Used car search

[Hoofy]

Just noticed the Used car search has been updated.

Before, it was pretty awful. Much worse than Autotrader's search.

Now... THANK YOU! It's so much better than Autotrader's search!

That's all I wanted to post.

[Ben Lowden]

Thank you for the feedback

[Hoofy]

Ben Lowden said:

Thank you for the feedback

I was very surprised as my bookmark didn't work properly and the interface looked different.

[joropug]

Piece of feedback though, I would suggest that the columns read downwards then back to the top of the middle column, like a newspaper.

For instance 3 series would be much clearer if they were above one another

[Ben Lowden]

joropug said:

Piece of feedback though, I would suggest that the columns read downwards then back to the top of the middle column, like a newspaper.

For instance 3 series would be much clearer if they were above one another.

Thanks for that, much appreciated. That page will be revamped in due course as well.

[joropug]

Ben Lowden said:

Thanks for that, much appreciated. That page will be revamped in due course as well.

Nice! As an aside, I haven't really used the search before and I'm having a look at G30 3 series - I presume this is a design limitation and they are auto categorised by year but a search for G30 2019 on models, when ordered by cheapest first, has a ton of F30 models that happen to be a 2019 plate.

[Matt Dell]

Yes, that is exactly the problem.

The way the BMW categories are done is historical back to PetrolTed. Back then, everything was uploaded by users filling out a form and selecting the model for sale. Now that we have hundreds of thousands of stock coming through each day via multiple back-end systems, we do our best to categorise by year and DVLA data but if there isn't enough information then each category falls back to year. In years where both types were produced, we have to overlap and that is why some cars get put into the wrong category.

We have it on our to-do list to improve this system by using better data providers so hopefully we get on to that soon!

[macdeb]

What's happened to the classifieds format? I can't seem to view as it was which was simple to do. I click on McLaren and can't select specific model. Now looks cheap copy of AT. Have I missed something or have they properly screwed it up?

[Matt Dell]

macdeb said:

What's happened to the classifieds format? I can't seem to view as it was which was simple to do. I click on McLaren and can't select specific model. Now looks cheap copy of AT. Have I missed something or have they properly screwed it up?

I've merged your thread with this ongoing thread.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, we have changed it. To view McLaren models, click back to get to the list of filters, and then choose Models. We're experimenting with some other ways of doing this to preserve multi-Make selection and not have to click back.

[macdeb]

Matt Dell said:

macdeb said:

What's happened to the classifieds format? I can't seem to view as it was which was simple to do. I click on McLaren and can't select specific model. Now looks cheap copy of AT. Have I missed something or have they properly screwed it up?

I've merged your thread with this ongoing thread.

Thanks for the feedback. Yes, we have changed it. To view McLaren models, click back to get to the list of filters, and then choose Models. We're experimenting with some other ways of doing this to preserve multi-Make selection and not have to click back.

Well, if I'm completely honest in all the years I've been here it's the worst it's looked. It was simple, well laid out and easy to use but alas no more. No need to click back as it was there in front of me before, make, model, numbers for sale at one glance and simple scroll down. Change is good if it improves the use, but change for change sake is not good. Can't see me viewing as I used to.

Edited by macdeb on Thursday 20th January 17:30

[RacingPete]

macdeb said:

Well, if I'm completely honest in all the years I've been here it's the worst it's looked. It was simple, well laid out and easy to use but alas no more. No need to click back as it was there in front of me before, make, model, numbers for sale at one glance and simple scroll down. Change is good if it improves the use, but change for change sake is not good. Can't see me viewing as I used to.

Edited by macdeb on Thursday 20th January 17:30

Just to pick at this a little more, are you talking about the page you got when clicking ‘buy’ from the menu which lists all the makes and models in a list?

[Hoofy]

Strange. I've always hated the car search facility here until 2 weeks or so ago! Now I'm hitting it every day.

[thegreenhell]

I can't see a way to change it back to ordering the ads in a list format rather than that grid. It's much easier to scan straight up and down rather than going back and across all the time.