank instead of guessing.
Straight answers
Common questions
Do CashForCars.com or PrivateAuto have a free tier?
CashForCars.com does, and PrivateAuto does not. A free tier can mean the whole product or a heavily capped version, so check the pricing detail on each card rather than the yes or no alone.
How much does CashForCars.com cost?
CashForCars.com has a free tier, and its paid pricing starts at No hidden fees + free towing as listed on its own pricing page. Tiers change — the card above shows every tier we verified, with the date we checked.
How much does PrivateAuto cost?
$29 listing + $150 closing, as listed on PrivateAuto's own pricing page on the verification date shown above. We record the tiers a site publishes and leave anything it does not publish blank.
What does CashForCars.com support?
CashForCars.com's own site lists Web, US nationwide, 200+ locations, Free towing. We only record platforms a site names explicitly — a generic "100+ games" claim is not counted as support for any particular title.
What does PrivateAuto support?
PrivateAuto's own site lists Web, iOS, Android, US nationwide private listings. We only record platforms a site names explicitly — a generic "100+ games" claim is not counted as support for any particular title.
What are the drawbacks of CashForCars.com and PrivateAuto?
CashForCars.com — Payment is by check handed over at pickup rather than instant electronic transfer; no other limitations stated on site. PrivateAuto — Not an instant-offer buyer — seller must find their own buyer and pay listing + closing fees; 'does not hold funds in the manner of an escrow service' and title transfer must happen in person. These are the limitations each product's own materials made plain, not a verdict on quality.
Is CashForCars.com or PrivateAuto better?
Neither is better in the abstract, and this page does not name a winner. They differ on the verified fields above — price, free tier, platform support and stated limitations — and which of those matters is a question about your setup, not about the products.
