Car Brands With the Best Rated Dealers

The car brands with the best rated dealers in our directory are led by Porsche, where 67 percent of graded stores earn an A.

This Grades the Store, Not the Car

Before the list, one thing needs to be clear. This ranking is about the dealerships that sell each brand. It is not about how good the cars are. A brand with low ranked stores can still build a great car. A brand with top ranked stores can still build a car with problems.

The grade comes from public reviews of each store. Buyers write about the sale, the price, the staff and the service department. The grading page shows how we turn those reviews into an A, B, C or F.

How We Built the Ranking

We looked only at franchise dealers, the stores that sell new cars for a brand. Then we kept only brands with 25 or more graded stores in our directory. 29 brands made it.

For the top of the list, we sorted by the share of stores that grade A. An A is hard to earn. It needs a high adjusted rating, a low complaint share and at least 50 reviews. For the bottom, we sorted by the share of stores that grade A or B.

The Five Brands With the Best Rated Stores

• Porsche, with 67 percent A and 96 percent A or B across 73 stores.
• Lexus, with 62 percent A and 94 percent A or B across 96 stores.
• MINI, with 51 percent A and 96 percent A or B across 45 stores.
• Subaru, with 48 percent A and 94 percent A or B across 163 stores.
• Volvo, with 47 percent A and 91 percent A or B across 79 stores.

For context, 26 percent of all graded franchise stores earn an A. These brands are well above that.

Several of these are luxury brands. Our guide on luxury vs mainstream car dealers looks at that gap in more detail.

The Five Brands With the Lowest Rated Stores

• Jeep, with 51 percent A or B and 14 percent A across 106 stores.
• Alfa Romeo, with 57 percent A or B and 33 percent A across 30 stores.
• Maserati, with 67 percent A or B and 19 percent A across 27 stores.
• Chevrolet, with 68 percent A or B and 12 percent A across 254 stores.
• Genesis, with 69 percent A or B and 31 percent A across 58 stores.

Keep this in proportion. Franchise stores as a group grade well. Only 2 percent of them get an F, far below the 19 percent of independent used lots. A low ranked brand here is still mostly B and C stores, not a row of bad lots.

Why Store Grades Differ by Brand

We can only guess at the reasons, and these are possibilities, not findings. Brands with fewer buyers per store may give each buyer more time. Some brands may push their stores harder on customer care. Stores that sell a lot of trucks and budget cars may be busier, with more rushed sales and more service visits.

The spread between stores of the same brand is often bigger than the spread between brands. Two stores with the same sign out front can have very different grades.

Each store is owned and run on its own. The brand sets the cars and some rules, but the owner hires the staff, sets the fees and runs the service lane. That is why the store matters as much as the badge on the car.

If Your Brand Ranks Low

Maybe you want a truck from a brand near the bottom of this list. That is fine. The brand of car is your choice. The store is the part you can shop.

• Look up every store for that brand in your metro and compare grades.
• Favor a store with many reviews and a low complaint share.
• Read the recent one star reviews to see what goes wrong there.
• Be willing to drive a bit farther for a better graded store.

You will likely use the service department of the store you buy from. So the grade matters after the sale, too. Our guide on how to check out a car dealer gives you a quick routine.

Buying a Used Car From a Franchise Store

Many buyers shop franchise stores for used cars too. A good store grade helps, but it does not tell you about the used car on the lot. That car came from a trade in or an auction. Our used car inspection checks 122 points, runs a full OBD-II scan, and includes a road test, with a same day report and photos.

Common Questions

Get the Car Inspected