AutoTrader
reviews and complaints

I have only positive experience to share using autotrader when buying my car. I have received an amazing service of ***@autioneer. Net dedicated a lot of time to me. We did 5 auctions before I was able to get the exact car for $*** below my anticipated budget. Thank you Keith

As a potential customer considering AutoTrader.com, it's important to note the mixed experiences shared by reviewers. While some users have expressed satisfaction with their car buying process, others have faced challenges. Issues such as encountering scammers, receiving low trade-in offers, and dealing with unresponsive customer service have been highlighted. It's crucial to approach AutoTrader.com with caution, ensuring thorough research and vigilance to navigate potential pitfalls. Take into account both positive and negative feedback to make an informed decision that aligns with your car buying needs.

My first car buying experience was made easy by a smooth transaction and very helpful staff, and the crew has given me their full attention to all of my car needs. Thank you once more for your excellent assistance!

My truck buying experience was exceptional! My salesman Brian Law was very professional and made it easy! He was straight forward.No games! I would highly recommend Brian Law and Heritage Buick/GMC in Rome Ga.
Scott Purdy Memphis, Tn

I have recently purchased Toyota Urban Cruiser from R. C. Woods. I have received great service from the start to an end, The vehicle was as described, low mileage, good condition, great value. Most importantly, the company demonstrates excellent customer service by being helpful, professional, honest providing a spotless service!

I recommend this company to everyone!

I am in the market for a used truck. Attempting to find one online was an issue since every site once you have designed your query wants your email address, phone, etc so some salesman can call you. However, I found a great site Autotrader.com. You can design your search, save it and view at your leisure, refining criteria as needed. If you are in the market for a Used or New vehicle check out autotrader.

This site is a waste of time if you have decent credit, The dealers on the site will not sell you a car for the price advertised. If you have cash or are preapproved you won't hear from anyone. They only want to try to finance bpeople and issue warranties so they can scam people with poor credit. I got pre approved by capital one and went to several recommended dealers and did not get a call back, I'm pre approved for up to $*** but that would mean the dealership can't finance me or sell me a warranty so they don't bother to call back. I went to one dealer on their site and they tried to add 2100. 00 to the advertised price, I contacted autotrader to complain nothing was done. America is slowly becoming a 3rd world country.

I had been looking for a 2017 Chevrolet truck for several weeks now. I had been in contact with Schmitt Chevrolet over the last several days negotiating the price on a blue 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 stock number ***, on a Friday. On the next day, Saturday I checked the online price and it was $33,607. So I contacted the dealership and spoke with both the internet sales consultant, Angela and the salesman, Brent. Brent confirmed the internet price was correct. I asked to give a deposit to buy the truck of which Brent said he would call me right back. Two hours laters I had not yet received a call so I contacted the dealership and spoke with the sales manager and was told the truck was now at $37,000+ and he would not sell the truck to me at the advertised price of $33,607. Really?

How can Schmitt Chevrolet dealership advertise a new truck for $33,607 and tell the customer " sorry the truck is now $37,000+"? I feel totally strung along on the sale and taken advantage of! Over the last 20 years I have purchased 5 GM new pick up trucks! I have never been treated like this before from a dealer. I would strongly recommend... BUYER BEWARE... stay away from this dealership! Would you want to be treated like this. It is obvious they use the old sales tactic "hook... line... sinker".

Buyer... you may consider NOT a GM automobile!

