Auto Trader iPhone App Review
by Jonathan Kay on Monday, 15th March, 2010
Auto Trader launched their first iPhone App on Sun 14th Mar which can now be downloaded from the App Store and is already rated at 4 ½ stars from initial user reviews.
Auto Trader is a client and I worked on the App to make sure that they have full Omniture SiteCatalyst tracking from day one. However, putting work to one side, as a car geek this App is going to make buying a car so much easier for anyone with an iPhone. Let me explain why.
#1 – Knowledge is power, and power can save you money
How many people go to a used car dealer and really know what their car is worth and how much the car they want to buy should cost? I suspect very few.
This is often referred to as the ‘cost to change’ and is the all important figure to understand if you want to get the best possible deal.
Using the App I can now research all cars similar to the one I want to buy and find out the valuation spread depending on different spec levels, age and condition. If I do the same for the car I am trying to sell I can then work out a cost to change figure and see how competitive the dealer. I can then start to haggle based on facts. This will be a much more effective position to start negotiations compared with what I would like to believe my car is worth.
All cars that I am interested in can be saved to my ‘Garage’ for easy future reference.
#2 – Finding sellers is much easier
If I’m looking at a used car and for some reason I don’t like the actual one I’ve been to see, perhaps it has a dent or ripped seat, by using the App I can search for another car and use the mapping functionality to locate the nearest dealer or use the ‘Call Seller’ function to speak directly with the dealer or private seller. This will save me a lot of time.
#3 – The App is free
We all like ‘free’. What’s great about this App is that AutoTrader typically lists 350,000 cars for sale at any one time. This means not only do I always have access to up to date car price data, I no longer need to buy car valuation magazines which are only updated monthly, cost money to buy and are bulky to carry around.
#4 – Great use of appropriate technology
Mobile can be so much more convenient when put to good purpose compared with the web.
Using the App I can snap a photo of a car number plate and then the App will tell me the make and model and provide useful information such as running costs. I can then search for similar cars to this one and it will tell me how far away they are from my home or current location.
#5 – Apps are trackable
Back to work matters … all pages and clicks are measureable using web analytics tools. Therefore, within a few hours
• we knew that the App worked as intended,
• we understand how people are navigating the content,
• we know which features are being used and how often,
• we can compare key statistics with the Auto Trader web site www.autotrader.co.uk such as average duration, average page views per Visit, likelihood of a visit to generate a car search, volume of calls to an advertiser and so on.
Conclusion
To sum up, I love the App and if it wasn’t free I’d be prepared to pay for it.
If you like cars it’s a great new tool. Or if you simply want to sell or buy a car and don’t really like the process, this should help you be better prepared and more able to secure a fairer deal.
Even if Auto Trader wasn’t a client, this would be a 5 Star App.