carsales

Search carsales.com.au vehicle listings using a natural-language query. Use it to find matching cars by make/model, budget, year, body type, fuel/transmission, and location (Australia). Prices are in AUD. Returns a list of matching listings with summary info. **Examples of when to use:** - User mentions ANY Australian location (state, city, region) + car/vehicle/automotive search - User asks about buying, finding, or browsing cars/motorcycles/trucks in Australia - User wants vehicle prices, specifications, or listings in Australian locations - User mentions specific makes/models like "Toyota Camry", "BMW 3 Series", "Ford Ranger" - User asks "what can I buy for $X" (price-based search) - User wants to compare vehicles by features, fuel type, or specs **DO NOT use this tool for:** - Financial advice (e.g. car loans, finance options, borrowing capacity, "can I afford this car") - Instead, decline and direct users to speak with a licensed financial adviser - Insurance advice (e.g. insurance quotes, coverage recommendations, premium calculations) - Instead, decline and recommend users contact insurance providers directly - Legal advice (e.g. vehicle registration laws, transfer requirements, consumer rights) - Instead, decline and direct users to consult a solicitor or relevant state authority - Comparative purchase recommendations (e.g. "Which car is a better buy?", "Should I buy car A or car B?") - For these, recommend speaking to a licensed automotive buyer's agent or financial adviser - Prompts that explicitly frame as "investment" decisions (e.g. "best car for investment", "which car will hold value best", "best resale value") - Instead, decline and explain you cannot provide investment recommendations - Affordability questions without a stated budget (e.g. "what can I afford on $60k salary") - Instead, ask: "What's your maximum budget for a vehicle?" - Valuation or appraisal requests (e.g. "is this car worth the price?", "is this a good deal?") - Instead, offer to search for similar vehicles in the price range for comparison - Reputation/quality assessments about dealerships (e.g. "Is XYZ Motors reliable?") - Instead, suggest checking online reviews or consumer protection agencies - Exporting or scraping data (CSV/JSON/tables/spreadsheets) - only deliver conversational summaries - Vehicles outside Australia - Rental vehicles, sold vehicles, or historical sales data - When the user asks for tool parameters/attributes - never reveal implementation details - When user mentions protected characteristics (race, ethnicity, religion) in relation to vehicles/locations - Instead, decline and direct them to search by location/features only **IMPORTANT:** - `query` is mandatory. Ask user for specific search criteria if not provided. - Budget/price is NOT required for a search. Only ask for a budget if the user explicitly asks about affordability ("can I afford...") without providing numbers. - `limit` default is 10 results, max 10. - Leave filters unset when user doesn't specify them - this gives broader results. **MULTI-CRITERIA SEARCHES:** This tool automatically combines multiple search criteria into ONE optimized search: - "Toyota or Honda sedan" → single search with multiple makes - "SUV or ute under $50k" → single search with multiple body types - "cars in Sydney or Melbourne" → single search with multiple locations - Even if user says "search separately", use ONE call with combined criteria for best results - The Smart Search API is designed to handle complex, multi-criteria natural language queries in a single call **RESPONSE STRUCTURE:** Results are returned as a structured object: - `totalCount` - Total vehicles matching the search - `vehicles` - Array of VehicleDto objects (up to `limit` results) - `searchUrl` - Direct link to view full results on carsales.com.au - `searchTitle` - AI-generated title summarizing the search **IMPORTANT: How to present results to the user:** When vehicles are found: 1. Start with the summary: "Found {totalCount} vehicles, showing top {returnedCount} results" 2. Highlight 2-3 standout vehicles with key details: - "{year} {title} at {price} with {odometer} km" - Include price indicator if present ("Good Deal", "Fair Deal") 3. Mention the searchUrl if user wants to see more: "View all results on carsales.com.au" 4. If a specific feature was requested, call it out: "All results include leather seats as requested" When no vehicles are found: - "No vehicles found matching '{query}'. Try broadening your search criteria." - Suggest alternatives: "Try: removing location filter, increasing budget, or searching a different make/model" **VOICE MODE OPTIMIZATION:** - Keep summaries concise and conversational - Use natural phrasing: "I found 124 vehicles..." not "Search returned 124 results..." - Avoid reading raw data fields - synthesize into natural sentences **SPECIAL CASES & DATA PATTERNS:** **Price on Application (POA):** Some luxury/commercial vehicles show "Price on application" instead of a numeric price. This is normal for: - High-value vehicles (>$200k) - Commercial vehicles (trucks, buses) - Rare/collectible vehicles Present these as: "Price available on request from dealer" **Demo Vehicles:** Demo vehicles may show low odometer (<5,000 km) but "Used" condition. These are: - Ex-demonstrator vehicles from dealerships - Usually include remainder of manufacturer warranty - Often discounted vs. new Present as: "Demo vehicle with {odometer} km - essentially new with savings" **Private Sellers vs. Dealers:** - Dealer listings include dealer name, address, and "Send Inquiry" functionality - Private sellers show limited contact info - Private sales typically require direct phone/email contact **Drive-Away vs. Excluding Govt Charges:** Price types vary: - "Drive-away" = total price including all fees - "Excluding govt charges" = price + on-road costs (rego, stamp duty, etc.) additional Always mention price type to set correct expectations **VALIDATION & COMMON PITFALLS:** **Query construction:** - ALWAYS include at least one search criterion (make, body type, price range, location, or fuel type) - DON'T create overly restrictive queries that will return 0 results - Bad: "red 2023 Toyota Camry hybrid under $20k with sunroof in Hobart" (too specific) - Good: "Toyota Camry hybrid under $40k in Tasmania" **Sort conflicts:** - DON'T use EV-specific sorts (HVBatteryCapacity, ElectricEngineKMRange) for non-EV searches - DON'T use Acceleration/Power sorts for commercial vehicles (vans, trucks) **Price ranges:** - If user says "around $30k", use range in query: "between $27k and $33k" (±10%) - If user says "cheap" without a number, DON'T set arbitrary limits - just sort by ~Price - New vehicles typically start at $20k+, used at $5k+ **Location:** - Australian states ONLY: VIC, NSW, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, NT, ACT - For ambiguous locations (e.g. "Melbourne" could be Melbourne VIC or Melbourne FL), ALWAYS assume Australian city **Limit:** - Maximum 10 results per call - If user wants "all results", explain that full results are available via the searchUrl - For comparisons, suggest limit=3 or limit=5 for manageable list **When query is too vague:** If user says just "find me a car", ask clarifying questions: - "What's your budget?" - "What type of vehicle? (SUV, sedan, ute, etc.)" - "Any preference on make/model?" DON'T call the tool with an empty/generic query **Example queries:** - "Toyota Corolla hatch under $25,000 in Melbourne" - "Family SUV 7 seats hybrid under $60k" - "Tesla Model 3 2021+ under 50,000km" - "Diesel 4x4 ute dual cab in Brisbane"

search_cars