Auto Trader - Auto trader is self-proclaimed to be the largest online car selling and trading website. From what I have seen I don't doubt them. Being specific for cars only it allows the web site to have allot more material and information only related to cars. Although you can't find the variety of cars and vehicles that you can find on E-bay motors or Craigslist.com, it does have much more comprehensive search parameters. You can search and compare multiple make/models at a time in conjunction with a zip code finder to maximize local results. You can also choose the distance in miles to search from your area code and you can also set a minimum and maximum price range you wish to search for. As advertised on their recent television commercials, for many listings they provide a 360? picture view of the car along with a short test drive video. Again there are user submitted reviews to help the decision process. Unlike E-bay motors, Autotrader.com does not have any form of comprehensive insurance against fraud or other potential losses, however the website does seem to be linked and integrated with a GEICO insurance link which will give you free quotes and 24/7 online service. Autotrader.com also has a large section devoted to new cars as well. These however are mostly posted by local car dealerships and unless there are blowout sales, you can't expect the great price breaks and savings usually associated with on-line car shopping.
An interesting addition that Autotrader.com has recently made is the inclusion of an auto show window. If you scroll down the home page you will find a dialogue box with links to information about all sorts of concept cars and upcoming cars, along with a full list of all the auto shows in your area.
For those looking to buy a classic car or anything built earlier than 1981, Autotrader.com has a sister site called collectorcartrader.com with a very comprehensive selection of classic cars, hot rods, and muscle cars.

They are a bit on the expensive side and lacking some nicer features but the customer service I feel far makeup for these shortcomings. I had created a TRED ad and it actually took over my autotrader ad. I was not told this would happen and essentially as a result I double paid for the same ad space and was a bit upset about the situation. Autotrader quickly resolved the problem for me despite not being the cause of the issue and I was able to start over from scratch after a refund.

I found a car on autotrader that sounded, "Too good to be true"
I contacted the seller telling them that I was interested... here is the conversation:

Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:36:26 +0000
From: ---------
Subject: Car for sale
To: ***@msn.com

I just noticed your car on autotrader and I am very interested however, it seems to good to be true. I read the description and it seems to be in perfect condition. May I ask why you are selling it so cheap?

Look forward to hearing back from you,

Dana Kirby

The car is still for sale and the asking price is $5,200. The car is located in Helena, MT and is registered on my name and the title is clear. I'm a pilot on cargo flights, my wife broke up with me recently because I'm always away from home. We just sold our house and split the money. This is the last thing I need to sell and split the money with her. Because I'm away most of the time I will not be able to deal in person, but I've already arranged the shipping and the title transfer anywhere in the US. I will pay the shipping fees. If you are still interested please email me back so I can explain how we can do this without me being present.

Thanks

PS: Here are some pics- 2008 Honda Accord LX Coupe 2D, Manual, 3.5L VTEC: http://s1119.photobucket.com/albums/k636/hondaaccordlx2008/

Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 16:27:39 +0000
From: -------------
Subject: Re: RE: Car for sale
To: ***@msn.com

Mark,

I am still interested. You already have the title and shipping fee arranged for? How much did that cost you? It sounds like you are not going to make much off of this car. First of all, im not going to purchase a vehicle that I can not inspect in person. Second of all, if you really want to sell this vehicle, you need to get someone you trust to meet with the person. We live in America and there are too many scams that occur these days. Furthermore, you do not work 24/7 so therefore you do get home time and should be able to meet with someone within the next three weeks. If you can arrange a time to meet with me I may consider doing business with you.

-Dana

Dana,

I want the payment to be handled by Edmunds Autos http://cars-edmunds.com. You will deposit 50% to Edmunds Autos and they will keep the money until you will receive and inspect the car. You will have a 5 days inspection period. If the car is not as described it will be shipped back on my expense and they will give you a full refund; if you do like and want to keep it you will pay the rest of the balance. This way, you will be able to inspect the vehicle before committing to buy it and I know that you have the money and you aren't just fooling around.
Giving the nature of this transaction please note that my sale terms are final and nonnegotiable. In order to move forward and register the transaction with Edmunds I will need your full name, address and phone number, after that they will contact you with the payment instructions.
I don't want to offend you, but the car is priced for a fast sale so please if you intend to apply for a loan or financing do not reply to this message!

Thanks

PS: I prefer to sell it at this price, I have my reasons, main one is this money split's half with my ex, and I really don't want to make her rich, just need enough money to pay for all divorce expenses and that is all!

