How often do you browse auto trader?

In the last 24h I've looked at X5, 4GC, 6GC, V8V, DB9, Rapide, McLarens under 100k, R8 V10+, 991 911s of all flavours, 4Cs, F430 and a quick check of keywords 'cage' & 'harnesses'. I have a problem.
 
Recently bought a car, and had a massive shortlist saved of interested cars prior.

One thing I really take pleasure in now, is keeping the ones saved where they gave me terrible p/x prices, or when I pulled out of negotiations, they would say "we have a few people interested and it will sell soon", yet a month later they're still advertised :D
 
Yeah :) Not much above the "First to view will buy innit bruv". I guess these guys are seasoned negotiators in comparison to me, but I was left a bit surprised by one dealer that refused to budge when we visited (prepared to sign a deal there and then), yet within a few days I quote "My boss has reviewed the figures since your visit and he has decided that we are prepared to go further on price to sell you the car. We need to sell the car, you and your wife like the car, where do we need to be to have a deal?". By this point he'd missed the boat as we'd found a more competitive p/x offer elsewhere.

Maybe letting people walk out of a showroom is all part of the plan, since if they come back you know you've got them hooked without much leverage, but it seems pretty high risk to me for the sake of a few hundred quid on a ~£15k sale (to be clear I wasn't after an unrealistic p/x value, I was prepared to take a bit less than CAP/Glass etc, I just didn't like the idea of being lowballed and told that's all they can do... it was one of those situations where I may as well just go the WBAC route and get more money)
 
gamerTM21 said:
Recently bought a car, and had a massive shortlist saved of interested cars prior.

One thing I really take pleasure in now, is keeping the ones saved where they gave me terrible p/x prices, or when I pulled out of negotiations, they would say "we have a few people interested and it will sell soon", yet a month later they're still advertised :D
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When I went to look at a local Renaultsport Megane Cup they apparently had interest from Yorkshire, 300 miles away because he ‘wanted a black one’ when there are a dozen black ones on AT much closer than central Scotland. Tried to low ball me on my trade in too. Shysters!
 
MissChief said:
When I went to look at a local Renaultsport Megane Cup they apparently had interest from Yorkshire, 300 miles away because he ‘wanted a black one’ when there are a dozen black ones on AT much closer than central Scotland. Tried to low ball me on my trade in too. Shysters!
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I quickly learnt that it's usually a fast one they're trying to pull.

Had it worst with a BMW dealership. Was initially told someone purchased it the week before, but finances were rejected. Was fairly easy to negotiate numbers with him, got down to an okay figure, told him I'll have a think about it, and he said to let him know ASAP as he's got 5 enquiries on the vehicle. Next day at 11:00, he calls and asks if I want to make an offer, I offer £100 less and he accepts. Then wanted a £1000 VIEWING deposit, which was then brought down to £500, and also told to reply ASAP as he had someone else getting their finances together.

In the end I pulled out as I didn't realise the thing didn't even have rear parking sensors, which was an essential in my next car. His follow up email was quite rude and sounded peeved off.

6 weeks later, and the cars still on AT, albeit they've had the cheek to increase the price by £300 too!
 
I check occasionally - I'm basically already planning what car I'll buy in '24 when the HP is up on my current car. Knowing I'm buying then will be around a 2-3 year old car so I'm already getting an idea of what is releasing now, what equipment levels each trim has etc. I usually find ways to identify whether a car has an additional option (like a winter pack or whatever) by which extra buttons are available on a steering wheel, or if there's an extra speaker it means there's an upgraded stereo etc. I make a few notes then I'll be very prepared when it comes to buying in '24 :)

A touch obsessive maybe, but I like a plan.
 
Only when I am looking for a car to buy so hardly ever as I tend to keep my cars for a long time. I have been driving since 1985 and am only on my 6th car.
 
What annoys me about AutoTrader is it shows a car at the top of the page and 2 at the bottom that appear as normal car ads but are "adverts" instead. It's pretty annoying when you are searching based on location and/or other criteria and you scroll down to see a car then realise it's 200 miles away with different spec than that you were searching for. No ad blockers seem to block these.

Also the claimed distance to the dealer from my postcode are way of the mark, sometimes double than what AT state.
 
LeeUK said:
What annoys me about AutoTrader is it shows a car at the top of the page and 2 at the bottom that appear as normal car ads but are "adverts" instead. It's pretty annoying when you are searching based on location and/or other criteria and you scroll down to see a car then realise it's 200 miles away with different spec than that you were searching for. No ad blockers seem to block these.

Also the claimed distance to the dealer from my postcode are way of the mark, sometimes double than what AT state.
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They’re paid for by the dealers for prominence in searches but yes, annoying when it’s twice your budget.
 
LeeUK said:
What annoys me about AutoTrader is it shows a car at the top of the page and 2 at the bottom that appear as normal car ads but are "adverts" instead. It's pretty annoying when you are searching based on location and/or other criteria and you scroll down to see a car then realise it's 200 miles away with different spec than that you were searching for. No ad blockers seem to block these.

Also the claimed distance to the dealer from my postcode are way of the mark, sometimes double than what AT state.
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Thinking of a 5 touring as next car, so on autotrader I go.
First page.
First is an Ad, but localish- 17miles
Second is a car that is local - 2 miles
Next 8 is cazoo.
Then Local - 13miles
Then Ad - 178miles
Last one "you may also like" which is the same as the first Ad
 
ash_scotland88 said:
Thinking of a 5 touring as next car, so on autotrader I go.
First page.
First is an Ad, but localish- 17miles
Second is a car that is local - 2 miles
Next 8 is cazoo.
Then Local - 13miles
Then Ad - 178miles
Last one "you may also like" which is the same as the first Ad
Click to expand...

Far, far too many Cazoo ads. I want to see and drive the car before I buy it.
 
Once every few weeks - checking out everything from Mondeo's to ridiculous cars I'll never buy :D
 
LeeUK said:
What annoys me about AutoTrader is it shows a car at the top of the page and 2 at the bottom that appear as normal car ads but are "adverts" instead. It's pretty annoying when you are searching based on location and/or other criteria and you scroll down to see a car then realise it's 200 miles away with different spec than that you were searching for. No ad blockers seem to block these.

Also the claimed distance to the dealer from my postcode are way of the mark, sometimes double than what AT state.
Click to expand...
Preston is apparently 160 miles away. 160 miles only just gets me over the border!
 
Probably every few days for auto trader. EBay daily. Friday night ritual of fb marketplace gumtree etc.

I search for a few things:
Less than £1k in case my engine goes bang
Something to replace the family hack
A (old) MG, Rover some old coupe as a project car

Realistically it's the family hack (2012 qashai) next as I'm tight and the mgs are going up in price. Probably way too much time looking at stuff I won't ever buy or travel for.

Similar frustrations to others with auto trader though.
 
Was just browsing pickups on autotrader... 2018 3L V6 Amarok at £18K thought that was a bit cheap...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109097190931

218,986 miles! by my calculations near £50K in fuel or about 17K a year (June 2018 registered)... I thought my fuel bill was bad on my V6 Navara..

Don't think I'd choose a pickup if I was doing 200+ miles a day without a good reason :s (hope that was business mileage).

I know a fair few people who drive pickups and worst I think is like £800/m in fuel.
 
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