What is the opnion on autotrader?
- Thread starter gunning
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c_200k
MB Enthusiast
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- Feb 11, 2007
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- ML63
Last time I used it about 5-6 years ago it was was the biggest pain ever
I now use Pistonheads and ebay and that's not any better.
I now use Pistonheads and ebay and that's not any better.
kap02
Active Member
I personally think its expensive.
I have managed to sell my last 3 cars on eBay, especially if you do it as a fixed price. You can add lots more detail, plenty of pictures and be specific on how you want to trade.
So for example, you are using purely as an advert. Express that this is cash on collection deal. Please do no BUY IT NOW.
I would advise that you want to transact via a bank (in store) or use online transfer on the day for safety.
If somebody does want to leave a deposit make it worth your while, £250... lots of time wasters out there.
Also to those who want to drive the car, they must have valid proof of insurance.
I have managed to sell my last 3 cars on eBay, especially if you do it as a fixed price. You can add lots more detail, plenty of pictures and be specific on how you want to trade.
So for example, you are using purely as an advert. Express that this is cash on collection deal. Please do no BUY IT NOW.
I would advise that you want to transact via a bank (in store) or use online transfer on the day for safety.
If somebody does want to leave a deposit make it worth your while, £250... lots of time wasters out there.
Also to those who want to drive the car, they must have valid proof of insurance.
It's by far the most popular used car site, think it has around 80% market share. eBay being second. That's why they have us dealers by the short and curlies
kap02
Active Member
flango
Hardcore MB Enthusiast
Autotrader is an expensive pain good from a dealer perspective but incredibly expensive. For a private sale I also use pistonheads or a classified ad on eBay. The last 3 cars I sold were all from the response to the eBay ad and all sold for very close to the advert price. The last time I used Autotrader with exactly the same worded ad and price I got no response
grober
MB Master
The necessary demise of their printed edition last June 2013 was perhaps a significant signal they were no longer the dominant market player they once were? 
You will get the obligatory chap wanting to buy the car for his daughter but as he is working on an oil rig so can he send you a cheque and you deliver the car to the docks where it will be whisked away in a containor,,,,,,, etc etc,
epervier
Active Member
deleted
geraldrobins
MB Enthusiast
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I bought a car from Autotrader which is dofferent to selling of course. For buying it has a good search facility where you can narrow down age,mileage etc. Not sure if Ebay does this?. I think a lot of people looking for a car will search Autotrader so you could lose some customers maybe.
Pistonheads, Gumtree - both free (or at least were free for me 
)
Advertise on whatever MB forums you use (including here of course)
eBay - Classified advert.
If it's priced correctly it will sell in a week or two tops. It's amazing how many people ask far too much for months on end only to reduce price drastically then sell for probably less than what was a sensible price to begin with.
My top tip would be to do your research. Look at other similar cars for sale, why would anyone want to buy yours instead of those? If you can't answer the question realistically chances are it's going to be on sale for a while. You need to highlight the specific positives about your car or make it attractive price wise.
Good luck
Will
)Advertise on whatever MB forums you use (including here of course)
eBay - Classified advert.
If it's priced correctly it will sell in a week or two tops. It's amazing how many people ask far too much for months on end only to reduce price drastically then sell for probably less than what was a sensible price to begin with.
My top tip would be to do your research. Look at other similar cars for sale, why would anyone want to buy yours instead of those? If you can't answer the question realistically chances are it's going to be on sale for a while. You need to highlight the specific positives about your car or make it attractive price wise.
Good luck
Will
I recently advertised a car on gumtree ( free to advertise) , placing the ad late on a sunday (10.15 pm ) . Car was sold by lunchtime monday , and had several offers to buy it sight unseen! Phoned and had the ad pulled monday afternoon.
Teflonso
Active Member
Just sold my GTI on Autotrader.
Expensive, a massive amount of hits (like 800+) but very little action other than traders wanting to offer two lollypop sticks and a Des O'Connor record.
They e-mail forwarded a chase up e-mail which seemed to suggest I'd not had the original. They told me it was spam but couldn't explain how it got through the system. I remain suspicious that they just didn't let me have all the enquiries.
I also registered on PistonHeads. Cheaper, but zero contact (other than traders .......). The phone safe number they use is premium rate so no-one is ever going to ring it. At least Autotrader was a local rate number.
I hear good things about EBay. They'll be the choice next time.
.
Expensive, a massive amount of hits (like 800+) but very little action other than traders wanting to offer two lollypop sticks and a Des O'Connor record.
They e-mail forwarded a chase up e-mail which seemed to suggest I'd not had the original. They told me it was spam but couldn't explain how it got through the system. I remain suspicious that they just didn't let me have all the enquiries.
I also registered on PistonHeads. Cheaper, but zero contact (other than traders .......). The phone safe number they use is premium rate so no-one is ever going to ring it. At least Autotrader was a local rate number.
I hear good things about EBay. They'll be the choice next time.
.
Druk
Gone but not forgotten - RIP
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As a prospective buyer I would agree with the above. Autotrader has a much better selective search facility than Ebay which can get confused as you narrow it down.....then dumps the search
. So it's horses for courses. If you're selling a car the buyers prefer Autotrader. Just imho of course.This has long been a suspicion I have had that not all emails get through to the seller. I very rarely get a reply from traders on autotrader. I had wondered if they simply don't like dealing with email enquiries, or the car I was wanting to part ex was not to their liking, but then even when I didn't mention the car I still found I was getting maybe 1 reply in 10. Unless I am desperate to see the car, then I won't bother again, if they can't be bothered to reply then that is a sign of their customer service, though it seems perhaps it may not always be their fault.
Personally I use Autotrader to search for cars as they have more choice, and of the 10 cars I've bought in the past 3 years all have been through Autotrader. Ebay has caught my eye on a couple, some are repeated from Autotrader. Gumtree I just find awful to filter for what I want and Pistonheads is too small.
Most dealers don't know how to use a keyboard
