A monitor does the repeat searching.

Start with what matters to you

Create a monitor manually using filters, or ask Scout to suggest a search from a description. Give it a name you’ll recognise. You can rename it or change its settings later.

• Brands, body types and fuels: select several options, or leave them unrestricted.
• Price: set a minimum, a maximum, both, or neither.
• Year and location: choose a minimum year and a region, or search more broadly.

A car must meet every filter category you set. Within a category, any selected option qualifies: choosing Toyota and Honda includes either brand. A missing required detail can prevent a listing from matching.

For example, a hybrid RV/SUV in Canterbury from $25,000 to $40,000 must meet all four conditions. Leaving brands and year blank adds no brand or year restriction.

Review an AI suggestion before it changes anything

Ask Scout can help turn a description into filters or suggest changes to an existing monitor. New searches start without unrequested price, year or fuel limits. Check the proposed name and filters, edit anything you need, then apply the suggestion.

When chatting in an existing monitor, check which monitor Scout is editing. Use “Create a new monitor” when you want a separate search. AI can misunderstand a request; you can always use the manual filters instead. AI usage allowances depend on your plan.

Wait for a published update

Scout collects listing data centrally. Free accounts normally receive a daily publication; Paid accounts normally receive an hourly publication. Your filters work on that shared data, rather than starting a separate Trade Me fetch.

Opening the app, refreshing the browser or editing a monitor does not force a new collection. The workspace displays the last fetched time so you can judge how fresh your results are. If a collection fails, the last successful data can remain visible while the platform retries.

Follow the changes that matter

A new monitor starts with its current matches as a baseline. With new-match alerts enabled, later qualifying arrivals appear in Notifications after a published update is processed. You can filter that inbox by monitor, open the original listing, save a car or mark an alert as read.

Enable the daily summary for a comparison with the previous summary: new matches, price drops, cars no longer matching and the current total. The first summary establishes a starting point. When nothing changes, the summary says so.

A car that no longer matches is not necessarily sold. It may have changed price or details, disappeared from the latest dataset, or stopped meeting your filters.

Keep a shortlist, then check the source

Save cars you want to revisit. Open the Trade Me listing to confirm current price, availability, seller information and vehicle details before making a decision. Scout is a monitoring tool; it does not sell, inspect or reserve vehicles.

Pause a monitor to stop its monitoring activity. This does not stop the platform’s shared collection. Your account and monitor settings remain behind sign-in.

Open your workspace or read the frequently asked questions.