autotrader.co.za APIautotrader.co.za ↗
Search and retrieve vehicle listings from autotrader.co.za. Access pricing, specs, mileage, seller details, and location data for South African car listings.
curl -X GET 'https://api.parse.bot/scraper/eafb98aa-144f-46a0-9f37-efce3818015f/search?make=bmw&page=1&limit=2' \ -H 'X-API-Key: $PARSE_API_KEY'
Search for vehicle listings by make and optionally model. Returns a list of detailed listing information including price, specifications, location, and seller details. Each listing requires a separate page fetch, so larger limits take longer.
| Param | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| makerequired | string | The vehicle make or make/model path (e.g. 'bmw', 'mitsubishi/pajero', 'toyota/hilux'). |
| page | integer | The page number of search results to fetch. |
| limit | integer | Maximum number of listings to return from the current page. |
{
"type": "object",
"fields": {
"make": "string, the make query used",
"page": "integer, current page number",
"listings": "array of listing objects with full vehicle details",
"total_listings_on_page": "integer, number of listing URLs found on the page (before limit applied to detail fetches)"
},
"sample": {
"data": {
"make": "bmw",
"page": 1,
"listings": [
{
"url": "https://www.autotrader.co.za/car-for-sale/bmw/m4/coupe/28528238",
"make": "BMW",
"year": "2016",
"model": "M4",
"price": "869950",
"title": "2016 BMW M4 Coupe Auto",
"seller": {
"id": "2025",
"name": "Autosport Motorcity",
"type": "Trade",
"whatsapp_available": true
},
"mileage": "38450",
"variant": "Coupe Auto",
"location": {
"city": "Boksburg",
"suburb": "Westwood",
"province": "Gauteng"
},
"listing_id": "28528238",
"vehicle_details": {
"colour": "Silver",
"gearbox": "Automatic",
"body_type": "Coupé",
"fuel_type": "Petrol",
"engine_capacity": "2979"
}
}
],
"total_listings_on_page": 2
},
"status": "success"
}
}About the autotrader.co.za API
The AutoTrader South Africa API provides access to vehicle listings from autotrader.co.za through 2 endpoints. The search endpoint queries listings by make or make/model path and returns an array of detailed listing objects per page, while the details endpoint retrieves full information for a single listing URL — including price in ZAR, mileage, variant, seller identity, and suburb-level location.
Endpoints and Inputs
The search endpoint accepts a make parameter (e.g. bmw, toyota/hilux, mitsubishi/pajero) along with optional page and limit integers. It returns the current page number, the total number of listing URLs found on that page before any limit is applied (total_listings_on_page), and a listings array containing full detail objects for each vehicle fetched. Because each listing is resolved individually, setting a higher limit increases response time proportionally.
The details endpoint takes a single full autotrader.co.za listing URL and returns all available fields for that vehicle: make, model, year, variant, title, price (unformatted ZAR string), mileage in km, a seller object, and a location object.
Response Fields
The seller object includes name, id, type, and a whatsapp_available boolean. The location object breaks down to province, city, and suburb. These fields are consistent across both the search array results and the standalone details response.
Limitations
Seller telephone numbers are not available — autotrader.co.za protects them behind reCAPTCHA. The API covers listed asking prices and does not include sold price history or valuation estimates. Coverage is limited to listings currently live on the site; archived or expired listings are not accessible.
- Track ZAR asking prices for a specific make/model combination over time using the
searchendpoint - Build a South African used-car comparison tool using price, mileage, and variant fields
- Aggregate suburb and province distribution of available stock for a given vehicle make
- Monitor seller inventory by checking listings associated with a specific
seller.id - Feed listing data into a price-estimation model using year, mileage, and variant as features
- Alert buyers when a specific Toyota Hilux or BMW variant appears in a target city
| Tier | Price | Credits/month | Rate limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo | 100 | 5 req/min |
| Hobby | $30/mo | 1,000 | 20 req/min |
| Developer | $100/mo | 5,000 | 250 req/min |
One credit = one API call regardless of which marketplace API you call. Exceeding the rate limit returns a 429 response. Authenticate with the X-API-Key header.
Does autotrader.co.za have an official developer API?+
What does the `search` endpoint return, and how does pagination work?+
search endpoint returns a listings array for the specified make (and optional model path) on the given page. The total_listings_on_page field tells you how many listing URLs existed on that page before the limit parameter was applied to detail fetches. Increment page to walk through additional results.Are seller phone numbers available through this API?+
seller object does include name, id, type, and whatsapp_available, which can be used to identify and contact sellers through WhatsApp where enabled.Does the API return historical sold prices or valuation data?+
price field. Historical transaction prices and independent valuations are not covered. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add an endpoint targeting valuation or market-history data if that becomes available from the source.Can I search by body type, fuel type, or price range rather than just make?+
search endpoint filters by make and optionally by model path. Filtering by body type, fuel type, transmission, or price range is not exposed as input parameters. You can fork this API on Parse and revise it to add those filter parameters to the search endpoint.