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Getting Started

Car Search Dashboard is a self-hosted Next.js app that automatically scrapes used Toyota truck listings from KBB, Autotrader, and Facebook Marketplace, scores each deal against market comparables, and gives you a filterable dashboard to track favorites, notes, and price changes.

Built to find a used Toyota Tacoma, 4Runner, or Tundra under $15k near Huntington Beach, CA — but easily reconfigured for any make, model, price range, and zip code.

What the Dashboard Does​

  • Auto-scrapes KBB, Autotrader, and Facebook Marketplace for Toyota trucks matching your search criteria
  • Scores every deal on a 0–10 scale using a two-layer algorithm: absolute factors (price vs budget, mileage/year, history flags) plus relative comparison against current market comps
  • Deduplicates listings by VIN or listing URL across sources and across multiple zip codes
  • Tracks price changes over time with charts so you can see if a listing is dropping
  • Multi-zip search — automatically searches ~7 zip codes in a 50-mile radius around your configured zip
  • Favorites and notes — star listings you're interested in, log calls, add notes
  • Filter and sort — by source, price, mileage, year, deal score, and status
  • Grid and table views with URL-synced pagination
  • Configurable cron — scrapes every 30 minutes by default, adjustable in the Settings page without restarting

Key Features​

FeatureDetails
SourcesKBB, Autotrader, Facebook Marketplace (Cars.com currently blocked by bot detection)
Deal scoring0–10 scale, green ≥ 7, yellow 4–6.9, red < 4
DeduplicationVIN-based for dealer listings, URL-based for Facebook
Price historyCharts on the listing detail page
Cron intervalConfigurable in-app, default 30 minutes
DatabaseSQLite (WAL mode) via Drizzle ORM
FB scrapingOptional, toggle in Settings, requires Python + Playwright setup

Prerequisites​

  • Node.js 18+ (20 recommended)
  • pnpm (npm install -g pnpm)
  • Python 3.12 — only needed for the Facebook Marketplace scraper (optional)
  • The car_deals_search_mcp server cloned and built — see MCP Server Setup

Quick Install (5 minutes)​

# 1. Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/catesandrew/car-search.git
cd car-search

# 2. Install dependencies
pnpm install

# 3. Set up the database
pnpm db:push
pnpm db:migrate

# 4. Seed with sample data (optional but recommended for first run)
pnpm db:seed

# 5. Configure environment variables
cp .env.local.example .env.local
# Edit .env.local — set CAR_DEALS_MCP_PATH to your MCP server path

# 6. Start the app + cron worker
pnpm dev

Then open http://localhost:3000.

The pnpm dev command starts both the Next.js dev server and the standalone cron worker via concurrently. The worker runs in the background and fires scrapes on the configured interval.

Dashboard screenshot coming soon

Next Steps​