The Encar API
Three endpoints over live Encar.com inventory: search, single vehicle, and the brand and model index. JSON out, an API key in a header, nothing to install.
What it returns
Encar.com is the largest used car marketplace in South Korea and it publishes no public API. This is an independent REST API over the same inventory: around 200,000 live listings, read at the moment you ask, served as JSON with the Korean fields translated into English and German alongside the originals.
It is a read API. There is no account to provision, no OAuth dance and no SDK — a key in a header and an HTTP GET is the entire integration surface, which is why most people are through the first call in a couple of minutes.
- GET /cars — search and filter the whole inventory, paginated
- GET /car — one vehicle by Encar listing id, with a live check that it is still for sale
- GET /count — how many listings match a filter set, without paying a request to pull them
Your first call
Authenticate by sending the key as the x-api-key header. Not a query parameter, on purpose: query strings end up in access logs, browser history and shared URLs, and a leaked key is a key somebody else is spending.
One warning worth reading before you render anything: Price is in units of ten thousand won. A Price of 2820 is about €18,900, not €2,820. The field reference spells out the four fields that are usually read wrong.
curl -H "x-api-key: YOUR_KEY" \
"https://api.encar-api.com/api/cars?manufacturer=Hyundai&fuel=diesel&yearFrom=2019&priceTo=25000&count=10"Every filter
Filters combine, and anything you leave out is simply not constrained. Prices are given and returned in EUR — the conversion from won happens server-side so your code never carries an exchange rate.
| parameter | what it accepts |
|---|---|
| manufacturer | Brand, as Encar writes it: BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Audi. |
| model | Model name, e.g. X5 (G05). Partial names match, and a generation name narrows further: model=The New Carnival returns that generation alone, not the whole nameplate. |
| q | Free-text search across brand, model and badge. Aliases: keyword, search. |
| fuel | diesel · gasoline · hybrid · electric · lpg. |
| transmission | automatic · manual. |
| color | Exterior colour. |
| seats | Seat count: 5, 7, 9. Several at once as seats=7,9. The two ends are ranges, not counts — 2 means two seats or fewer and 10 means ten or more, which is how the source files them. A car's own figure comes back as details.seats from /car. |
| yearFrom / yearTo | Model year bounds, as plain years: 2018, 2024. |
| mileageFrom / mileageTo | Odometer bounds in kilometres. |
| priceFrom / priceTo | Price bounds in EUR — converted for you, not won. |
| sort | priceAsc or priceDesc. Left out, results come back newest first. |
| page | Page index, zero-based. Default 0. |
| count | Listings per page. Default 24, maximum 500. |
Limits and failure modes
A free key is 100 requests a day, resetting at midnight UTC. Every response carries X-RateLimit-Remaining, so you can see the ceiling coming instead of discovering it as a 429.
| code | what it means |
|---|---|
| 200 | A normal answer. Check X-RateLimit-Remaining while you are here. |
| 400 | A parameter could not be parsed — a non-numeric yearFrom, for instance. |
| 401 | Missing or unknown key. Send it as the x-api-key header. |
| 404 SOLD_OR_REMOVED | From /car: the vehicle is gone from Encar. Drop it on your side. |
| 429 | Daily allowance spent. X-RateLimit-Remaining tells you before it happens. |
| 503 | The Korean source did not answer in time. Retry once, then fall back. |
Questions people ask about this
Does Encar.com have an official API?
No. Encar.com publishes no public API and sells no API access. This is an independent service that reads the same listings and serves them as JSON; it is not affiliated with Encar.com.
What does the Encar API cost?
There is a permanent free tier of 3,000 requests a month with no card required. Pro is €49 a month for 150,000, Business is €199 for 750,000, and Enterprise is €499 a month with no request cap.
Get your API key
Free tier, 100 requests a day. Enter your email and the key arrives immediately, with everything you need to make the first call.
- 100 requests a day
- No credit card
- Your key never expires
Questions, or Pro and Enterprise volume? Reply straight to the key email — it reaches a person, not a form. Or message us on WhatsApp if that is quicker: +383 49 644 168
Get a key and make the first call
An email is all it takes. The key arrives immediately with a curl line you can paste.
Keep reading
Three endpoints, one header, JSON out. Everything below is the complete reference — there is no second, paid tier of documentation.
Combine any of these on a single call. The answer carries total, page, count and results[], so you can paginate off total without a second request.
One number a month, no per-call billing to forecast and no setup fee. The free tier is a real tier, not a trial that expires.