AutoTrader.co.uk Car Search Scraper: Extract UK Car Listings at Scale

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What Is AutoTrader.co.uk?

AutoTrader.co.uk is the UK's largest online automotive marketplace, listing hundreds of thousands of new and used vehicles from private sellers and dealerships. Whether you're tracking market prices, monitoring competitor stock, or building a vehicle database, manually collecting this data is impractical. The AutoTrader Car Search Scraper automates extraction from search result pages, delivering clean, structured records ready for analysis.

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Overview

The AutoTrader.co.uk Scraper processes car search result pages and returns detailed listing data for each vehicle advert. It is suited for:

• Automotive dealers monitoring competitor pricing and stock
• Price comparison platforms aggregating UK car market data
• Market researchers analysing used car trends by make, location, or seller type
• Data engineers building automotive datasets or feeds

The scraper handles pagination via direct URL input, supports bulk URL runs, and skips failed pages gracefully when configured to do so.

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Input Format

{
  "urls": [
    "https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?channel=cars&make=&postcode=E17DJ&page=7"
  ],
  "ignore_url_failures": true,
  "max_items_per_url": 50
}

Field	Type	Description
urls	array	One or more AutoTrader car search result URLs. You can add URLs one by one or use bulk edit. Example: filter by make, postcode, or page number via URL query parameters.
ignore_url_failures	boolean	If true, the scraper continues running even if some URLs fail. Recommended for bulk runs. Default: true.
max_items_per_url	integer	Maximum number of listings to collect per URL. Default: 20. Set higher (e.g., 50) to capture a full results page.

Tip: AutoTrader search URLs support parameters like make, postcode, radius, price-to, year-from, etc. Tune your search on-site first, then copy the URL.

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Output Format

Sample output

{
  "advert_id": "202604171640363",
  "title": "Vauxhall Corsa",
  "sub_title": "1.2 16V SXi Euro 5 3dr",
  "attention_grabber": "LOW MILEAGE!",
  "price": "£749",
  "vehicle_location": "Enfield (12 miles)",
  "location_type": "STANDARD",
  "discount": null,
  "images": [
    "https://m.atcdn.co.uk/a/media/{resize}/ef9167d407e5422c9d22ec36ed400ebd.jpg",
    "https://m.atcdn.co.uk/a/media/{resize}/7a79a534f4524e7497c5eed086f01168.jpg",
    "https://m.atcdn.co.uk/a/media/{resize}/b6af7097c8254989a66541b34ba3beab.jpg",
    "https://m.atcdn.co.uk/a/media/{resize}/9c9b123726b94026bf2fcc39d23d4bef.jpg"
  ],
  "number_of_images": 41,
  "rrp": null,
  "seller_type": "TRADE",
  "dealer_link": "/dealers/middlesex/enfield/everyday-car-auctions-limited-10029380?channel=cars",
  "dealer_review": {
    "overall_review_rating": 4,
    "__typename": "BasicListingDealerReview"
  },
  "fpa_link": "/car-details/202604171640363?sort=relevance&twcs=true&searchId=5b4e84f0-7ae4-426e-a6cd-54e35c4a3bfc",
  "has_digital_retailing": false,
  "pre_reg": false,
  "finance": null,
  "badges": [
    {
      "type": "WRITE_OFF_CATEGORY",
      "display_text": "Cat D",
      "__typename": "Badge"
    },
    {
      "type": "MILEAGE",
      "display_text": "98,000 miles",
      "__typename": "Badge"
    },
    {
      "type": "REGISTERED_YEAR",
      "display_text": "2011 (61 reg)",
      "__typename": "Badge"
    }
  ],
  "position": 2,
  "can_save_advert": true,
  "tracking_context": {
    "retailer_context": {
      "id": "10029380",
      "__typename": "TrackingRetailerContext"
    },
    "advert_context": {
      "id": "202604171640363",
      "advertiser_id": "10029380",
      "advertiser_type": "TRADE",
      "make": "Vauxhall",
      "model": "Corsa",
      "vehicle_category": "car",
      "year": 2011,
      "condition": "used",
      "price": 749,
      "search_version_id": "1865042058208608257",
      "__typename": "TrackingAdvertContext"
    },
    "card": {
      "category": "ADVERT",
      "sub_category": "NATURAL_LISTING",
      "page_number": 6,
      "position": 2,
      "__typename": "TrackingCard"
    },
    "advert_card_features": {
      "condition": "USED",
      "num_images": 41,
      "has_finance": false,
      "price_indicator": "NOANALYSIS",
      "is_manufactured_approved": false,
      "is_franchise_approved": false,
      "__typename": "TrackingAdvertCardFeatures"
    },
    "distance": {
      "distance": 12,
      "distance_unit": null,
      "__typename": "TrackingDistance"
    },
    "__typename": "TrackingContext"
  }
}

