What's trending in your area?
Join us as we take the ultimate road trip across the USA. We looked closely at our carmax.com search trends in late 2019 across the country to forecast which used cars and trucks promise to be America’s most wanted among 2020 shoppers.1
- Most Wanted Cars Nationally
- Most Wanted Features Nationally
- Most Wanted Cars - Northeast
- Most Wanted Cars - Southeast
- Most Wanted Cars - Midwest
- Most Wanted Cars - Southwest
- Most Wanted Cars - West
Most Wanted Cars Nationally
What was the most searched vehicle on carmax.com from sea to shining sea? That would be the Ford F-150 pickup. Rounding out the top three were two more trucks—the Ram 1500 and the Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Whether Americans are thinking about hauling cargo, making a grocery run, or towing a boat, they love surfing our site for pickups.
When it comes to vehicle features, four-wheel drive (4WD) /all-wheel drive (AWD) and leather seats dominated searches nationwide. According to our data, many Americans see themselves sitting tall in a leather seat when they fire up their 4WD pickup. The least-searched feature among our top 10? Front seat heaters.
Most Wanted Cars By Region
Spoiler alert: In four of our five regions, the Ford F-150 was our most-searched vehicle. Shoppers exhibited an independent streak in the Northeast, where the Jeep Grand Cherokee was the most-searched car in four of 10 states, and the Ford F-150 took the top spot in only three of 10.
Down the road in the Southeast, the Ford F-150 dominated. From the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia to the bayous of Louisiana, folks are longing for this light-duty, full-size pickup. The only other vehicle to make our Southeast list was the Honda Accord, as popular in Mississippi as blue crabs and gulf shrimp.
Moving to the middle of the country, in nine of 10 midwestern states, shoppers moved the Ford F-150, the Jeep Wrangler, or the Ram 1500 to the top of our search list. The Toyota RAV4 was the big cheese in “America’s Dairyland,” aka Wisconsin.
The Ford F-150 kept on trucking in the Southwest and West, where it was the most-searched vehicle in 10 of 11 states. Californians went down the road less traveled.
Overall, looking at our most-searched data late last year and projecting what it might mean for 2020 shoppers, the Ford F-150 is way ahead of the pack. And four of our top 10 vehicle searches on carmax.com were trucks. Jeep and Honda models are also popular. Nationwide, the most-searched feature was 4WD and AWD.
If you’re interested in learning more about used car trends at CarMax, check out these related articles:
- The 4WD/AWD Index
- Which Car Color is Most Popular in Your State?
- Discontinued Car Trends
- The Third-Row Showdown
1Based on carmax.com vehicle search page views from 9/1/2019 through 11/30/2019.
Unless otherwise noted, information relating to these featured vehicles comes from third-party sources, including manufacturer information. Product and company names may be trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of third-party entities. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by these entities.