DealerProxy.ca vs AutoTrader.ca
AutoTrader.ca is a marketplace of ads. DealerProxy.ca reads Canadian dealerships' own websites every few days, keeps every vehicle's price history, and can negotiate with the dealership for you. Here is how they compare, including where AutoTrader does more.
| Feature | DealerProxy.ca | AutoTrader.ca |
|---|---|---|
| Where the cars come from | ||
Inventory read straight from dealership websites Every dealership we track is read from its own site every few days, whether or not it advertises | ✓ 3,200+ Canadian dealerships, about 410,000 vehicles | ✗ Listings are ads placed by dealers and sellers |
Private sellers | ✗ Dealership inventory only | ✓ |
Search within a distance of your postal code | ✓ | ✓ |
Free for car buyers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Prices | ||
Full price history on every vehicle Every price change, dated, and when the car was first and last seen on the lot | ✓ | Partly Price-drop alerts for cars you save |
Market price rating on listings A "great / good / fair price" badge against similar vehicles | ✗ | ✓ Price iQ badges |
Live market insights Supply, days of supply, markdowns and fastest-selling models by province, week by week | ✓ Insights, Sales rank, Used price trends, Price drops | Partly Periodic price reports |
"What is my car worth?" estimate | ✓ | ✓ |
Instant cash offer from a dealer for your car | ✗ | ✓ |
| Buying | ||
Negotiates with the dealership for you Finds the salesperson, emails and calls them from its own mailbox and number, and gets the offer in writing | ✓ $5 of credit to start; you pay only for the work done | ✗ You contact the seller yourself |
The dealership never gets your name, email or phone It deals with DealerProxy; you contact the dealership when you are ready to buy | ✓ | ✗ Your enquiry goes to the seller with your details |
Saved searches and email alerts | ✗ | ✓ |
Mobile app | ✗ Works in any phone browser | ✓ |
Speed
DealerProxy answers every search from a read model held entirely in the server's memory: no database query stands between you and the results, so a search comes back in about a third of a second, the trip across the internet included. Pages carry no ad trackers, so there is far less to download. The figures below were measured on 18 October 2026 with a headless Chrome browser in Calgary, each page loaded fresh three times (the median shown); the faster site is highlighted in each row.
| Measure | DealerProxy.ca | AutoTrader.ca |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota RAV4 search: first vehicle on screen | 1.0 s | 1.3 s |
| All vehicles: first vehicle on screen | 1.4 s | 1.1 s |
| Toyota RAV4 search: page fully loaded | 1.0 s | 3.2 s |
| All vehicles: page fully loaded | 1.4 s | 2.5 s |
| Requests to load a search page | 12 | 212 |
| Data downloaded for a search page | 146 KB | 3.2 MB |
AutoTrader.ca is a trademark of its owner; DealerProxy.ca is not affiliated with it. AutoTrader.ca's features are as described on its own site and in public coverage in October 2026 and may change. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.