CarEdge Does a Crazy Review on an Illinois Subaru Dealership

• CarEdge, an online automotive marketplace, has been publicly calling out dealers for bad pricing practices, which makes a positive review stand out.

• The Illinois Subaru store CarEdge praised matched Mike's own experience: easy to do business with, clear, and transparent from test drive to paperwork.

• Dealers take a lot of flack, but Mike's view is that there are really good dealers out there taking care of customers, employees, and families.

• The same store uses MOTO(acquire) as its website trade-in tool and for service drive acquisition, and its contact told Mike that buying cars out of service was its highest closing lead so far that month.

CarEdge, an online automotive marketplace, has been on a tear calling out dealers for bad pricing practices. So when it publishes a glowing review of a store, dealers should pay attention. If you have wondered how does CarEdge rate car dealerships, the review Mike Crothers reacts to in this video is a useful example: it praised a Subaru store in Illinois for being clear, transparent, and easy to do business with.

Mike shot this one in his car instead of on his usual walk, and for good reason. He drives a Subaru Ascent, and he bought it from that same store.

How does CarEdge rate car dealerships?

Mike does not walk through CarEdge's scoring method in the video, and we will not guess at it here. If you want the specifics of how a CarEdge dealer review is put together, go to CarEdge directly.

What the video does make clear is the pattern. CarEdge has been calling out stores for bad pricing practices, and in this case it said a lot of positive things about a dealer that does the opposite. The things it praised were the same things Mike noticed as a buyer: a simple process and a deal he could understand.

For a GM or dealer principal, the takeaway is practical. Dealer pricing transparency is getting public attention, good and bad, and the stores that make the deal easy to understand are the ones getting called out for the right reasons.

What an easy, transparent deal looked like from the buyer's seat

Mike walked in knowing he wanted a Subaru, not which one. He thought he wanted a lower-sitting station wagon. The team pulled out all the cars and let him drive them around, and he left in an Ascent.

When it came time to do the deal, everything was super clear and super easy to understand. In Mike's words, he had a ton of questions, and everyone answered them really clearly and helped him out a ton.

None of that is complicated. It is the basics done well:

• Let the customer discover the right car. Pull the units and hand over the keys instead of steering toward what you assumed they wanted.

• Make the numbers easy to follow. A deal the customer understands is a deal they trust.

• Treat questions as part of the sale. Clear answers are what make a store easy to do business with.

Good dealers rarely get the headline

Mike's view is that dealers get a lot of flack for being a business that tries to take advantage of consumers. But there really are good dealers out there trying to take care of their customers, their employees, and their families. A positive CarEdge review backs that up.

He has only bought one other new car, a Honda from a dealer group in Wisconsin, and that experience was also awesome. Two purchases, two stores that were super easy to do business with. That is the side of automotive retail that rarely makes the news, and it is worth saying out loud. For more car dealer industry commentary like this, browse the Odds and Ends video hub.

Where MOTO(acquire) fits at this store

Unrelated to the review, this Subaru store uses MOTO(acquire) as the trade-in tool on its website and for service drive acquisition. Mike talks with the store's team pretty often. Last week, they told him that buying cars out of service was their highest closing lead so far this month. Mike's own caveat: that may have changed since.

Here is what those pieces do:

• MOTO(convert): Website trade tool with instant valuations, firm offer requests, and monthly value tracking. Includes the free buying power tool.

• MOTO(drive): Service drive acquisition using DMS data and automated texts; pushes VIN and miles to inventory tools. Sales team is alerted when a customer is ready. MOTO(drive) stores consistently buy about 1% of their repair orders without dedicated service acquisition hires.

If you want a wider look at the acquisition tools stores tend to skip, watch Every Tool Your Dealership Is Missing.

Mike's suggestion if you are evaluating service drive acquisition or want more leads from your website trade-in tool: talk to a dealer already running it and ask about MOTO(acquire). Or book time with the MOTO(acquire) team and we will help you out.