8:02 am, November 13, 2025
Car dealers followed through with their threats to cancel or downgrade their Auto Trader accounts on a day of protest.
Facebook groups yesterday featured posts from car dealers who had followed calls to take action in the wake of the controversial roll out of the marketplace’s Deal Builder product.
Car dealers are angry at the mandatory roll out of the product, tweaks made to contact buttons and a ‘drop off’ in leads they believe has been caused by making consumers sign up for an Auto Trader account before they can submit one.
Ibrar Mohammed’s Autotrader Dealers Community group called for dealers to coordinate a mass cancellation at 1159 yesterday (November 12).
The group’s numbers has swelled by more than 1,000 in less than two days to more than 3,300, many of whom said they had taken action.
Mohammed told Car Dealer he believed ‘hundreds’ of dealers followed through with their threats to cancel or downgrade yesterday.
He said: ‘I don’t know exact numbers at this time but from the emails I’ve had back it sounds like it is in the hundreds.
‘We did a bit of a survey, and there were a good few hundred on there, a lot of them with big accounts.
‘It will be a big figure – financially for Auto Trader it’s definitely a very big number. It will be in the millions if you look at the downgrades and the cancellations.’
Auto Trader told Car Dealer that the number of cancellations it had seen was ‘far less than reported’ but said it was listening to dealer concerns.
The firm was one of the biggest fallers in the FTSE100 yesterday with its share price down 3.7%. Its stock has fallen 14.6% in the last five days.
Deal Builder, the new reserve online feature, allows buyers to reserve dealers’ cars on Auto Trader for just £99, which dealers say effectively takes it off sale. They’re worried this could lead to bad reviews if they end up selling the car elsewhere and letting the Auto Trader customer down.
Auto Trader says rumours a car is ‘taken off sale for 30 days’ is not the case with cars appearing with a ‘reservation in progress’ flag instead. Both the dealer and the customer can cancel at any time.
The firm added that it will not be charging for the product either. In the past a 0.25% transaction fee was levied when it was a separate product, but that was removed in May.
However, in an interview with Car Dealer last week, COO Catherine Faiers could not rule out charges may one day be bought in for the product.
Cancellations
A large number of dealers posted screen shots of their emails to Auto Trader in private protest Facebook groups yesterday showing their requests to cancel or downgrade.
One claimed to have reduced their package saving them ‘£20,000 a month’ in advertising fees while another said they had cut their 70 car advertising package down to seven cars.
Umesh Samani, chairman of the Independent Motor Dealers Association (IMDA), said: ‘Feedback from IMDA dealers suggests that many have voted with their cheque books — cancelling or downgrading their packages or reducing the number of cars they advertise on the platform.
‘Many are also saying that it’s not just Deal Builder that’s the issue, but a significant decline in both leads and sales generated through Auto Trader.
‘Those who haven’t already [cancelled or downgraded] are seriously looking at doing so in the very near future.’
Theo Cook, who runs Bowen’s Garage, was one who downgraded his account at 11.59 yesterday.
Speaking in a video posted after taking action, Cook said he sent an email to Auto Trader and the company’s CEO Nathan Coe requesting an ‘immediate downgrade’ of his advertising package to the ‘lowest’ available.
‘Hopefully with many other hundreds of dealers across the UK we have sent our email,’ he said.
‘Lots are cancelling altogether. We’re not quite there yet but we have taken huge steps to reduce our package.’
Cook’s downgrade will save Bowen’s Garage £3,500 a month in advertising fees.
He said he has taken the action because he wants to run his business ‘the way we want to’ and not the way a ‘huge corporation with shareholders wants to’.
Cook told Car Dealer: ‘Today was a day where the UK motor trade joined together in the hope of change.
‘From the relentless annual rises, to products we as retailers and the general public do not want and do not need, to a real lack of communication, understanding and willingness to listen to genuine concerns, Auto Trader have made us feel like we are in more of a dictatorship than a customer.
‘The fixed costs of having Auto Trader are no longer bringing us the return on investment and change is needed. Today is a day we didn’t want to happen, but needed to happen.’
More Auto Trader news:
- Car dealers threaten mass cancellation of Auto Trader contracts in light of Deal Builder
- How one dealer went from investigating plane crashes to leading Auto Trader rebellion
- New Auto Trader tool to tell dealers how likely a lead is to convert to a sale
- Auto Trader reports soaring profits and revenues in strong start to financial year
Auto Trader’s response
Catherine Faiers, Auto Trader chief operating officer, told Car Dealer: ‘While the actual number of cancellations and downgrades is far lower than reported, our focus isn’t on the volume – it’s on listening to and understanding customer feedback.
‘Our dedicated team of over 300 account managers is fully engaged in this effort.
‘We recognise that any change can raise questions and, at times, cause frustration. We’re sorry for any confusion this may have caused and remain fully committed to building long-term partnerships with our customers.
‘Our goal is to work directly, openly, and constructively with every retailer, helping them understand and experience the benefits of these changes — including stronger conversions and richer customer insights.’
Speaking to Car Dealer yesterday, Auto Trader CEO Nathan Coe explained how Deal Builder is designed to work.
He added: ‘We want to be clear that we are listening intently, taking your feedback very seriously, and are committed to a transparent partnership.’
The firm held a webinar on the topic yesterday and Coe is due to appear on this week’s episode of the Car Dealer Podcast to discuss the matter further. That episode will be published on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube tomorrow.
What do you think? Let us know be emailing [email protected] and send us your questions for Coe for our Podcast.
