How to: Tips for searching

Want to narrow down your search results on CLASSIC.COM? This post explains various tips to narrow your search to find the listings you are looking for.

Using search filters

Filters are a great way to search listings and markets on CLASSIC.COM – the deep specs and taxonomy behind our data allows you to be very precise on the listings that you are looking for. You will find the filter menu to the lower-right of the search bar on classic.com/search. Here is a quick video showing how to use filters:

Key filters available include:

Filter by the over 600 Makes in our taxonomy.

Once you select the Make, you will be presented with a list of Models associated to that Make.

Select only Manual / Automatic to filter by transmission, when available.

Body style filters will also be shown when the selected results have multiple styles available.

Of course, we couldn’t leave color out. Filter by both Exterior or Interior color.

Looking for only Highly Original examples? Use our Conservation Status to further filter.

Looking for only Right-hand Drive examples, or only 2-doors? You can do that too.

And if you want results from only a specific country, just select the locations you prefer.


Ready to give it a shot? Start searching now >


If you’d rather use keyword search instead of filters, you can do that too. Here are a few tips when using keyword search:

Classic.com Search Tips Image 1

You could start with a very broad search for “Land Cruiser”

Or, you could narrow your search by including a year, or range of years. You can also use the word “to” – using “1981 to 1984” or “1981-1984” will return the same result.

Then, if you only want to see certain models, you can use “quotes” to have an exact match for only that term – such as “FJ40” shown here.

Or, you could include “negative” keywords by using a “minus” symbol before a keyword. In this example, you would see all results except for any vehicles that include “fj40” in the title.

And, if you want to see two different terms, you can use (parenthesis) with “OR” in-between the terms to include both – as shown here, searching for FJ40 or FJ43.


Have fun and search away! But before you go, here are a few more frequently asked questions about search:

  • Capitalization does not matter, results for “FJ40” would be the same as “fj40”
  • Order of keywords does not matter, results for “1984 FJ40” would be the same as “FJ40 1984”
  • Spelling is important! If you aren’t seeing results, double-check your spelling.