How do CarGurus' dealer reviews work?

August 28, 2026



CarGurus strongly believes in transparency in car shopping. We're confident any transaction between a car shopper and a dealership will be easier and more pleasant if that shopper and dealership communicate openly and honestly with each other before and after the transaction.We let car shoppers publicly review dealerships they've worked with while they're shopping for a car, and we allow dealerships to respond to those reviews directly. In order to ensure high-quality reviews, CarGurus reserves the right to remove reviews at our discretion in alignment with our policies. We allow only those shoppers who have recently interacted with a dealership to review that dealership.



Shoppers

Any shopper who contacts a dealership about a listing through CarGurus or visits the dealership in person will be invited to leave a dealership review. Shoppers who engage with the dealer in person may have the opportunity to submit a review in-store, while shoppers who contact the dealer and communicate through CarGurus will receive up to two review invitations beginning approximately one week after their initial contact. Those invites will allow the shopper to rate the dealership overall with a star rating of 1 to 5 and to document their experience with that dealership.

If you plan to post a review, here are some things you should know:

  • We want as many specifics as possible in reviews – saying a dealership is "Good" won't give other shoppers a very clear idea how you felt about working with it.
  • We don't allow accusations of criminal conduct. If you think a dealership did something truly awful or illegal, please simply state the facts.
  • We don't allow words that can't be said on prime-time TV in reviews.
  • We don't allow personal attacks.
  • We don't allow the use of last names in reviews.

Each dealer review CarGurus receives gets screened, and if we receive a review we can't publish for some reason, we invite the submitter to edit and re-submit it.



Dealerships

Dealers who have an account with CarGurus will receive a notification shortly after a shopper submits a review of their dealership. That notification will include an invitation to respond to the review directly or challenge it as fraudulent. The tools to respond to reviews are available to any car dealership with inventory on the site, regardless of whether it has a business relationship with CarGurus. Things to keep in mind:

  • We will NOT remove negative reviews simply because a dealership advertises with CarGurus.
  • CarGurus may ask for evidence to support any claim that a review is fraudulent or otherwise invalid.
  • A dealer's response will be published just below the review itself – make sure it is fit for public consumption and not aimed at the reviewer alone.
  • CarGurus strongly discourages dealerships from providing financial incentives or otherwise pressuring consumers to leave a review.
  • Though they are still available to users, we do not include reviews older than 2 years when calculating a dealer's overall rating.


Ensuring review integrity

CarGurus takes the integrity of our reviews very seriously and has a zero tolerance policy for fraudulent review submissions. We have a variety of systems in place to monitor for and prevent fraud. Individuals who are determined to have submitted fraudulent reviews may have their ability to submit future reviews revoked.


Dealers determined to have directly or indirectly participated in fraudulent review activity (including any attempt to manipulate a dealer's reputation on the site by submitting reviews themselves and/or enlisting others to submit reviews on their behalf) may be subject to warnings and, for repeated or significant violations, additional consequences. These may include removal of reviews, disqualification from Top Rated Dealer, restrictions on receiving additional reviews, or other negative impacts to their reputation on CarGurus.



Dealership change of ownership policy

It is our mission to provide the most accurate and trusted dealer reviews to our users. As such, in the event of a dealership change of ownership please follow the policy below to ensure a timely and transparent handling of reviews.

  • The new owner must provide CarGurus with a valid, executed purchase and sales agreement clearly indicating the prior ownership, the new ownership, and the date upon which the change occurred.
  • Dealer licenses, lease agreements, state records, or other documentation will not be accepted as evidence of an ownership change. The purchase and sale agreement may be redacted but the old/new owner data and date of ownership change must be present.
  • Reviews written prior to the provided notice of ownership change will display with a clear indication that the reviews were submitted under previous ownership.
  • Reviews submitted following the provided notice of ownership change will age out to zero impact on deal rating within a 6-month time frame from the date valid notice was provided and accepted, with the greatest impact reduction occurring within 60 days
  • After 6 months, the prior ownership reviews will no longer factor into the aggregate star rating. Additionally, after 6 months, the prior ownership reviews will be moved to the ‘Old Reviews’ section in the VDP reviews widget and will continue to be clearly marked as reviews from the prior ownership, including any management responses.
  • New reviews have a greater weight, which will further help to accelerate mitigation of old reviews.