Listed my car, they can't make it show up with similar cars, refuses refund. I have a plug-in hybrid car I am trying to sell. I can not select this fuel type in my listing but DEALERSHIPS with the same model and year can. Add ID: XXXXXXXXXX I can simply select Hybrid, which is the base model for these cars and puts me at the highest possible price. The car blue books for 25% more than a standard hybrid model. So when my car shows up it looks completely out of place. Plug-in Hybrid is in the title, but it does absolutely no good if the person has a budget in mind of $17k when mine is $22k. Dealerships do not have this issue, so I argue it is unfair practice that they can list their car correctly but I can't but I still have to let them keep $100 for a slightly above completely worthless add. Half my visits are from there tech department after I asked them to fix the problem the number jumped by 36. I have had a total of 71 clicks as of writing this and shown up in search results 7200 times. This is over 2 months. The add is broken, it has generated nothing but auto-mailers because they have it listed in the wrong category. I've gotten emails from both my cars.com add and craigslist, autotrader has been nothing but auto mailers. I have waited so long dealing with this because I was told they could fix it in 7-10 business days. I gave them that time and they didn't inform me of anything. I had to call back to find out that they would not make the changes. they said "they can't" and as a web developer I know it is a 5 minute job at worst. The company has the ability to make this right and resolve all my technical issues and I would not press for a refund, but they have refused and still said they are entitled to my money, I don't see how it would be like paying a TV station to run a campaign add in the wrong state. I am fine with them fixing it or issuing a refund, but one of the two should happen. I paid for a service that is not being delivered appropriately with no recourse.

Auto trader doesn't tell their customers that they prohbibit dealers from buying units on the site, which costs sellers half of their buyers in this market. I have personally bought at least a dozen units at near retail prices and zero disatisfied customers. This is just a scam site to allow Auto Trader to be involved and make money from financing customers cars at a profit, selling extended warranties at a profit, plus charging customers to and limiting their exposure to real cash buyers.

Kia of Muncie has an ad on your website that lists a 2023 Kia Telluride for $45,957 . This is below the MSRP which attracted me to this particular vehicle. I drove 65 miles to view and test drive the car after talking with salesman who verified the price. After a test drive the following day decided to purchase vehicle only to find out that they will not honor the listed price? I was told by representative of Kia of Muncie that the price was put on the listing by Autotrader and there is nothing they can do about it? I would like to know if that’s the case or not? Also not sure how you let someone to do business with you who doesn’t honor the advertised price?

i been searching a car for more then a year unfortunatley i couldnt buy one yet. the dealer are acting ridicilously they are using autotrader.com as a false advertisment site. I have checked cadillac escalade esv on autotrader.com penske cadillac listed 21 new esclade for sale. but unfortunatley when you check theyir own web site they have listed only one used cadillac esclade esv This is insane this is false advertisment. whatever they have listed on autotrader.com wrong either they dont have the car available. Pls don allow to use aototrader.com as a false lake this has to stop

I posted an ad... Purchased carproof and upgraded my ad as I wanted to sell fast. Ad would not post and I still can not edit! Carproof did not post and they cant find it. Wasted $75.00 and hours of my time. No phone # to contact autotrader. Ca (except for business end) and they cant help me. Carproof cant help me either. I will never use this service again, and I suggest that you dont either. What a waste of my valuable time and money. Not only do I want my money back, but I think that this service should be discontinued.

2/10/2018 Sales price on a 2013 Prius reported in AutoTrader website ad was deceptive. Only at the dealership did we learn there would be a $995 upcharge for upgrades to the car (shadow-tagging car parts, nitrogen in tires). None of this was listed in the AutoTrader Ad. Why is this allowed?

Spent almost 4 hours at dealership and left when I realized I had been lied to. Sales person had agreed to a $800 reduction in the sales price, but then later, when they connected us with a credit union to get a good loan rate, she did not include the $800 reduction in the sales agreement. Only at the last second as the final form was being reviewed, did I realize the $800 was not taken off the sales price as agreed. When I asked for it to be reinstated, the manager said they would not because they had gotten me the lower interest rate on the loan (from an outside credit union).

So, deceptive ad in AutoTrader, and deceptive sales practices. I would not allow them to advertise on AutoTrader any more.

