Collectors · Classifieds & vehicles

Autotrader Scraper API in Python

US car listings — price, MSRP, mileage, specs, VIN, dealer distance from a ZIP. One POST from Python with zip, rows back as JSON with 52 fields, $0.001 per delivered listing. No proxies or parsers to maintain.

Get an API key See the collector

A Python requests snippet that posts { — A Python requests call to the autotrader_search collector returns one dict per listing, at $0.001 each.

First call

Install, call, read the rows.

pip install requests

The only dependency.

import os, requests

r = requests.post(
    "https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/autotrader_search/run",
    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"},
    json={
        "zip": "90210",
        "condition": "all-cars",
        "max_results": 25,
    },
    timeout=120,
)
r.raise_for_status()
run = r.json()["payload"]
print(run["count"], "rows,", run["cost"]["usd"], "USD")
for row in run["results"]:
    print(row.get("listing_id"), row.get("vin"), row.get("title"), row.get("year"))

Python: one Autotrader car listings run (Tutte le auto vicino a Beverly Hills), printing listing_id, vin, title, year

The key comes from an environment variable, never from the code. The run answers in the same request when it finishes in time; payload.results holds the rows and payload.cost what they cost.

Request parameters

What the collector takes.

Input of the Autotrader car listings collector
Parameter	Type	Required	Meaning
`zip`	string	yes	US ZIP code to search around.
`condition`	string: `all-cars`, `new-cars`, `used-cars`, `certified-cars`	no (default all-cars)	all-cars (default), new-cars, used-cars, certified-cars.
`make`	string	no	Vehicle make, e.g. "Honda".
`model`	string	no	Vehicle model (requires make), e.g. "Civic".
`max_results`	integer	no (default 25)	How many listings to deliver at most (1–75). You pay only for delivered listings.

Response fields

52 fields per listing.

Fields of each row (listing)
Field	Type	What it holds
`rank`	integer	1-based position.
`listing_id`	string	Autotrader listing id.
`vin`	string, nullable	VIN.
`title`	string	Listing title ("New 2025 …").
`year`	integer, nullable	Model year.
`make`	string, nullable	Make.
`model`	string, nullable	Model.
`trim`	string, nullable	Trim.
`condition`	string, nullable	NEW/USED/CERTIFIED.
`price`	number, nullable	Display price.
`msrp`	number, nullable	MSRP when shown.
`no_price_label`	string, nullable	"Contact Dealer For Price" when no price.
`mileage`	integer, nullable	Odometer miles.
`body_style`	string, nullable	Body style.
`fuel_type`	string, nullable	Fuel type.
`drive_type`	string, nullable	Drive type.
`exterior_color`	string, nullable	Exterior color.
`specifications`	object	Label → value spec pairs.
`days_on_site`	integer, nullable	Days listed.
`image`	string, nullable	Primary photo.
`url`	string	Listing URL.
`page`	integer	Results page the row came from.
`exterior_color_full`	string, nullable	Manufacturer colour name.
`interior_color`	string, nullable	Interior colour.
`transmission`	string, nullable	Transmission.
`engine`	string, nullable	Engine.
`mpg_city`	number, nullable	City MPG.
`mpg_highway`	number, nullable	Highway MPG.
`doors`	integer, nullable	Number of doors.
`stock_id`	string, nullable	Dealer stock number.
`certified`	boolean	True for certified pre-owned listings.
`history_flags`	string[]	Vehicle history highlights (NO_ACCIDENTS_REPORTED…).
`kbb_fair_price`	number, nullable	Kelley Blue Book fair purchase price.
`kbb_fair_price_low`	number, nullable	Low end of the KBB fair price range.
`kbb_fair_price_high`	number, nullable	High end of the KBB fair price range.
`dealer_fees_total`	number, nullable	Dealer fees included in the price.
`price_history`	object[]	Price changes: { date, price }.
`special_offer`	string, nullable	Top special offer on the listing.
`description`	string, nullable	Listing description (first 600 characters).
`images_count`	integer, nullable	Number of photos.
`seller_type`	string, nullable	dealer or private.
`dealer_id`	string, nullable	Autotrader seller id.
`dealer_name`	string, nullable	Dealer name.
`dealer_phone`	string, nullable	Dealer phone.
`dealer_address`	string, nullable	Dealer street address.
`dealer_city`	string, nullable	City.
`dealer_state`	string, nullable	State.
`dealer_zip`	string, nullable	ZIP.
`dealer_latitude`	number, nullable	Dealer latitude.
`dealer_longitude`	number, nullable	Dealer longitude.
`dealer_website`	string, nullable	Dealer website.
`distance_miles`	number, nullable	Distance from the searched ZIP.

Add ?format=csv to the runs endpoint to get the same rows as CSV.

Long runs

Run in the background, then poll.

A run that needs more time can go to the background: send "async": true, get 202 with the run id, and poll the runs endpoint until the status is done. Reading a run is free.

import os, time, requests

H = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['QD_API_KEY']}"}
r = requests.post("https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/autotrader_search/run", headers=H,
                  json={**{"zip":"90210","condition":"all-cars","max_results":25}, "async": True}, timeout=30)
run_id = r.json()["payload"]["run_id"]
while True:
    run = requests.get(f"https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/collectors/runs/{run_id}", headers=H, timeout=30).json()["payload"]
    if run["status"] in ("done", "failed"):
        break
    time.sleep(5)
print(run["status"], run["count"])

Python: background run and polling

Errors

What can come back, and what is billed.

Collector run errors
Status	Meaning	Billed
`400`	The input does not match the collector (`payload.errors`)	No
`401`	Missing or wrong API key	No
`402`	Balance and free credit do not cover the run: top up	No
`422`	The input can never resolve; retrying the same input cannot help	No
`424`	The run failed at the source (blocked, timed out, layout changed); safe to retry	No
`429`	Rate limit or a per-account brake; wait for `Retry-After`	No

Only delivered rows are billed: a run that delivers nothing costs nothing.

Price

$0.001 per delivered listing.

What Autotrader car listings rows cost at list price
Rows	Cost
1	$0.001
1,000	$1.00
10,000	$10.00

Up to 75 listings per run; split larger jobs into several runs. The $2 free credit every month covers about 2,000 listings. No subscription; paid tiers lower the unit price. All collector prices: collector pricing.

Before you run it

Questions developers ask

Is there a free Autotrader car listings API?

Every account gets $2 of free usage each month, about 2,000 listings of this collector at $0.001 each, with no card.

Do I have to handle proxies, retries or blocks?

No. The collector runs on our network and handles them; a run blocked at the source returns 424 and is not billed.

How many rows can one run return?

Up to 75 listings per run (the max_results input, where the collector has one).

Can an AI agent run it?

Yes: the MCP server exposes it as the run_collector tool, with the same input and price. See the MCP server.

Run it on the free credit.

Create an API key, export it as QD_API_KEY and run the example. $0.001 per delivered listing, no subscription.

Get an API key Autotrader Scraper API