How the Dealer Grade Works
One rule for every dealer. No dealer pays to be listed and none can pay for a better letter.
The grade blends the star average with the share of one and two star reviews, and gives a long record more weight than a short one.
At a glance
- Needs 20 or more public reviews
- Star average pulled toward 4.3 by 25 average reviews
- Complaint share is one and two star reviews over all reviews
- Four grades, A, B, C and F. There is no D
Step One, Enough Reviews
A dealer needs 20 or more public reviews to get a grade. Below that, one angry buyer or three friends can swing the average, so the lot is listed without a grade. Right now 20,023 of 40,276 dealers are in that group, and 6,279 have no reviews at all.
Step Two, the Adjusted Rating
We add 25 imaginary reviews at 4.3 stars, the national average, to every dealer and work out a new average. A dealer with 3,000 reviews barely moves. A dealer with 21 perfect reviews drops to about 4.7. That stops a short, perfect record from ranking above a long, excellent one.
Step Three, the Complaint Share
Car dealer reviews are mostly all or nothing. Across graded dealers only 3.5 percent of reviews are two or three stars. So we count one and two star reviews as a share of all reviews. That number shows the unhappy tail the average hides.
Step Four, the Letter
| A | Adjusted rating 4.6 or higher, complaints 8 percent or less, and at least 50 reviews |
|---|---|
| B | Adjusted rating 4.2 or higher and complaints 15 percent or less |
| C | Adjusted rating 3.6 or higher and complaints 25 percent or less |
| F | Everything else |
Across the 20,253 graded dealers, 22 percent earn an A, 40 percent a B, 22 percent a C and 16 percent an F.
What the Grade Does Not Tell You
A grade rates past buyers' experience with the dealer. It cannot see the car on the lot today. A great dealer can sell a car with a problem nobody has found yet, and a poor one can have a good car. That is why the last step before you sign is always the same. Get the car inspected.
Corrections
If a listing has the wrong address, phone or hours, or a dealer has closed, tell us and we will fix it. The grade itself only changes when the public reviews change.