Don't use www.autotrader.com, they will take your money and you will get nothing in return!
I paid for their ad and spent about $100 to put my car on this website. I even paid some extra to upload more pictures.
Months passed and I did not receive a single call! How was that possible? My car was in a perfect condition, price was very low. This site is absolutely useless and it's impossible to sell anything here, and in case you are not satisfied with their service they will not refund you.

I bought used car from the company www.autotrader.co.uk. I spoke with the seller, who provided the car and he told me that it was in perfect condition. It was fraud, because they wanted to get larger sum, and therefore they sold me old and broken truck. So, I tried to get compensation from them, but of course these guys refused to pay me anything. It was the worst experience with them, so check cars before you buy from them.

I tried to contact the company www.autotrader.ca within several weeks. I left them messages and sent emails, but nothing. No response, no news and no idea how to reach these irresponsible people. I really need help. I signed up for their services and they started to take money from me every week. I have no idea how to stop this crap. Please, help me to reach them or stop these fake charges.

On 28th July we saw an advertisement for a 2012 BMW 118D SPORT WHITE. It was listed for £5000.
Initially we thought it was too good to be true. I emailed the email address listed for further information. The email was dunc.[protected]@gmail.com. A Nancy Duncan.

They gave me a story about moving to Spain etc. hence the low price. She said a shipping company was handling the sale and If I should want to continue, to go to their website www.leandro-transport.com.

I visited the site on Monday 29th July Everything seemed ok. I spoke to the lady on the live chat option and she told me all the processes etc. She sent the payment details by email. Full of promises that it is 100% safe. We sent the £5000 shortly after. They said I will get confirmation in 24 hours and then the shipping will begin.
A few hours later, I went to the website again only to find that the website no longer existed. Filled with dread and embarrassment, I called the bank and they advised there was nothing they can do as already gone and we initiated the transaction. They told me to go to the police, which I did. The police took the report and I left.

On the Tuesday morning, I emailed them as if I didn't know they were scamming me. They confirmed my payment was received, and that shipping will commence. I knew it wasn't so I emailed shortly after advising them I am going to struggle to insure the car as an excuse and I would like a refund. I had no reply.
On the Wednesday morning I was researching this further. I came across a website scam.com.
It had a forum thread called Autotrader scams, the email I had been emailing was listed on their along with the made up story they scammed me with.

Someone will have informed autotrader about it, if it was listed on there, about this. Therefore I am extremely disappointed they allowed this advert to remain on their site if there had been scams related to that email address previously.
This wouldn't of happened otherwise. Now I have lost £5000. I never realised such a well know company like them allows things like this to happen again and again. I had obviously misplaced my trust.

I listed a car for sale then sold it privately. Tried to cancel the ad only to discover that my account had been cancelled for no reason. Called them only to find that they are on "winter vacation" for 3 weeks with NOBODY ON THEIR PHONES OR ANSWERING EMAILS.
What kind of business is this?
I emailed anyway and said remove the ad.
Much to my surprise I got an email saying the ad had been deleted...IT WASN'T.
Even after 3 days it's still up.
I suspect they want the ad on their site to look like they have lots of content so they can charge their advertisers more money.
What a great SCAM...
Advertise your car on ANY other venue and steer clear of Auto-Trader

I was shopping around for 2003 Ford Escape, found one, price was not that all great, maybe a $1000 less than going price. Contacted seller via email, got this reply:

"Hi, thank you for your inquiry. I am currently traveling through Europe. My car is located in Vancouver, BC but I can ship it anywhere in Canada for no extra cost. I have additional photos if you're interested. If you're interested please reply and I will send you details on how to send the payment."

Mileage was very low on this model, at least that's what the add stated. Now, who in their right mind would fall for something like this? Of course it's a scam and it is unfortunate that they're using autotrader.ca for this kind of a scheme. Stay away.

