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Business Profile

Used Car Dealers

AutoTrader.com

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Used Car Dealers.

Complaints

This profile includes complaints for AutoTrader.com's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see

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AutoTrader.com has 6 locations, listed below.

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    Customer Complaints Summary

    • 112 total complaints in the last 3 years.
    • 44 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

    If you've experienced an issue

    Submit a Complaint

    The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

    Sort by

    Complaint status

    Complaint type

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:09/09/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I placed a car "for sale" advertisement on or about 9/4/22. The website states that they have a spam filter of some sort that should weed out the scammers/spammers. However, it seems to be rather ineffective, as I received numerous emails from scammers asking me to call them, text them, etc. Some later ones were obvious scammers, though I did receive at least 2 emails that were "legit", but were from dealerships offering me trade-in value (one dealership is 90 miles away from me in **********, **), which I could easily get by driving up the street to the numerous dealerships in my area or any other dealership in **********.I then looked at the BBB website and read complaints regarding Autotrader, and numerous complaints were regarding spam/scams emails, etc...as I had just experienced. I believe I sent them an email within 24 hours of placing my ad, via their website, asking for a refund, and received no reply. I sent them a second message in within the last 2 days as well, without a response. I would simply like a refund of my $49 payment along with taxes, etc., if applicable. Thank you.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/29/2022

      Type:Product Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      Waste of time and money. I wish I had read the reviews of this site. All I got for $50 is scammers trying to get my info. Their messages system is horrible. It says "block or report" for each comment but it only allows you to block a person. The scammers on here are so bad, I get the same scam messages over and over from different numbers and email addresses. I emailed autotrader about it and they ignored me. Horrible site and they ***************** BUT SCAMMERS

      Business Response

      Date: 09/19/2022

      Thank you for bringing this incident to our attention. Safety is our #1 priority and we take this feedback seriously. This behavior doesn't align with our core values and we will take the necessary actions to make sure other users like yourself don't have a similar experience in the future. Please contact us at ************** (1-866-AUTOTRADER) or our contact us form at your convivence to provide more information.

      Thank you,

      Autotrader Team

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/23/2022

      Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I created an ad to sell my pickup truck on Autotrader. They refused to post the ad and will not give me a reason why.

      Business Response

      Date: 09/19/2022

      Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We are very sorry to learn you are having a difficult time viewing your listing on our website and how frustrating that can be. However, all ads must go for review for protection purposes and this process can take up to 24 - 48 business hours. That is because Autotrader is committed to getting your listing verified and out to your audience with the highest quality standards possible.

      If it has been more than 48 hours since you placed your listing, please contact one of our Consumer Support representatives at 1-866-AUTOTRADER ***************) for resolution.

      Customer Answer

      Date: 09/19/2022

      My issue is not the time that it takes for Autotrader to review and verify ads before posting.  My issue is that after reviewing my ad, Autotrader refused to post it and would not give me an explanation.

      Business Response

      Date: 10/13/2022

      Thank you for reaching out to Autotrader via the BBB.  I see you spoke to one of our agents on the phone, and the reason your listing was inhibited was explained to you. If you have additional questions, please contact us at 1-866-AUTOTRADER.

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/13/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I purchased a plan to list my collectors car until it sold. When we stopped getting leads I went out to check the add and it was deleted. I called to inquire and was informed it deletes after a year if you dont call to renew it. This was not disclosed up front and there was no contact to us asking if we would like to continue the add. When I told the representative this they said there was nothing they could do because the add was gone.

      Business Response

      Date: 09/19/2022

      Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Your advertisement has been reactivated per your request. Please contact us at ************** (1-866-AUTOTRADER) or our contact us form at your convivence should you have any additional concerns.
      Thank you,
      Autotrader Team

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:08/04/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Answered
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I paid to advertise my truck for sale on autotrader.com All I did was gain a scammer who sent me a fake CERTIFIED check to buy my vehicle. On top of it he is still harassing me about when I will ship the vehicle to him, to his fake address is **********.

      Business Response

      Date: 08/05/2022

      Thank you for reaching out to Autotrader.  Autotrader allows a 48 hour window to refund your listings and as this notice was received within 48 hours of the posting, your listing has been refunded in full.  Please allow 3-5 business days for your credit to arrive.  

    • Initial Complaint

      Date:07/12/2022

      Type:Service or Repair Issues
      Status:
      Resolved
      Resolved:
      The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
      Unresolved:
      The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
      Answered:
      The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
      Unanswered:
      The business failed to respond to the dispute.
      Unpursuable:
      BBB is unable to locate the business.
      I paid $49 for a an ad to be posted on autotrader, what a waste of time, money and effort. They claim to filter out scam messages but they clearly do not, it could be easily stopped but for some reason they keep allowing it. Autotrader.com is a scamming platform Dealers get priority over private sellers, and they should be making the customer aware of that. It just has a the appearances of a scam, not like a newspaper as they would claim.

      Business Response

      Date: 07/13/2022

      We apologize for the lack of good leads for this vehicle.  The lack of leads was most likely due to you not disclosing that this vehicle has a branded title (a Not Actual Mileage title) and as that was not disclosed, but readily available on any of the vehicle history reports, it likely turned away potential valuable buyers.  As a courtesy, we have refunded this listing to you, and suggest that you disclose title branding on any site you list with in the future. 

      Please allow **** days for your bank to accept this credit and apply to your account. 

      Customer Answer

      Date: 07/13/2022

       
      Better Business Bureau:

      I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

      Sincerely,

      ***********************

    AutoTrader.com is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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