Is AutoTrader Worth It?

[Nathan 0]

Hello,

I would like some opinions from car dealers.

 

Is adverting on AutoTrader worth the money?

 

What is their customer service like?

 

Thank You,

Nathan

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

Hmmm you don't work for autotrader do you ? 😉

[Nathan 0]

No, I don't, LOL i am just wondering what it is really like as i have never experienced their customer services and would like some opinions

[jamslug 91]

On the whole, if it's the customer service side you are worried about , they are quite good, however I have an ongoing issue at the moment where my account manager is not replying to emails etc.

Depending on the size of your business, (or how valuable you are to autotrader!) you will get a rep who will visit you and sort your problems. If you are not spending much money with them compared to the big boys you will get a telephone contact, and that can be quite frustrating when something isn't being done.

 

I am guessing you are not yet advertising with Autotrader and would like some opinions before you sign up?

[GreenGiant 287]

Oh dear.... can opened......worms everywhere....

[umesh 336]

I'm one of the 'smaller' accounts ! when I decided to down grade my account 18 months/2 years ago , I no longer got a 'rep' to visit , all done via telephone / emails , BUT to be fair he is very good and when I've had issues i always get prompt replies / calls back ! I can only comment on the way that I've been dealt with.!

But i'm sure there are many, many tales to be told !  

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

I wouldn't worry about the customer service, pay more attention to the complex pricing structure which changes by the week and requires a Enigma machine to decipher !!

[Autolink100 34]

I wouldn't worry about the customer service, pay more attention to the complex pricing structure which changes by the week and requires a Enigma machine to decipher !!

 

Never a truer word spoken!

[jamslug 91]

I would also advise you not to get too caught up in all their stats, figures and amazing technologies. The only thing all this will tell you is to spend more money. In my opinion just keep it simple and go for the basic package without all the extra bits. I had all the extras and decided to cut them all off to save money, guess what.... no difference to the number of leads I was getting.

[Gavin@Rousdon 137]

Whenever dealing with Autotrader or any web based advertising company you need to remember just one phase....................

 

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics"

[Nathan 0]

Thanks everyone, it appears they are quite proactive then!, I had heard that they weren't that brilliant at dealing with issues.

[metcars 395]

Exchange & Mart looks good value

[Wheelerdealer1 91]

What else have you heard Nathan, please tell 😋

[metcars 395]

Yeah Nathan, share your experiences

[Nathan 0]

its only that I have heard that they didn't treat customers brilliantly, but clearly that was wrong!

[whitestone679231 113]

There was once a rumor that Autotraders  unofficial motto was "THEY NEED US MORE THAN WE NEED THEM" and they did/do have an arrogant attitude dictating how to run your business how to price stock etc etc and laughing when we questioned annual double figure price increase, fortunately the competition has gained ground on them and personally having stopped advertising with AT we sell just as many cars without them as we did with them but have £3500 a month less overheads so now there motto must be "WE NEED THEM MORE THAN THEY NEED US"..  Previously it was only a handful of dealers with big balls that left AT and advertised elsewhere but talking to the trade and ex autotrader employees it is the norm for dealers to jump ship and not look back, hopefully AT execs will realise before it is too late that there arrogance and unaffordable price hikes are killing a brilliant market leading product..   

[AutocarsHull 7]

Where do we start.......... Yes, Autotrader sell cars, that's the positives over...... Outragously expensive and as said by a rep, 'we know it works'. Arrogance throughout the company seems as standard in terms they think they can charge what they like because you need us. Shocking. Our rep is nice enough BUT we only see her when they have another 'product' to sell us or as per the visit 5 weeks ago the price is going up £70 a week come January ! Thats nearly twice the motors.co.uk TOTAL monthly subscription !!! I'm sick of their arrogance and we would drop them today if we had another viable choice as an internet based business. They now have their hands on autotrade mail, which had a £40 per month subscription, now £67 pcm + Vat. Im sorry if this sounds negative, but Autotrader would probably make good bankers......

 

 

[Tom 164]

We've never been on AT...EVER! Motors did 2 sales last week, its getting better after a slow start. Ebay is the king look how many dealers are on there now compared to private sellers. The private sellers sell cars on Facebook FOC, there are dedicated pages around. 

[Wood235 36]

Save yourself a lot of cash and forget autotrader! Many of us have been there, done that, wasted money and been told by their reps how many hits on our cars we get, full page views etc etc......... But hang on.....where's the sales & the money rolling in? Motors.co.uk is a fraction of the price and giving us a good living, along with eBay motors pro. Don't get caught up in the Autotrader money drain...you will regret it!

[AutocarsHull 7]

Some questions on advertising effectiveness please ?.... 

1 How are people finding Motors after their comprehensive advertising campaign?

2 We cancelled Ebay Motors Pro last year as we were wading through and tired of people asking if we would take a used mountain bike/goat/ frisbee in swap against a 5 series, has the quality of enquiry changed for the better ? PS We sell prestige stock £7k upwards..

3 If you have Autotrader advertising (and the associated cost !) how do these compare?

 

Looking forward to your thoughts.......

 

Karl

[c_cars 56]

2 We cancelled Ebay Motors Pro last year as we were wading through and tired of people asking if we would take a used mountain bike/goat/ frisbee in swap against a 5 series, has the quality of enquiry changed for the better ? PS We sell prestige stock £7k upwards..

 

I think thats the nature of eBay. Our enquiries tend to be the same with a lot of leads being difficult to get replies from after the intial late night email enquiry!