From Manual to Auto Searching: FME in the Driver’s Seat

Finding a specific car online can be a time-consuming task, especially when checking multiple dealer websites. A few years ago, I faced this exact problem while searching for a particular vehicle in New Zealand. The local classified platform, Trade Me (similar to eBay), wasn’t yielding any results, so I expanded my search to second-hand dealer sites—only to realise that periodically checking each one was going to be tedious. That’s when I noticed something interesting: many of these websites used the same platform to manage their inventories. Recognising this, I reverse-engineered the platform’s structure and built an FME workspace that automated the search process for me. By integrating API calls and setting up periodic checks, I received real-time email alerts when matching cars were listed. In this presentation, I’ll walk through how I used FME to save hours of manual searching by creating a custom car-finding automation system. While FME can’t buy a car for you—yet—it can certainly help you find the one you’re after!