Scrape data from Cars.com using Google Chrome

This tutorial will show you how to extract car data from Cars.com using Web Scraper Chrome Extension. It helps to gather detailed information about the new and used cars on sale in Cars.com.

What data are we extracting from cars.com?

  1. Car Name
  2. Price
  3. Seller Name
  4. Seller Address
  5. Rating
  6. Number of Reviews
  7. Contact Information
  8. Additional Info

The annotated screenshot below shows the data fields we will be scraping:

cars-com-scraping

cars-com-scraping-additional-information

Prerequisites

  • Google Chrome Browser – You will need to download the Chrome browser. The extension requires Chrome 49+.
  • Web Scraper Chrome Extension – The Web Scraper extension can be downloaded from the Chrome Web Store.  After downloading the extension you will see a spider icon in your browser toolbar.

Import the Car Scraper

After installation, right-click anywhere on a page, go to ‘Inspect’ and the developer tools console will pop up. Click on the tab Web Scraper and go on to the ‘Create new sitemap’ button and click on the ‘Import sitemap’ option. Now paste the JSON given below in the Sitemap JSON box.

You can also copy it from Github – https://gist.github.com/scrapehero/100da6c4cf9a57b6242b3624aca128b7

how-to-import-car-com-scraper

Obtaining the URL from Cars.com

Cars.com allows you to search for cars that you can filter based on parameters like location, new and used cars, deal rating, year, make, model, trim, and other specific features. This scraper allows you to scrape data from cars.com based on your requirements, you can select the filters for which you need the data scraped and copying the corresponding URL. Add the URL to the metadata by clicking on the sitemap drop-down and pasting the URL. In the Web Scraper toolbar, click on the Sitemap button and select the “Edit metadata’ option and paste the new URL (based on your filter) as the Start URL.

obtain-url-cars-com-scraper

Run the Scraper

Go to the Sitemap and click ‘Scrape’ from the drop down. A new instance of Chrome will launch, enabling the extension to scroll and grab the data. Once the scrape is complete, the browser will close automatically and send a notification.

run-car-com-scraper

Download the Data

To download the scraped data as a CSV file that you can open in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, go to the Sitemap drop down > Export as CSV > Download Now.

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Disclaimer: Any code provided in our tutorials is for illustration and learning purposes only. We are not responsible for how it is used and assume no liability for any detrimental usage of the source code. The mere presence of this code on our site does not imply that we encourage scraping or scrape the websites referenced in the code and accompanying tutorial. The tutorials only help illustrate the technique of programming web scrapers for popular internet websites. We are not obligated to provide any support for the code, however, if you add your questions in the comments section, we may periodically address them.

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