Reading And Writing Effective Car Dealer Reviews

At DealerDex, we put a lot of stock into the value of consumer ratings and reviews, which is why we have our Car Dealer Reviews section available to all car shoppers. In our minds, reviews are the best way (and basically the only way) to sift through the dozens of dealers in your area and come out with a gem of a store that really puts the customer first.

However, in order for any consumer review site to be reliable, there has to be a very professional level of participation on the consumer’s end. It’s important to know how you can best contribute to the site, and what you should look for when reading reviews… this will ensure that you get reliable information to work with.

And so, we decided to post this little primer on effective dealer reviews. Be sure to read it over before browsing for your next dealership.

Writing Dealer Reviews

1. Write with a (mostly) clear head. Too often, we get reviews from consumers who are fresh off a negative experience, and all they can muster in their review is a pile of vulgarities and slurs. While it’s valuable for the consumer to post their dissatisfaction, the writing itself doesn’t make for very effective analysis. Take a moment to reflect on the situation (it’s okay to still be angry… you do want everyone to recognize that you’re upset), and try to write a review that objectively lays out what transpired and how you were affected.

2. Review ALL the dealers you dealt with. The whole point of car dealer reviews is to rank the quality of all dealerships in a hierarchy - not to just put down the bad ones. If you have a negative review about a dealer you didn’t buy from, well then you must have a more positive review of the dealer you did buy from… and that’s valuable information to the public.

3. Positive is just as important as negative. Maybe you’re seeing a theme here… consumers tend to only provide negative reviews, as it’s human nature to want some sort of justice when you’re dissatisfied. But, if everyone wrote negative reviews, no one would know which dealer to choose. The fact is, even the dealerships with the best reputations will end up having a problem with a customer now and again, but it wouldn’t be correct to only show that dealer’s problem customers to the public. What we all need is an accurate representation of dealers’ performance, and that comes from consumers like you taking the time out to provide positive feedback as well as negative.

Reading Dealer Reviews

1. Take everything with a grain of salt. Having worked in the business for years, I can say with confidence that many customers create (or at least contribute to) their own anguish when it comes to dealing with car salespeople. Nearly every negative review about a dealership has another side to it… sometimes the information left out is not that important, and sometimes it’s vital. You should take this into consideration when reading any dealer review.

2. Look at the dates of the reviews. Mistaking outdated information for current information is a common error in dealer reviews. Why, you ask? Well, consider the employee turnover ratio of this business: in many areas (namely the coasts and urban areas), the average Sales Manager might only stay at one store for a year or two. If you give a dealership three or four years, you could easily see a 75 - 90% turnover of its staff. So a pile of negative reviews from 2004 regarding a Service Department is only valid if those same people still work there and the mindset is the same. It’s sensible to look at the most recent reviews as the most accurate.

3. Consider the number of reviews and ratio of good to bad. One review is rarely enough information for you to base a decision on, and in some cases, the review could be an anomaly that doesn’t reflect the dealership correctly at all. If you find a dealer with three or more reviews (especially if they are all skewed one way), then you know you’ve got some great consumer information there. The more reviews, the more accurately the dealership is usually portrayed.