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

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.

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.

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
}

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.

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

Pricing & Finance

Location & Seller

Media

Listing Features & Flags

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.

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.

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.