Cars
Car alerts on Facebook Marketplace
Set up Facebook Marketplace alerts for a specific car: make, model, year, kilometres, price, radius and words to hide, with a worked example hunt.
What makes a good car alert?
A good car alert is narrow enough that every ping is worth a look, and wide enough that you do not filter out the car you want. Most bad alerts fail one of two ways.
They match words, not cars. A keyword search for “Corolla” can turn up seat covers, alloy wheels and parts as well as cars, and “Ranger” can match anything with Ranger in the title, not only Ford pickups. A car alert should use structured fields (make, model, year) so it only matches vehicle listings.
They stop at the title. A title like “2016 Mazda 3 Maxx, low kms” tells you almost nothing. The words that matter (“repairable write-off”, “no registration”, “finance available”, “needs a gearbox”) are usually in the description. An alert that only reads titles cannot hide those listings for you.
Facebook’s own Vehicles filters are a good place to start. When we checked the web version of Marketplace on 26 September 2026 (logged out, in Brisbane and New York), the Vehicles category offered these filters: Sort by, Price, Vehicle type, Year, Make, Model, Mileage and Transmission type. Facebook’s Help Centre also documents sorting any search by Date listed. Labels vary between the app and the website, and between countries.
Prices in this guide are in Australian dollars and are illustrative. Use your own local prices.
| Field | Why it matters | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Make and model | Matches cars, not parts or accessories | Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 |
| Year range | Cuts out cars too old for your budget or needs | 2015 to 2020 |
| Kilometres (or miles) | A good single guide to wear | Up to 150,000 km |
| Gearbox | Saves you reading manuals you will never drive | Automatic |
| Price range | A floor hides AU$1 placeholder listings, a ceiling keeps you honest | A$9,000 to A$18,000 |
| Place and radius | Only cars you would actually drive to see | Ipswich, QLD, 50 km |
| Words to hide | Removes junk and cars you have ruled out | wrecking, for parts, write-off |
A worked example: a small hatch around Ipswich
Say you want a reliable automatic hatch for a new driver, you live in Ipswich in south-east Queensland, and your budget is about A$15,000. Here is how we would set the hunt up, and why.
| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Makes and models | Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3 | Two cars that do the same job double your choice without adding noise |
| Years | 2015 to 2020 | Move the window to suit your budget: newer costs more, older means more kilometres |
| Kilometres | Up to 150,000 km | Leaves room for well-kept high-mileage cars; drop it to 120,000 if you get too many |
| Gearbox | Automatic | A learner who will drive an automatic does not need manual listings |
| Price | A$9,000 to A$18,000 | Set the ceiling a little above budget so you see cars you can negotiate on |
| Place and radius | Ipswich, 50 km | Reaches most of Brisbane and Logan, but not the Gold Coast |
| Hide if it mentions | wrecking, for parts, repairable write-off, statutory, hail damage, no registration, needs engine | These are cars you would never buy for a new driver |
Three habits make this work.
Start wide, then tighten. Run the hunt for a few days and look at what comes through. If half the alerts are 2015 cars with 148,000 km, lift the year to 2016 or drop the kilometres. It is easier to see the right settings in real listings than to guess them up front.
Hide words, not whole categories. It is tempting to hide “hail”, but “no hail damage” and “garaged, never seen hail” are good signs, and a simple word filter cannot tell them apart. Hide the phrases that only a problem car would use: “hail damaged”, “repairable write-off”, “needs engine”.
Give two areas their own hunts. If you would buy in Ipswich or on the Sunshine Coast but not in between, two smaller circles beat one huge one. You see fewer irrelevant cars and every distance on the alert means something.
For readers in miles: the same logic works for a 2016 to 2019 Honda Civic under 90,000 miles, $9,000 to $15,000, within 30 miles of home. Only the units change.
What a car alert should show you
An alert is only useful if you can decide from the lock screen whether to open it. For a car, that means the price, the kilometres, the gearbox, the fuel type and how far away it is. Anything less and you open every alert to find out.
Why reading the full listing matters
Facebook’s search results show a photo, a title, a price and a place. The seller’s description is where the car’s real story sits, and it is often the only place that says:
- Write-off history. “Repairable write-off”, “WOVR”, “statutory”, “rebuilt title” or “Cat S”. See how to spot written-off and salvage cars.
