Every used-car guide says the same thing: skip the dealer markup, buy privately. Sorted by city, that advice ranges from obvious to impossible.
| City | Private sellers | Listings |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 57.2% | 2,799 |
| Chicago | 54.4% | 1,339 |
| Seattle | 25.2% | 14,733 |
| Portland | 17.4% | 20,702 |
| Duluth | 14.5% | 1,093 |
| Omaha | 13.1% | 2,156 |
Portland is the striking one
20,702 listings — one of the largest markets in our data — and 82.6% of them are dealers. A buyer there searching for a private sale is working with a sixth of an already-filtered market.
Los Angeles is the opposite: more than half the listings are people selling their own cars.
What drives the difference
Dealer density. Markets with large consolidated dealer groups push enormous inventory volume online, and that volume swamps private listings in the count even where private sellers are active.
Registration and title friction. States vary in how painful a private transfer is. Where it's cumbersome, more people trade in instead.
Population density and turnover. Big coastal cities have transient populations — people leaving, arriving, needing to sell a car quickly. That generates private listings.
What it means for the advice
The saving is real but smaller than advertised. Private listings average $9,920 against $19,187 for dealers, but the private car is five years older with 32,000 more miles. Adjusted for what you're actually buying, the gap is closer to 10–20%, which we worked through in what the markup really costs.
In a dealer market, the advice is dead — use a different lever. Time on market, willingness to walk, and the fact that 73% of relisted cars keep the same price are all available regardless of who's selling.
In a private market, the verification burden moves to you. Private sellers publish a VIN 15.8% of the time against 69.3% for dealers, and their cars carry more branded titles — 6.9% against 4.8%.
Consider buying out of market. If your city is dealer-dominated and a neighbouring one isn't, the drive may be worth it — but the car brings its climate and history with it. A VIN check shows which states a vehicle has been registered in before you travel.
Frequently asked questions
Which cities have the most private car sellers?
Los Angeles at 57.2% of listings and Chicago at 54.4%. At the other end, Omaha runs 13.1%, Duluth 14.5% and Portland just 17.4% despite being one of the largest markets in the data.
Why are some markets dominated by dealers?
Large consolidated dealer groups push enormous inventory volume online, state-level friction in private title transfers pushes people towards trade-ins, and less transient populations generate fewer private sales.
Is buying privately always cheaper?
The headline gap — $9,920 against $19,187 — is mostly different cars. The private vehicle averages five years older with 32,000 more miles, so adjusted for what you're buying the saving is nearer 10–20%.
What if there are no private sellers in my area?
Use different leverage: time on market, willingness to walk away, and the fact that 73% of relisted cars keep the same price rather than cutting. Those work regardless of who's selling.
Denis Kataev is a serial solopreneur and the founder of ForCar. With 15+ years in software engineering and 10 years in SEO, he builds data-driven products end to end — backed by a sharp eye for design. At ForCar he mines proprietary vehicle datasets, turning raw numbers into buying advice you can actually trust.
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