A tool - straight from the eighties and so useful now (Autotrader)

Name: cabletow

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Product:	Autotrader
Date:	18/05/02 (617 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: it has range and scope

Disadvantages: None

Autotrader is an icon of the eighties that has moved into the new century with grace and skill. This is not through active management but it has been driven by market forces and as such it has survived. Both a magazine and a website, it is dedicated to the sole aim of selling cars and car accessories to the Great British public and it does this very successfully.

The magazine is on sale for £2 at every newsagent and bookshop. It is sold nationally but is divided into 13 regions and each regional issue sells goods and services in that corresponding region.

It contains lists of motors that individuals want to sell giving a photo and a brief description with contact details of thousands of cars. These lists are subdivided into types and price ranges to allow the reader to find his needs quickly and easily. For a price range there is a choice of 5 different sizes of adverts and information you can buy and use to show off your old car to its best advantage.

Interspersed with these lists are adverts for motoring accessory companies ranging from insurance sales to bolt on go faster goodies that can turn your runabout into a lean keen fighting machine (unless you drive a Corsa of course)

The magazine also offers guides as to how best to sell your car and guides and advice should you be buying a car.

Why is autotrader so popular?

It has as its subject matter cars and car life, this is something that everyone needs at some time in there life and for a great many, mainly male it has to be said, cars and things to do with cars hold a great fascination. But it also appeals to the next most favourite thing in most of our psyche, and that is the possibility that there is a bargain out there. Next to cars most of us have a deep fascination with money and the chance to save a few pounds on our second largest purchase of our lives is an irresistible draw.

There is another aspect of this magazine that keeps many addicted t
o the need to purchase it, it provides information that makes up a large part of many peoples lives, again mainly male, it allows us to be knowledgeable about the price trends of our most treasured possession.

Is it a good guide to the market price of your vehicle?

No it is not, it is the best guide. It is the largest display of used cars in the country. Most of the adverts are listed by private individuals and most of the purchasers are again private individuals. If you have a hundred Ford Escorts listed and most are listed at, say £1000 then you will probably not sell yours if you list at ten times that amount. This means it is the real guide to what people are prepared to buy cars for, so it is a guide as to their worth. So much so that every used car and new car dealer has this months copy sitting on his or her desk, it is as essential to the car industry as the bible is to the church.

Is it a good tool to sell and buy cars from?

Yes it is. Buying cars from private individuals is risky. Apparently one third of cars sold in this way have a dubious past. But if you must nowhere else will you get access to so many. But if you do not want to run this risk it is a great resource to use to find dealers and car supermarkets that may have the make and model you desire. If you want to sell, over one half of all cars advertised by Autotrader are sold after the first appearance of the advert, often within a day. This may explain why Autotrader offers your third weeks advertising for free most sellers don?t need it anyway.

Is it worth the money?

This is a silly question. You are about to fork out a load of dosh on a new car, this is likely to be over £1000, what is another £2?

Go get a copy or visit www.autotrader.com and see for yourself. A tool for the car obsessed and a resource for those who like to bore the pants off anyone who will listen, apparently that Corsa with its low slung suspension, big bore exh
austs and gas flowed heads is worth at least £10000 and that will include the fluffy dice.

Summary: