How Does DealerRater Work?

DealerRater is the leading review platform built specifically for car dealerships, and it works differently from a typical business-review site in one structural way: reviews aren’t left for the store alone, they’re tied to the individual salesperson, finance manager, or service advisor who handled the deal. That employee-level model exists to counter car buying’s well-earned reputation for high-pressure tactics, by letting a buyer see exactly how a specific person treats customers before ever walking onto the lot.

This guide covers how DealerRater actually works — the employee-tagged review model, the dealership-level aggregate, the Certified Dealer and Dealer of the Year recognition programs, and how a dealership can request reviews compliantly across both sales and service.

Reviews tied to a person, not just a store

When a buyer leaves a DealerRater review, they name and rate the specific salesperson, finance manager, or service advisor they worked with, in addition to rating the dealership overall. That creates two parallel records: the dealership’s aggregate rating across all departments, and each employee’s individual, portable track record.

This matters more than it sounds like it should. A salesperson with a strong personal review history has real, demonstrable credibility a generic dealership rating can’t provide — and repeat or referred customers frequently search for that person by name before their next purchase or service visit, rather than just showing up at the dealership generically.

How the dealership rating and Certified Dealer program work

The dealership’s overall DealerRater rating is an aggregate score across all departments — sales and service combined — displayed on the dealership’s main profile. It reflects review recency and volume as much as average star rating: a steady, ongoing stream of recent reviews signals an active, currently-performing dealership more than a large batch collected once and never repeated.

DealerRater layers recognition programs on top of the base rating. Certified Dealer status is an opt-in designation for stores that demonstrate a genuine commitment to online reputation and customer service, driven substantially by review activity and rating. Annual "Dealer of the Year" awards, given by make and region, draw from the same pool of engaged, well-reviewed stores. Both are used in dealership marketing and show up in cross-shopping comparisons.

How reviews get submitted and verified

A buyer or service customer submits a review tied to a completed sale or service visit, naming the employee they worked with. Because reviews are tied to a specific person and often reference a specific vehicle or visit, DealerRater and dealerships themselves can more easily spot inconsistent or fabricated reviews than on a fully anonymous platform — a review naming an employee who never worked a particular deal, or referencing a vehicle that doesn’t match any real transaction, stands out.

Requesting reviews the right way, for both sales and service

Requesting reviews from real customers is standard practice on DealerRater, but it has to be done consistently and compliantly across the whole dealership, not just at the point of a sale.

• Ask at delivery for sales, and at checkout for service — while the experience is fresh for the customer.
• Request a review from every genuine customer, sales and service alike, not a filtered "happy customers only" list.
• Always tag the correct salesperson or advisor by name — that’s what makes the employee-level record accurate and useful.
• Never offer a discount, gift card, or other incentive for a review.

A strong DealerRater presence is really two things built at once: a dealership-wide habit of requesting reviews from every sales and service customer, and individual salespeople who understand their personal review record is a real asset worth building deliberately. Neglecting either leaves visible gaps — a strong sales team with a quiet service department, or a solid dealership average undercut by salespeople with no personal reviews of their own.

For the full picture on building both together, and how DealerRater reviews carry over to Cars.com, see our DealerRater reputation management overview.