- Paperwork gaps. “No registration”, “unregistered”, “RWC not included”, “sold as is”.
- Mechanical problems. “Needs a gearbox”, “engine light on”, “timing chain noise”, “blown head gasket”.
- Dealer wording. “Finance available”, “trade-ins welcome”, “drive away”, a stock number or a dealer licence number. See how to filter out dealers.
- Price signals. “Negotiable”, “ONO”, “price firm”, “need gone this week”.
An alert tool that reads only the title can match on none of that. One that opens the listing first can hide “repairable write-off” even when the title just says “2016 Mazda 3, drives well”. Zoopy reads the full listing before it alerts you, so your filters see the description, not just the title.
Two limits apply to any tool. First, a filter can only act on what the seller wrote: a seller who leaves out the hail damage will not be caught by a hail filter. Second, word filters are blunt. Treat them as a first pass that saves you reading, never as a history check.
Before you message the seller
A few minutes of checking before you reply saves wasted trips. Run through this for every car that makes it past your alert:
- Read the whole description and every photo. Look for write-off words, dealer wording and repairs in the pictures.
- Check the price against similar cars. Our guide to checking a Marketplace price walks through it.
- Look at the seller’s other listings. Five cars on one profile often means a trader.
- Ask for the VIN. In Australia, a $2 PPSR search on the VIN tells you if the car is recorded as having money owing, stolen or written off. The Australian car buying checklist covers every step from registration checks to the transfer.
- Keep payment until you have seen the car. Deposits for a car you have not inspected are a classic scam; see our guide to Marketplace scams.
Every car guide on this site
This page is the hub for our car guides. Each one goes deeper on one step:
- How to filter out dealers on Facebook Marketplace: why dealer cars still show up, and the signs that give them away.
- How to spot written-off and salvage cars: listing words, photo clues and the official history checks in Australia, the US, the UK and Canada.
- Buying a used car on Facebook Marketplace in Australia: a printable checklist with PPSR, registration, roadworthy rules by state and safe payment.
- AutoTrader Australia alerts: watching dealer stock next to private Marketplace sales.
- Price drop alerts on Facebook Marketplace: how to hear about a price cut on a car you are already watching.
- How to check if a Marketplace price is fair: comparing asking prices without fooling yourself.
- Kijiji alerts: for buyers in Canada who want Kijiji and Marketplace together.
If you are new to alerts in general, start with how to get Facebook Marketplace alerts.
Sources
- Sort by distance or new listings on Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Help Centre.
- Facebook Marketplace: Vehicles near Brisbane and Vehicles near New York, filters checked logged out on 26 September 2026.
- Do a used car or vehicle search, Personal Property Securities Register (Australian Government).
Questions people ask
Can Facebook Marketplace alert me when a specific car is listed?
Facebook lets you search Vehicles by make, model, year, mileage, price and gearbox and sort by date listed. Its own notifications are covered in our Marketplace alerts guide. An alert app runs your search on a schedule and pushes each new match to your phone.
Should I search by keyword or by make and model?
Make and model. A keyword like Corolla also finds seat covers, wheels and parts. Structured make, model and year fields only match car listings, and you can then hide the junk words that still slip in.
Do I need to give an alert app my Facebook login?
Not with Zoopy. It reads public Marketplace listings, and you message the seller yourself in Facebook.
Can I set car alerts in miles instead of kilometres?
Yes. Zoopy lets you set the odometer range and distances in kilometres or miles, and shows each price in the listing's own currency.
Will a car alert show me dealers and write-offs?
It depends on the tool. Zoopy can hide dealer, salvage and damaged listings from your alerts on every plan, based on the words in the listing. See our guides to filtering out dealers and spotting write-offs.
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Keep reading
How to filter out dealers on Facebook Marketplace
Facebook no longer gives you a dependable way to hide dealer cars. Here are the signs that give a dealer listing away, and how to keep them out of your alerts.
Read the guide CarsHow to spot written-off and salvage cars on Marketplace
The listing words and photo clues that point to a write-off, and the official history check to run before you pay, in Australia, the US, the UK and Canada.
Read the guide CarsBuying a used car on Facebook Marketplace in Australia
A printable checklist for buying a used car from a private seller on Facebook Marketplace in Australia, with the PPSR, rego and roadworthy rules for every state.
Read the guide