Some people watch television, others read a book but when it comes to relaxing I go online: I can catch up on the news, check the weather, contact friends and even plan my next holiday. However, the more I use the internet, the fussier I’m becoming about where I surf. A few years ago I would take my information pretty much any way it was offered — horrid fonts, poor page designs and endless scrollbars. Today, if a site isn’t well laid out, easy to use and attractive, I’m off somewhere else.

So when the team at Times Online asked me to take a look at the Car Locator system and give some honest feedback, I accepted with trepidation. I hadn’t used it since its recent revamp and, to be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

My first impression was that little had changed: it still sat to the right of the Driving home page and looked pretty much like the old version. As I explored a little more closely, though, one big difference revealed itself: the new system gave me the option of searching with keywords as well as drop-down menus.

I put it to the test by typing “XJ8” into the keyword search box. Within a fraction of a second, I was confronted with no less than 95 Jaguar XJ models for sale. Impressive. Next I typed in “Z4”. In no time at all, there was a choice of 660 cars to consider, the cheapest a 2004 2.5i SE from a Lexus dealer at a very reasonable-looking £8,990.

Of course, having such a large choice of cars to look at is a good thing, but when time is precious most buyers want to narrow their search to cars for sale in their area. I entered my postcode and changed the search function to show me the closest cars first. Now I had a choice of 20 cars, all within a half-hour drive of home — perfect if I wanted to see something that afternoon. The speed and accuracy of the results was impressive, not to mention the large number of cars my searches were turning up.

Next I noticed that a toolbar to the left of the search page gave me the ability to refine my search still further, with a host of options that included price range, mileage, age of car, engine size, vendor type (private or trade) and colour. It also displayed the number of cars for sale under any particular search variable, meaning I wouldn’t go off on a wild goose chase for something that didn’t exist. If the holiday-cottage website I had been using the night before had offered a similar level of personalisation, I wouldn’t have wasted three hours searching for a four-bedroom, dog-friendly house with internet access and sea views in Cornwall for the second two weeks in August 2009. (By the way, if you have such a property, please let me know.)

With my confidence growing, I set about finding a car for my fantasy garage: a used Bentley Continental GT in silver with black leather for less than £60,000. Would the Car Locator manage it? Clicking on “Search” revealed no fewer than 36 cars for sale within budget; after electing to view cars in silver only, I was looking at a choice of nine cars. All I needed to do now was check out the interiors by clicking on the individual descriptions and viewing the multiple photos that the vendors had uploaded. Bingo! Three cars, on budget, perfect spec and all within a couple of hours’ drive.

Half an hour later I’d added to my fantasy car collection by locating a Spyker C8 Spyder for £184,950, a BMW M5 registered 2005 on a 55 plate for £33,000 (half what it cost new), a Maybach 57 for £100,000 and a Bugatti EB110 — a snip at just £169,950 (so much cheaper than a Veyron, and just as big a talking point over dinner). It was all easy. The locator was clearly playing host to some of the finest used cars for sale in the country.

Jason Jenkins, head of motors at Times Online, told me how the team had made the Car Locator simpler to use. “We’ve looked at how people use search engines, then taken the best bits of the best ones and put them together,” he said. “Our readers want to be able to browse online, view pictures and vehicle details and make contact with sellers easily. We’ve added functions that allow users to search by retailer rather than vehicle. So, for example, if you have a particular dealer that you’ve bought from in the past or maybe know would be interested in your part-exchange, you can go straight to its stock list.”

After starting my journey worried that I’d have to spare the blushes of the Times Online Car Locator team with some bland words about nice fonts or a better page layout, I found myself properly impressed. Why don’t you have a play with it? Give yourself 20 minutes and £500,000 to assemble the cars for your fantasy garage. You may never go back to books and TV again.

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