Autotrader Canada Per-Result Scraper — Pay Only for What You Scrape on Autotrader.ca

Scrape Autotrader Canada listings on a true pay-per-result model at $1.00 per 1,000 records — no monthly fees, no minimums. This actor visits autotrader.ca search URLs you provide, paginates through all result pages, and extracts 20+ structured fields per vehicle. Built for automotive data teams, dealerships, and researchers who want predictable costs tied directly to data volume.

What you get

Listing info

• url — direct link to the vehicle listing
• ad_id — unique Autotrader ad identifier
• status — Used, New, or Certified Pre-Owned
• posted_age — how long the listing has been active
• description — full vehicle description text

Vehicle specs

• make, model, year
• body_type, transmission, drivetrain, fuel_type
• exterior_colour, doors

Pricing

• price_str — formatted string (e.g., "$79,990")
• price_cad — numeric CAD value for direct use in calculations

Mileage

• mileage_str — formatted (e.g., "37,397 km")
• mileage_km — numeric km value

Seller

• seller_name
• is_private_seller — boolean (private vs. dealer)

Location

• city, province

Media

• image_urls — array of full-resolution photo URLs

Sample output

{
  "url": "https://www.autotrader.ca/a/hummer/h1/st-eustache/quebec/5_54240768/",
  "ad_id": "54240768",
  "make": "Hummer",
  "model": "H1",
  "year": 1996,
  "status": "Used",
  "price_str": "$79,990",
  "price_cad": 79990,
  "mileage_str": "37,397 km",
  "mileage_km": 37397,
  "body_type": "SUV",
  "transmission": "Automatic",
  "drivetrain": "4x4",
  "fuel_type": "Diesel",
  "exterior_colour": "Green",
  "doors": "4",
  "city": "St-Eustache",
  "province": "QC",
  "is_private_seller": false,
  "seller_name": "Empire Auto",
  "image_urls": [
    "https://mkt-vehicleimages-prd.autotradercdn.ca/photos/import/202204/0102/0316/0017abd5.jpg"
  ],
  "description": "1996 HUMMER H1 6.5L V8 DIESEL 4-PASSENGER OPEN TOP..."
}

Use cases

• Used car dealerships pulling competitor listings for specific makes, models, and regions on demand
• Automotive market researchers building pricing datasets without fixed monthly costs
• Insurance and fintech companies valuing vehicle portfolios by pulling targeted subsets of listings
• Inventory aggregators feeding car-search platforms with fresh Autotrader data
• Individual power users monitoring a narrow search (e.g., specific make/model/year) cost-effectively
• Data scientists and analysts who need clean, numeric price and mileage fields without post-processing

Pricing

Event	Price
Per 1,000 results	$1.00

Real example: Scrape 10,000 autotrader.ca listings ≈ $10.00

First results are free — try the actor before your first paid run.

How it works

• Provide one or more Autotrader.ca search URLs (any filter or location)
• Actor automatically maximizes results to 100 per page and handles all pagination
• Each vehicle detail page is scraped and the embedded window['ngVdpModel'] JSON is parsed
• Duplicate detection stops the run if results repeat across pages
• Up to 5 retries with exponential backoff per page for reliability
• Export results as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Apify dataset

Why this scraper

• True pay-per-result billing — costs scale linearly with the data you need, no $5–$10 monthly base fee
• Parses embedded JSON on detail pages rather than scraping HTML, resulting in cleaner and more complete records
• Returns both formatted strings and numeric values for price and mileage — ready to drop into Excel or a database without transformation
• Handles pagination internally — no need to manually increment page parameters in your URL
• Works alongside the autotrader-canada actor if you need the full-catalog flat-rate version

Input example

{
  "start_urls": [
    { "url": "https://www.autotrader.ca/cars/on/toronto/?rcp=15&rcs=0&srt=35" }
  ],
  "max_depth": 0,
  "max_concurrency": 20
}

FAQ

How is this different from the autotrader-canada actor? Both extract the same fields. This actor uses a pure pay-per-result model ($1.00/1,000) with no monthly base fee. The autotrader-canada actor is priced at $0.90/1,000 and is better suited for high-volume continuous use.

Does it handle proxy and anti-bot protection? Yes. Apify's proxy service is used by default with automatic rotation. Supply your own proxy URL if preferred.

What output formats are available? JSON, CSV, Excel, XML, and JSONL — available from the Apify dataset UI and REST API.

Can I limit the number of pages scraped? Yes. Set max_depth to limit pages per search URL, or leave it at 0 for all pages.

Does it support scheduling? Yes. Apify's built-in scheduler supports cron-based runs — daily, hourly, or weekly.

Can I use this via API or MCP? Yes. Callable via Apify REST API and available as an MCP server for AI agents.

Can you add more fields? The embedded JSON payload contains extensive vehicle data. Most additional fields can be added on request — contact via the Issues tab.

Use via API or MCP

Call this actor via the Apify REST API or as an MCP server for AI agents (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor):

https://mcp.apify.com/actors/fayoussef/autotrader-ca

Full API docs: https://docs.apify.com/api/v2

Need a custom scraper?

Need a different automotive site, extra fields, or a scheduled data delivery? Visit automationbyexperts.com for custom builds, retainers, and data-as-a-service.