eBay Motors Group or Auto Trader?

Where’s the best place to sell your car online? Here, we compare online marketplaces eBay Motors Group and Auto Trader.

* All data below is accurate as of 01/02/23

Who is eBay Motors Group?

eBay Motors Group is an advertising platform that allows car dealerships to surface their stock on eBay, Gumtree Motors and Motors.co.uk. Formed in January 2020, eBay Motors Group is a part of the wider eBay Classifieds group. How you can find and buy a car varies depending on which platform you use. Gumtree Motors and Motors.co.uk act as traditional classified models, while you can bid on cars on eBay as well as buy cars outright.

How is eBay Motors Group different to Auto Trader?

Auto Trader offer a single destination for buying, selling and leasing vehicles. eBay Motors Group employs various platforms for different audiences.

Auto Trader

Auto Trader provide one destination for you to buy or sell used, approved-used and brand-new cars, along with bikes, motorhomes, caravans, trucks, plant and farm machinery. Vehicles are available to buy outright or on finance, depending on your preference.

eBay Motors Group

How you can find and buy a car varies depending on which platform you use. Gumtree Motors and Motors.co.uk act as traditional classified models, while you can bid on cars on eBay.

Finding the best deal

Both eBay Motors Group and Auto Trader offer various filters to refine your search results. Auto Trader also show how fairly priced each deal is and whether the dealer has purchased a vehicle check, so you can shop with added confidence.

Filter your search for quick results

Besides a general filter, Motors.co.uk has a smart search (which recommends cars based on requirements you specify, but this is not present on eBay or Gumtree Motors). When browsing Auto Trader, you can apply multiple filters including gearbox, fuel type, car colour and more advanced filters. You can also search by total price or monthly price depending on how you intend to pay for your next car.

Find key information directly on the advert

Both eBay Motors Group and Auto Trader display key information, such as mileage and number of owners, on the adverts. On Auto Trader, we also provide information on the latest model of a car’s tax and insurance where available, and a price indicator shows how the price compares to similar cars, so you can see when you’re getting a good deal.

Choice of stock

Across its three sites, eBay Motors Group stock a range of used and new cars.

Auto Trader’s stock includes used, approved used cars and brand-new cars that are available to buy outright, or with options like car leasing, personal contract purchase (PCP) and hire purchase (HP) deals.

Auto Trader

Vehicles type
Finance available
Trade sellers
Private sellers

eBay Motors Group

Vehicles type
Finance available
Trade sellers
Private sellers

Valuing your car

Of the three companies in eBay Motors Group, car valuations are only available on Motors.co.uk.

Auto Trader offer a free online car valuation to help buyers understand how much their car is worth.

Checking vehicle history

eBay and Gumtree provide paid history checks in partnership with HPI. Motors.co.uk, through HPI, run identity and basic background checks before listing cars on their site.

All cars on Auto Trader undergo history checks before they are listed. These ensure the vehicles aren’t stolen, scrapped, imported, exported, or written off.

Saving and comparing adverts

All three sites in eBay Motors Group allow you to save and shortlist cars while you search.

Similarly, you can save and compare up to four cars without an account on Auto Trader. If you have a free Auto Trader account, you can save and compare as many as you like!

Get notified when a specific car’s listed

If you’re after something specific and it isn’t listed on Auto Trader, you can save your search and we’ll send you a notification when a car that matches your search criteria is added. In two simple steps you can save your search – just choose the make and model you’re after and select ‘save search’. We’ll notify you as soon as a car of your liking is listed so that you never miss a good deal.

Compare features to decide the best car for you

On Auto Trader, you can compare all your saved searches side-by-side to decide the best choice for yourself. We display a number of features related to the cars such as gearbox, mileage and fuel type, as well as the seller, like dealer ratings and location, to help you see your shortlisted cars at a glance.

How do we compare?

How do we stack up against other automotive websites?

* Please note this is a non-exhaustive list.

Who are Auto Trader?

Offering used cars from private sellers and trusted UK dealerships, brand new cars and more, Auto Trader have over 40 years of experience as the UK’s largest automotive marketplace.

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