Each vehicle advert returns a record with 22 fields:

Advert Identity

Field	Meaning
Advert ID	Unique AutoTrader identifier for the listing
Title	Primary vehicle title (e.g., "Ford Focus 1.0 EcoBoost")
Sub Title	Secondary descriptor, typically trim level or variant
Attention Grabber	Promotional label set by the seller (e.g., "Great Value")
Position	Listing's position/rank on the search results page

Pricing & Finance

Field	Meaning
Price	Listed sale price in GBP
RRP	Recommended retail price, where available (useful for discount calculation)
Discount	Displayed discount amount or percentage off RRP
Finance	Monthly finance offer details if the seller has enabled financing

Location & Seller

Field	Meaning
Vehicle Location	Geographic location of the vehicle (city/postcode area)
Location Type	Classification of location (e.g., forecourt, home)
Seller Type	Whether the seller is a dealer or private
Dealer Link	URL to the dealer's AutoTrader profile page
Dealer Review	Dealer rating/review summary where available
FPA Link	Full-page advert link — direct URL to the individual listing

Media

Field	Meaning
Images	Array of image URLs for the vehicle
Number Of Images	Total count of images in the listing

Listing Features & Flags

Field	Meaning
Has Digital Retailing	Whether the dealer supports online purchase/reservation
Pre Reg	Flags pre-registered vehicles (nearly new, undriven)
Badges	Labels applied to the listing (e.g., "Reduced", "Hot Price")
Can Save Advert	Indicates if the listing supports the save/watchlist feature
Tracking Context	Metadata used for AutoTrader's internal analytics context

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How to Use

1. Build your search URL — Go to AutoTrader.co.uk, apply your filters (make, model, postcode, price range, etc.), and copy the results page URL.
2. Set pagination — To scrape multiple pages, duplicate the URL and increment the page= parameter (e.g., page=1, page=2).
3. Configure input — Paste URLs into the urls array. Set max_items_per_url to match the number of results per page (typically 10–50).
4. Run the scraper — Start the actor and monitor progress in the run log.
5. Export — Download results as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Common issues:

• Ensure URLs point to search result pages, not individual advert pages.
• If postcode-based results vary, try adjusting the radius parameter in the URL.
• Set ignore_url_failures: true when running many pages to avoid interruptions.

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Use Cases & Business Value

• Price intelligence: Track average asking prices by make, model, or region over time
• Stock monitoring: Watch dealer inventory changes across specific postcodes
• Lead generation: Identify private sellers or specific vehicle types matching your criteria
• Market research: Analyse badge frequency, finance availability, or pre-reg volumes by region

The scraper eliminates manual data collection, turning AutoTrader search pages into structured datasets that feed directly into spreadsheets, dashboards, or pricing models.

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Conclusion

The AutoTrader.co.uk Car Search Scraper gives automotive professionals and data teams fast, reliable access to UK vehicle listing data at scale. With 22 fields per record and flexible URL-based configuration, it's a practical tool for anyone needing real market data from the UK's leading car marketplace.