I filled out the lengthy online form and received a reasonable "offer" of $2165 for my 2004 Dodge Neon SXT with brand new tires and brand new rims (wheels). It is in very good condition for having 149000 miles. It has a spoiler, motorized moonroof, 6 cd changer, among other nice features. These cars sell for $3500 to $5000 on lots. I expected the local car dealer to wiggle it down to about $1900, because the offer required an "inspection". When the AutoTraitor accomplice was finished nitpicking, my offer was now just $510! My new tires and rims cost more than that just a month ago! What a pathetic SCAM. Please help spread the word. Such an incredible waste of time. I pity the fool that would accept their final offer. Obviously set up as BAIT and SWITCH.

We placed an ad on Kijiji in the HEAVY EQUIPMENT section for a Cat Grader for sale.

Autotrader.ca contacted us VIA the phone number posted on the ad and kept calling wanting us to purchase an ad from them in the Heavy Truck & Equipment Trader magazine. They offered us what we thought was a decent price for a color 1/6 page ad in the magazine. We were charged $194.

When the magazine came out, we looked and looked and looked on every page of the heavy equipment section and could nt find the ad. We called and were told which page to find it on. There it was, in the middle of the HEAVY TRUCK section.

We asked for a refund, because of course nobody interested in it saw it (people looking for heavy equipment will NOT be looking in the heavy truck section), We were denied any refund r even a discount and are now working with our credit card to dispute the charges. They told us 'because the as was printed there will be no refund'.

I have a GMC Truck. My air conditioner has been out for two years. I decided to finally get it fixed. I took it to Stuteville Ford on Friday 07/1/2011 to get the air conditioner fixed. I was told it would cost $234.00 to get it fixed. On the invoice, it lists the items that were replaced and it tested good (AC system check $49.95 ac blowing hot air. Found that ac belt needs to be replaced. Found leak at clutch cycle switch will need to be replaced for ac to work properly. Done RR ac belt RR clutch cycle switch. Added one more can of freon. Tested good.).
When I went to pick it up later that afternoon I was told it was fixed. I drove it from the shop to my house which is only ten minutes away and it did work for that time. I didn't use the truck again until Sunday July 3, 2011.
I proceeded to go from Atoka, OK to Sherman, TX and the air conditioner did not work at all. I proceeded to take the truck back to Ford on July 5, 2011. They later gave me a call and told me that my truck needed a new ac compressor in order for it to work. This was going to cost an additional $800.00. I went to pick up the truck and declared I would pay for the parts that were put in for the air conditioning so far, but I wanted to be refunded the rest and I was told that the air conditioner was working when I drove off the lot. I proceeded to tell the mechanic that I was told it was fixed but he did not fix it and he should have known the ac compressor needed to be replaced since he is suppose to be the expert. I told him I would pay for the parts that he had already replaced with no problem but I wanted the rest of the money refunded. The mechanic proceeded to tell me that we weren't going to be charged for them to look at it again. I told him that it wasn't fixed to begin with. I was told I will not be getting a refund.
The mechanic proceeded to say that he should have kept the truck there at least a day to make sure it was still working. I was told there would not be a refund. I feel that I was ripped off. I was told it was fixed then all of the sudden they want $800.00 more. The labor costs as much as the parts. The customer service was awful.

I have recieved a series of emails that started off from leads from autotrader.com. What first made me take notice was the similarities from these two people (Including the same destination address). The last email said he would send me a cashiers check, and I was to send him money back from the check. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to help catch the guy, because this seems suspicious to me.

Email #1 (James Carter, Yahoo address)

