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The problem with AT, for the consumer, is their ads are money driven - their listings are populated based on how much how much their dealer's are spending with the company - so basic consumer listings are pushed to the bottom. At least thats whats my limited understanding is.
Ah, I remember the days before the Internet, when AutoTrader magazines were on a rack in the convenience store. I used to buy them and dream about what car I'd like to have when I grew up.
I listed my Mazda MX 6 LS for sale on Craigslist and it sold the same day. I was shopping for a newer used Dodge Grand Caravan and I found it through Craigslist. Rarely found good ones on autotrader or cars.com. Found a good one on ebay though, but by that time I already bought a good G.C.
During my search for a new car, I am not having much luck with autotrader.com as I have in the past. I don't know if its the vehicles I am trying to find or are people(and dealers) using it less and less. It seems people are using Craigslist more and more. I don't know if it is because it is free or what. Any one have any opinions or ideas, on other places to look for cars? I am all over ebay/craigslist/ and to a lesser extent cars.com
I've used autotrader to locate the last 3 cars I've bought, so I don't know what to tell ya. If anything craigslist has been on the decline thanks to the near-ruinous volume of scams, repeat posts, posts designed to trip certain keyword searches that have nothing to do with what you're actually looking for, etc. And while craigslist is free for casual users, the neatly formatted posts you see from dealerships are not.
As others have suggested, if you want to find cars listed by dealers, used Autotrader. If you want to find cars listed by private parties, use Craigslist.
Ah, I remember the days before the Internet, when AutoTrader magazines were on a rack in the convenience store. I used to buy them and dream about what car I'd like to have when I grew up.
IIRC they were only a buck until they stopped being printed. That was cheap for all the cars they had in every issue.
I've used autotrader to locate the last 3 cars I've bought, so I don't know what to tell ya. If anything craigslist has been on the decline thanks to the near-ruinous volume of scams, repeat posts, posts designed to trip certain keyword searches that have nothing to do with what you're actually looking for, etc. And while craigslist is free for casual users, the neatly formatted posts you see from dealerships are not.
As others have suggested, if you want to find cars listed by dealers, used Autotrader. If you want to find cars listed by private parties, use Craigslist.
Agree with that statement regarding dealers vs private parties.
when looking for a car, autotrader is 95% dealers, private parties are almost non-existant. for cheaper cars and private parties ebay and craigslist seem to be where its at.
Just sold my car in a few days on craigslist. had a number of calls and emails from people looking and sold it twice, the second guy actually came thorugh with the $$ rather than a story. Granted, it had a few minor problems and I priced it at a really good price, but my feeling is cheaper cars are going quick on craigslist if they're in good shape and reasonably priced.
I suspect that there may be a different "class" of seller on Auto Trader vs Craigslist.
In my opinion, the sellers on AutoTrader seem older, and the cars look better maintained, these people are willing to PAY to advertise their vehicles. If they're willing to pay for the ad, then its more likely they've paid for maintenance on the vehicle too.
Sellers on Craigslist seem younger and the cars often look rougher, many of these people don't even want you to call but rather text them. I can't even count how many times I've seen CL ads with misspelled words and inaccurate descriptions.
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