Where to Stream the Cars Movies: Every Pixar Racing Film

Lightning McQueen just crashed the Formula 1 paddock — literally parked at the Italian Grand Prix as part of a 20th-anniversary Disney and Pixar takeover — and a whole lot of people suddenly want to rewatch the Cars movies. Good news: this is one of the easiest franchises in streaming to track down, because Disney keeps almost all of it in one place.

The fast answer

Every Cars movie — Cars (2006), Cars 2 (2011), and Cars 3 (2017) — is streaming on Disney+. So are the spin-offs, the animated shorts, and the Cars on the Road series. If you have Disney+, you can start watching right now with zero extra purchases. If you don't, the ad-supported plan is the cheapest way in, or you can rent individual movies for a few dollars each from Amazon, Apple TV, or Fandango at Home.

Everything in the Cars universe and where it streams

A few notes on that list. The two Planes movies are technically spin-offs set in the same world (they came from DisneyToon Studios rather than Pixar proper), but if a kid in your house is on a Cars kick, they count. Cars on the Road is a nine-episode Disney+ original series that follows Lightning and Mater on a cross-country road trip — episodes run about 10–12 minutes, which makes it an easy next stop after the movies.

Because Disney owns Pixar outright, these titles don't bounce between services the way many franchises do. The Cars movies have lived on Disney+ since the service launched, and there's no sign of that changing — which is exactly what you want from a family franchise you'll rewatch for years.

What Disney+ costs

Disney+ has two main tiers in the US:

• Basic (with ads): around $11.99/month
• Premium (no ads): around $18.99/month, with an annual option that works out cheaper per month

Disney adjusts prices roughly once a year, so check the official Disney+ site for the current rate before signing up. For a Cars marathon, the ad-supported plan is a perfectly fine experience — ads on Disney+ are relatively light compared to cable.

If you think you'll want more than Pixar, the bundles change the math. The Disney+ and Hulu bundle typically costs only a little more than Disney+ alone on the ad-supported tier, and there's a larger bundle that adds HBO Max as well. If anyone in your household already pays for Hulu separately, switching to a bundle is usually the single easiest streaming bill cut you can make. Exact bundle pricing shifts often enough that it's worth confirming on Disney's site.

The cheapest ways to watch

There's no fully free, legal way to stream the Cars movies on demand — they aren't on ad-supported free services like Tubi or Pluto TV, and realistically never will be while Disney+ exists. But you have several low-cost paths:

1. Disney+ Basic for one month. Sign up for the ad-supported plan, watch the entire franchise (all three films plus spin-offs run under 12 hours total), and cancel if you don't want to keep it. There's no long-term commitment on monthly plans.
2. Rent instead of subscribing. Each movie rents for about $3.99 in HD from Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, or Fandango at Home. If you only want the original Cars, one rental is cheaper than any subscription.
3. Check your existing perks. Some mobile carriers and credit cards periodically offer Disney+ subscriptions or statement credits as a perk. It's worth a quick look at what your phone plan includes before paying out of pocket.
4. Your local library. Most US library systems carry the Cars films on DVD and Blu-ray, and many offer free digital borrowing through apps like Hoopla — selection varies by library, but it costs nothing to check.

For watching the actual Formula 1 races that sparked this crossover, that's a different setup entirely — F1 in the US runs through ESPN's channels — and we cover every option in our separate Formula 1 viewing guide.

Don't want a subscription? Buying digital copies

If your household will rewatch these movies dozens of times (a known behavior of Cars fans under age eight), buying can beat subscribing. Digital purchases typically run $19.99 per movie from Amazon, Apple TV, or Fandango at Home, and franchise multi-packs sometimes go on sale for less than the price of two individual films. A purchased copy stays in your library with no monthly bill and works offline on most platforms — handy for road trips, fittingly.

Physical media is the other forever option: the 4K and Blu-ray releases are widely available and frequently discounted, and they're immune to any future streaming reshuffle.

What order should you watch in?

Release order is the right call and also the simplest: Cars, then Cars 2, then Cars 3. The Planes movies slot in anywhere after Cars 2 without spoiling anything. Save Cars on the Road for last — it assumes you know the characters. If you're introducing the franchise to a young kid, note that Cars 2 is a spy-movie detour with a bit more action; some families skip straight from Cars to Cars 3, which returns to the racing story and is the strongest follow-up to the original.

Why Cars is trending right now (September 2026)

This section is the time-sensitive part: Disney, Pixar, and Formula 1 teamed up at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza to celebrate the franchise's 20th anniversary, complete with Cars-themed branding around the circuit and a special Mercedes-AMG safety car activation. It's a promotional crossover, not a new movie release — no new Cars film has been announced alongside it. Whenever you're reading this, the streaming answer above is the part that holds: the whole franchise lives on Disney+.

FAQ

Is Cars leaving Disney+? No. Disney owns Pixar, and first-party franchises like Cars are permanent fixtures on Disney+. Unlike licensed titles that rotate off streaming services, these movies aren't going anywhere.

Are the Cars movies on Netflix or Prime Video? Not as part of those subscriptions. Prime Video lists them, but only as paid rentals or purchases. Netflix doesn't carry them at all in the US.

Can I watch the F1 race with the Lightning McQueen tie-in on Disney+? No — Disney+ doesn't carry live Formula 1 races in the US. Live F1 airs on ESPN's networks; the Disney+ connection is limited to the Cars movies and promotional content around the anniversary.