Hello,
Thanks very much for immediate your response please i will like to expresse how i feel about your car, sincerely speaking i am much impressed with the condition of the car and also with your punctuality in response to my request, i am promising you that with your prompt response in this transaction this transaction will be sealed within a month beside this car was a gift that my client wants to give to his wife for there successful, peace, endurance and patient in there marriage.they will be celebrating there silver jubilee on This month, sotherefore i will be happy if you continue to be punctual in this transaction so that by next two weeks
we can sealed this trasaction.please i will also need your coperation and honest in this transaction because am just a starter so i dont need to start with disappointment to my client.actually my client will be traveling to Brussel for National Assignment by next tommorow so i will like us to conclude the issue of price and any other information that will be needed from you.please my client instructed that he will like to see the car parked in his garage as soon as he is back from Brussel.he will be coming back in 12 days coming as soon as he live from Canada to there. Please there is a question below that i will like you to answer as soon as possible and also i will like you to send the answers to that question to my client private box so that he can expresse how he feel about the car and update you on payment information before then i have been permitted from him to get you posted on the payment confirmation.Have a nice weekend
Here is the following question below.,
1, Is the engine in perfect condition?.
2, How often do you service the car?.
3, How many miles of the car at the moment?.
4, are you the owner before placing it for sale?.
5, If yes, for how long did you use car?.
6, Has the car been involve in auto accident?
7, What about mechanical defulties on the car?
8, Your intension of selling the car?
9, What is your Bottom Price on the vehicle?.
NB.please get back immediately so that he will get
you posted on the payment/pickup
arrangement as soon as soon as possible.
please get back with the following question immediately
and send a copy of the reply to my client private email box
[protected]@yahoo.com and also to me.
Below is My Client's information:
Name:Robert Hammond
ADDRESS:454 2nd RD E,
Stoney Creek, ontario L8J 2X9.
Below is my Information
Name.James Carter
Address.1010 Dawson Rd Ontario Canada P7b5j4
Regards
James Carter

Email #2 (Smith Adams, Yahoo address)

Smith Adams,
Department of Motor Vehicles
CPD Information Services Branch
PO Box 942890
Sacramento, CA 94393
Thanks for the email. Please I have a client who is very much interested in buying your Vehicle. He happened to budget for a Vehicle last time and unfortunately it was sold. I have discussed with him and he has agreed that he will be willing to have the Vehicle shipped to Canada upon reaching an agreement with you.
Please I have Some Questions to Ask:
1) Is the engine in perfect condition?
2) How often do you service the Vehicle?
3) send pictures for my client viewing.
4) Are you the owners?
5) If yes, for how long did you use Vehicle?
6)Finally At what price are you willing to sell this
Vehicle to Us ...Bottom price.
Below is my client's information
Mac Schneider,
454 2nd RD E,
Stoney Creek,
ontario L8J 2X9.
Phone Number [protected]

Email #3 (James Carter) Yahoo address

Hello James,
Thanks for your mail. Hope you are good today? I am happy to inform you that we have concluded with our customer. The answers to my questions were well accepted.

I have spoken to my customer and he has instructed me to inform you that payment will get to you in a cashier check of $16, 700 which is a refund payment of a cancelled order earlier made by my customer.

Due to company policy this check has to be made out in this amount to you, because company policy only allows a refund payment on one cashier check, so you are required to deduct cost of your Vehicle $8, 700 when payment gets to you and refund balance $8, 000 to my clients shippers via western union money transfer for them to be able to offset shipping charges down here and from there.

After payment has reached you and balance sent back to him, our agent will come for inspection/pick-up and drive to a prepaid shipper to be shipped to my customer, while title papers and other necessary documents will be either collected from you at the point of pick-up or sent via fedex courier to my customer.

Confirm this and provide

1) Legal Full Name (check will be made payable to)

2) Address ( the check will be delivered to)
and Phone number for check payment to be delivered to you via courier service.
Thanks and have a splendid day.
send a copy of the reply to my client private email box [protected]@yahoo.com and also to me.

I received a scam email via autotrader.com. This is a first for me, as I "usually" get them via motoseller.com. The email headers are not useful because the message is relayed through autotrader. Unfortunately, the IP address of the "buyer" is not provided by autotrader (like it is for motoseller.com). All the usual warning signs are there.

SALES LEAD - Received from AutoTrader

Name: Mrwilson
Phone: () -
Email: [protected]@yahoo.com

Question
Hello seller, I am mailing you to make enquiry regarding the "item"
advert you had placed for sale. I will like to inform you of my interest
to buy this item urgently. I will like to know the present condition and
your last asking price for it.. Also make available some recently taken
pictures of the item for a closer look. I will like to know if you will
accept Canadian Money Orderas mode of payment. Kindly get back if you
still have this item available for sale . Thanks. Mrwilson