RIP Autotrader

"Quadradeuce" (quadradeuce) 06/27/2018 at 12:00 • Filed to: None

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Autotrader has officially jumped the shark. Their new interface is now showing results that do not fit the search criteria. These sponsored listings are not the trim level I’m looking for (used Touring L Plus ) , and that picture is not even the current Pacifica! And they pepper these sponsored listings all throughout your search results. Time to switch to CarGurus for all my Unnecessary Car Shopping.

Ash78, voting early and often > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:09

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Thanks for the tip...I’ve hated AutoTrader for as long as they’ve been on the internet.

I usually end up going to Carmax as a proxy for wider shopping because at least they have quality control over most of their listings.

jasmits > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:10

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What killed it for me was when the sponsored listings started being shoved in your face regardless of filtering. Like I can’t really compare price low to high if I need to scroll through my whole price range for people who would pay extra, and then people who wouldn’t.

Quadradeuce > jasmits 06/27/2018 at 12:12

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Maybe I wasn’t paying attention before , but I always thought the sponsored listings at least met your search criteria.  Agreed that it has always been a pain to scroll past them.  Now they are everywhere in your search, not just at the beginning.

Nibby > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:12

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why would anyone want to buy a used pacifica

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:13

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I’ve always thought that Autotrader.ca has a far superior look to Autotrader.com.  I spend lots of time on both.

Quadradeuce > Nibby 06/27/2018 at 12:14

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OPPO: “Everyone should be driving minivans, DEATH TO TRUCKS AND CUVS!!!!!!”

*Looks at minivan that was engineered post Y2K *

OPPO: “WTF dude, laaaaaaaame.”

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:14

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car gurus has become my go to anymore.

Quadradeuce > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 06/27/2018 at 12:16

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That’s where my wide searches.  She’s clearly much smarter than I.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:18

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I like their interface, and the ability to easily block fleet and cars with accident history is great.

Stapleface > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:32

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Yeah, I just noticed this myself the other day. It is really annoying especially when you’re searching for a certain trim or features.

Search Parameter: 2018 Honda Accord Sport, Auto, 2.0, Red

Autotrader Sponsored Results: 2017 Accord LX, CVT, 1.5, Black.

At least they got the model right?  

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:33

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Their Mobile A pp interface is much better but it is gl itchy as Fuck

jasmits > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:33

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Yeah, they did at least meet the criteria before. They just got increasingly invasive to the point I’d already just slowly stopped going there. That’s absurd they don’t even match the criteria anymore

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:38

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being that i search for cheap beaters... dealerships have ruined all those kinda places for me...

seriously if you search for cars under $ 500 the first 100 orso pages of listings will be for brand new cars being leased at under $ 500 a month

at least over here

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 06/27/2018 at 12:40

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Except I find that not too many dealers (usually just the buy here pay here lots) are using CarGurus. I wish there was a system available to the public that showed every car at every dealer (and CL, for that matter) , not just those that subscribe to a specific service.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:41

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I must be the only one who still uses cars.com. I realized Autotrader was terrible years ago.

HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 06/27/2018 at 12:43

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Exactly this, also because I'm too stupid to understand Craigslist

PS9 > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:45

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To be fair, the dealer is the one responsible for the presentation and content of the ad. It’s not Autotrader’s fault whoever ran that thinks that’s what a 2017 Pacifica looks like. That picture and the lack of content make me think that this was Lazily thrown up there last minute to be a placeholder until they ad pics and content later.

Also I do have to ask; Does it make sense to complain about sponsored listings on a site where all the listings are sponsored? I’ve never posted to AT, but I assume the ‘premium listings’ that show up first are ones the dealer has paid for.

boredalways > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:48

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Well, now you know how they pay for Doug.

If you would like to learn more, click the link below to read more on Autotrader.com/oversteer.

functionoverfashion > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 12:52

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Just for kicks I looked at Cars.com this morning for a totally-unnecessary manual Tacoma, and discovered this:

Not only does it have separate categories for Auto, CVT and “other,” it also has an AUTOMANUAL choice which is really a good way to categorize “selectable automatics” or whatever clever marketing-speak each manufacturer chooses to use to describe automatics where you can shift.

Assuming it actually gets selected by a seller, this solves my problem with Autotrader where 90% of the cars listed as “manual” are automatics with a selectable mode.

So far, all but one of the Tacos I looked at was a proper manual in that category. NICE.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > HondoyotaE38: A Japanese and German Collab...wait a minute 06/27/2018 at 12:56

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Craigslist is actual cancer incarnate. 

ranwhenparked > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 13:24

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For me, they jumped the shark when price range and model years were moved to the "advanced search" menu. As if most car shoppers won't be interested in such petty details.

Tripper > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 13:38

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Agreed, tons of automatics showing up with the “manual transmission” filter switched on too.

As Du Volant > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 14:57

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As someone speaking from inside the car sales industry (in digital marketing no less)... Cargurus is the next big thing. They’re growing by leaps and bounds and the amount of business they send us has been doubling every year. They’ve blown away Cars.com and are catching up to Autotrader as the market leader. 

Quadradeuce > functionoverfashion 06/27/2018 at 15:00

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That’s nice, I hate clicking on a manual car only to find it’s one of these. I’ll have to play around more with cars.com.

Quadradeuce > PS9 06/27/2018 at 15:02

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I have sold on Autotrader, and I thought all listings are paid for. The Premium and Sponsored listings just cost more IIRC . My main issue is the sponsored listings being for a completely different trim level than my search. I’ve found that trim level is the best way to find a car with certain features, so that’s important to me.

Quadradeuce > ranwhenparked 06/27/2018 at 15:04

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Totally agree. Just one more step that doesn’t need to be there. Also, why start the age range at 1980 or whatever ? Most people are searching for a car that’s less than 10 years old? Can’t they program it to #CURRENTYEAR minus 10 years?

Quadradeuce > Tripper 06/27/2018 at 15:05

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Ugh, good luck finding an actual ATS manual among the sea of wrongly listed manu-matics.

Quadradeuce > KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time 06/27/2018 at 15:06

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Yeah, don’t bother switching to a browser or something to do research.  The app will make you start all over.

oldmxer > Quadradeuce 06/27/2018 at 21:42

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carfax used car site is worse, it’s pretty useless, the first few listings look good, but the farther you go they either don’t have the mileage or the price

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Quadradeuce 07/06/2018 at 10:47

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I don’t recommend calling her your “wide” normally doesn’t end well.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Quadradeuce 07/06/2018 at 10:48

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My biggest annoyance lately is that they dont have all my selections at the top of the results page anymore. So when I go alright fine the sunroof wasn’t that important I’ll just kill it and get more results....oh all those options are gone.