AutoTrader.com's Vehicle Purchase Program

[B]

...think this is similar to Autotrader auction-style listings...

 

[Ray (blog)]

Does Autotrader guarantee the acv?

 

[autotrader]

Ray, can you spell out acv? Not sure what that means and I'll need to know that to direct the question to the right person.

 

[Scott (blog)]

ACV is Actual cash value. Yes it is guaranteed! The condition ,must be what the customer represented.

 

[Gerald]

Sounds like a great idea from AT standpoint to help show how much traffic they help bring in. 2 observations- many customers are "coached" to wait until the last second to "spring" their trade on a deal to ensure the best possible deal. So until you get to negotiations, you may not be entirely aware of their source if the customer chooses to hide the source as well (assuming it is a walk-in). Secondly, we all know from past experience just how objective customers are about their vehicles. I have met a couple of people in my years who are somewhat honest about the condition of the vehicle. I think this may potentially put the dealer in a position of trying to "discredit" Autotraders' ACV of the vehicle. The appraisal of the vehicle is topical at best. Perhaps that is by design. It will be interesting to see what happens. Not sure if it will help/hurt a dealer. My money is on the latter

 

[Jeff Green]

Good morning, I was wondering if you have an affiliate program in place to drive local traffic to your new trade-in marketplace. I generate quite a bit of local automotive traffic in the Austin/ Dallas areas.

 

[Jason Ezell]

I agree with the dealers here. Having sold cars before, if you give a shopper an ACV for their trade without being in front of them to block their exit from your dealership, most people will walk on an ACV figure. Like the dealer mentions above, I have NEVER given a trade value, much less an ACV, expecially over the phone, where the client said "that's very fair, I think my trade IS worth 4K less than what KBB says"

I'd love to track the data on that tool to see what the bail out rate is, and what the appointment setting percentage is once you give out an ACV!

 

[Lucy]

They're doing this in New York too. Check it out.

http://www.bigbucksauto.com/autotrader-ny.html

 

[Bob Cobb]

I am interested in buying an R.V. listed in Craigslist and the seller wants to use Auto Trader Veh. Purchase program.I'm a little leary ---How does it work and how can I find out what I (the buyer) have to do to make it work to buy this RV???

Thank you---Bob

 

[autotrader]

To Bob Cobb, any "seller" listing a vehicle for sale on Craiglist and then claiming to be using an AutoTrader.com buying program is most likely a fraud. AutoTrader.com at no point facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers -- even with our Trade-in Marketplace product (noted in this thread). Please visit www.autotrader.com/fraudtips for information and red flags on common online shopping scams. These tips can help protect you and your family when shopping online for cars, computers or anything else as the scams are similar across all product lines.