Filters and Facets

Overview

Filters and facets are the core inventory browsing controls on the Search Results Page (SRP). The SRP shows a vehicle grid and a filter panel. When a shopper applies a filter, the grid updates immediately and the filter counts update to match what is available.

Filters are powered by Meilisearch faceting and are designed to keep counts accurate while shoppers stack multiple filters.

What shoppers experience

• Selecting a filter updates the vehicle grid immediately.
• Facet counts update to reflect remaining inventory.
• The Back button returns the shopper to the same filtered SRP after viewing a VDP.
• The SRP URL is shareable and recreates the same filtered view.

Filters supported

Marketplace supports filtering across standard automotive attributes, including:

• Make, model, trim (with a cascading relationship)
• Body type
• Year range
• Price range
• Mileage range
• Exterior and interior color
• Drivetrain
• Fuel type
• Listing type (New, Used, Certified Pre-Owned)
• Availability (in stock, on order)
• Location (for multi-location dealer groups)
• Popular features (for example, backup camera, heated seats)
• Sale designation
• Cab type
• Engine configuration (cylinders, displacement)
• OEM certification type

Disjunctive faceted search (accurate counts)

Marketplace uses disjunctive faceted search so filter counts remain meaningful when multiple filters are active.

What this means:

• The SRP runs one main Meilisearch query for the grid.
• The SRP runs one additional query per active filter dimension to compute facet counts without applying that dimension’s own constraint.

Example:

• If a shopper selects Make = Toyota and Body Type = SUV, the Body Type counts are computed using Make = Toyota only.
• In that same state, the Make counts are computed using Body Type = SUV only.

Result:

• Counts stay honest.
• Removing a filter restores meaningful options.
• Shoppers do not get trapped in a dead-end filter panel.

Make, model, trim cascade

Make, model, and trim are linked:

• Selecting a make limits the available models to that make and clears any prior model and trim selection.
• Selecting a model limits the available trims to that model while preserving the make selection.
• Selecting a trim applies the trim filter while preserving make and model.

This prevents impossible combinations and keeps the panel consistent.

Filter state lives in the URL

Every active filter and the active sort are encoded in the SRP URL.

This enables:

• Shareable inventory links
• Reliable Back navigation from a VDP
• Campaign landing pages that open with a predefined filter set

Marketplace supports two URL styles:

• Query parameter filters
• Vanity path filters (for clean, SEO-oriented inventory category pages)

Both styles produce the same filter behavior.

Sort options

The SRP includes a sort dropdown.

Sort options are configured per dealer.

The default sort places vehicles with photos first.

The active sort is encoded in the URL and persists as the shopper navigates between SRPs and VDPs.

Dynamic SRP title and structured data

The SRP title updates when filters change so shoppers and search engines see the current context.

Structured data (JSON-LD) refreshes with the filter state so metadata stays aligned with the visible inventory.