Autotrader/Toyota West

[copperhead]

I've spent the last nearly two months trying to sell my Jeep. I've mostly had it listed on Autotrader, with a few listings on Craigslist which only got me spammed.

 

I paid for the low level Autotrader VIP service which gets you someone to write the ad for you, and by write it I mean they just select options and it automatically writes it for them while Capitalizing Every Word Making It Look Like Shit. It also provided their Privacy Shield service, which gives a proxy phone number and email address for potential buyers to contact, then forwards to you. The email service didn't explain anything so I had to figure out how to reply through emails, which turns out can only be done through the Autotrader website. The phone number I got had telemarketers calling almost daily, to the point where half the time I didn't even try to answer. The few real people trying to call me were unable to leave any kind of message. Overall, the Privacy Shield sounds great but doesn't work for shit. The high level VIP service has them come out to your house and take pictures of the car for you. Sounds like overkill unless you really don't want to have anything to do with selling the car, in which case you probably shouldn't be trying to sell a car.

 

The person why first set up my ad was nice and seemed to know what they were doing. I called back a couple weeks later to see if I could block specific phone numbers since I could see the numbers of the telemarketers and it took about 10 minutes of going back and forth before they figured out what I was asking and said no, can't do it that way, only way is to answer and then block. I wasn't happy at all when I got off the phone with them.

 

Finally, I got tired of the worthless phone calls and the waste of time and money, so I looked in the Autotrader trade in offer. They gave me a price, which was better than what Carmax offered me last summer but not by much, and a list of dealerships. Most of them would offer the price for trade in but they also listed three dealerships that would buy it outright at that price. One was Toyota West, one was in Mansfield and one was somewhere even farther away. I did this friday night, and saturday morning at 9:30 I got a call from Toyota West asking if I'd like to sell. I drove on over, they did an inspection on the Jeep, asked a couple questions, and said they would give me the Autotrader price for it so I said yes. They didn't have anyone there on the weekend to cut me a check, so monday morning I got a text from the internet sales guy that took care of me asking if I wanted to pick the check up or have it mailed. Since that's a 45 minute drive for me I opted to have it mailed. It showed up the next morning in a Fedex package.

 

So for my overall experience I'd say the Autotrader VIP package isn't worth it, mostly due to Privacy Shield being crap. A normal Autotrader ad would be worth it. The Autotrader guaranteed trade in/buy out price program is great. Two other dealerships contacted me a day or so after I sold the Jeep, so they are on top of it and want to give you money for your car. I hope this trend continues to grow. Toyota West gets an A+ for being quick and giving me zero hassle or trying to use the opportunity to sell me something I didn't want. And Tinman is awesome as always for giving me a ride home, even though I had to buy him lunch