The pay might make the issues worthwhile for you - Anonymous employee Autotrader Employee Review

2.0
May 28, 2015
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent pay and benefits. Nice office. Good seminars and optional education. Good discounts on the cafeteria.

Cons

- Making advertisers buy with the threat of selling the inventory to the competition is a form of extortion. It's an endless pursuit for clients because Autotrader always finds a way to cram more ads in the already saturated space. - The sales team thinks they have revolutionary/unique products and the product team is heralded every time they launch something. They must sound silly to clients because they have no idea that their products have been around for years. - While the dealer subscriptions is their bread and butter, the advertising sales have hit plateau and this will probably make it an uncertain place to work. - There are too many managers/directors but very few true leaders. Leaders inspire, guide and reward success. - Management needs to embrace creative sales approaches and thinking outside the box instead of writing people up for them. - There is a lot of unprofessional behavior from newly-appointed managers: broken confidentiality, arrogance and unwillingness to get their hands in their old tasks when there is a staff shortage. - You will not be listened to by HR if your manager writes erroneous statements in your performance review, even with witnesses. It's their word against yours. - You can't grow a career there. The departments are encouraged to tell on each other so there is very little cross-departmental mentoring. -Work hours can be crazy

Explore other reviews about Autotrader

5.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company to work at. excellent benefits and leadership. Lots of things to do and they like to promote from within

Cons

once you max out in your pay range you have to switch jobs in order to get anymore raises

3.0
Sep 12, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Generally the benefits are good, but are declining. The head of CoxEnterprises believes in employee empowerment and benefits. The values of CEI are wonderful and the reason I stay.

Cons

Current leadership over AutoTrader (CAI) prioritizes profits over all else so we have reorganizations every year or so making it an unstable environment. The company is now run by Finance and HR, so you can imagine the culture.

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