If Not Autotrader - Then Where?
Discussion
I'm just starting to look around for a replacement for my Mini. Wanting something a bit bigger, considering a Kuga.....sorry, PH'ers!
What I have noticed the last few months is how little Autotrader has, compared to before.
I know from a few dealers that AT charges a lot to advertise, and many garages have come away from it, or so I was told.
However, that's always been my search tool. Question is, where else are the main places to search for used cars? Am I missing somewhere obvious? Feel a bit of a dummy for asking - but bar searching all the local garages individually......any suggestions?
What I have noticed the last few months is how little Autotrader has, compared to before.
I know from a few dealers that AT charges a lot to advertise, and many garages have come away from it, or so I was told.
However, that's always been my search tool. Question is, where else are the main places to search for used cars? Am I missing somewhere obvious? Feel a bit of a dummy for asking - but bar searching all the local garages individually......any suggestions?
Newsnow scrape a load of different classified sites and aggregate, so can be useful. https://www.newsnow.co.uk/classifieds/cars-vans-fo... . The downside is that it's second-hand, so some ads are gone when you click through, & there are some duplicate cars.
Otherwise you can check PH own classifieds https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=u...
Otherwise you can check PH own classifieds https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=u...
The used car market is dead in the water, I've been trying to buy for over a year and it's s
t!
Just take a look around your local sellers you'll find their forecourts half empty.
Even buying new you can't spec a car with some options because of the chip shortages, and the lead times are long.
Thank you Covid
t!Just take a look around your local sellers you'll find their forecourts half empty.
Even buying new you can't spec a car with some options because of the chip shortages, and the lead times are long.
Thank you Covid
Easternlight said:
The used car market is dead in the water, I've been trying to buy for over a year and it's st!
Just take a look around your local sellers you'll find their forecourts half empty.
Even buying new you can't spec a car with some options because of the chip shortages, and the lead times are long.
Thank you Covid
Hmmm. My friend in Norwich has a simple roadside dealership with 2 cabins and he sold 51 cars in June.t!Just take a look around your local sellers you'll find their forecourts half empty.
Even buying new you can't spec a car with some options because of the chip shortages, and the lead times are long.
Thank you Covid
Autotrader has almost half a million cars for sale right now.
E Bay has a huge number too. Gumtree the same. Then there's Parkers. Facebook for sale. Pistonheads for sale.
Over a million cars are for sale in UK right now.
I'm looking at the moment and am going through a daily routine of checking AutoTrader, Motors.co.uk, and then the neweer car supermarkets like Car Shop, Cazoo, Cinch etc., and the big franchise dealers like Evans Halshaw, Arnold Clark and Sytner.
Some of them save your searches which make it easier.
I always enjoy the hunt for a new car but it's consuming all my spare time.
Edit: st, forgot I do also check Pistonheads 
Some of them save your searches which make it easier.
I always enjoy the hunt for a new car but it's consuming all my spare time.
Edit: s
t, forgot I do also check Pistonheads Edited by durbster on Monday 5th July 18:15
It is a stressful thing buying a car for most of us. You find what you really want and it's 563 miles away on Google maps. DO you risk it and maybe find it's badly advertised or just plain crap and have 16 wasted hours of driving? Do you always wait until something close enough to what you want is local so you can have some comeback?
I've always enjoyed the car hunting down but then the travel and checking the car over always irks me. I've largely bought Cat D in the past and gone for low mileage with FSH to get affordable cars fairly close to home. No bad experiences with write-offs yet either. it's a good way in my view of getting a better car for the same price as your budget.
I've always enjoyed the car hunting down but then the travel and checking the car over always irks me. I've largely bought Cat D in the past and gone for low mileage with FSH to get affordable cars fairly close to home. No bad experiences with write-offs yet either. it's a good way in my view of getting a better car for the same price as your budget.
To be honest, Autotrader is a rip off and the website / app still isn't very good despite holding the lion's share.
But...I don't think I have ever bought a car from anywhere else. Sure you can look elsewhere like direct on manufacturer used stock websites but they are also on Autotrader...so why bother?
eBay classifieds is quite good value when selling but I have only sold 1 car through that - eBay filters and views make it harder to compare cars as you scroll through.
Pistonheads just doesn't have enough listings for day to day cars and anything on there is going to be on Autotrader too - It's better for specialist cars though I'm sure.
Gumtree and Facebook is full of rubbish and people not serious about selling - again very hard to compare cars against each other.
Autotrader at least allows you to set a limit on distance, years, miles easily if you know what you're looking for.
But...I don't think I have ever bought a car from anywhere else. Sure you can look elsewhere like direct on manufacturer used stock websites but they are also on Autotrader...so why bother?
eBay classifieds is quite good value when selling but I have only sold 1 car through that - eBay filters and views make it harder to compare cars as you scroll through.
Pistonheads just doesn't have enough listings for day to day cars and anything on there is going to be on Autotrader too - It's better for specialist cars though I'm sure.
Gumtree and Facebook is full of rubbish and people not serious about selling - again very hard to compare cars against each other.
Autotrader at least allows you to set a limit on distance, years, miles easily if you know what you're looking for.
Easternlight said:
The used car market is dead in the water, I've been trying to buy for over a year and it's st!
Just take a look around your local sellers you'll find their forecourts half empty.
Even buying new you can't spec a car with some options because of the chip shortages, and the lead times are long.
Thank you Covid
I suspect that many people have more serious reasons to curse Covidt!Just take a look around your local sellers you'll find their forecourts half empty.
Even buying new you can't spec a car with some options because of the chip shortages, and the lead times are long.
Thank you Covid
If anyone is redoing the same searches all the time, you can shortcut that in case you aren't aware.
You may have noticed that most search sites add your search terms in the URL so you can bookmark the page and return to it without having to fill all the criteria again.
What you can then do is save them all to one bookmark folder, and then middle-click on the folder to open all the sites at once with the search terms populated. It saves a lot of time if you're looking regularly.
You may have noticed that most search sites add your search terms in the URL so you can bookmark the page and return to it without having to fill all the criteria again.
What you can then do is save them all to one bookmark folder, and then middle-click on the folder to open all the sites at once with the search terms populated. It saves a lot of time if you're looking regularly.
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