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RANK: Every Brand's Service Mentions Run More Negative Than Its Sales Mentions
A dealership's reputation gets built in two buildings, and customers don't talk about them the same way.
The Widewail Index tags every review by topic and by sentiment, so we can compare both departments at the same stores. Meaning: of all the times reviews mention a department, the share that are negative.
Across 16,253 rooftops where reviews mention both, 28.5% of service mentions are negative.
Sales: 8.6%.
| Brand | Service % negative | Sales % negative |
|---|
| Porsche | 17.6 | 7.2 |
| Lexus | 19.0 | 7.5 |
| Lincoln | 20.9 | 8.1 |
| Subaru | 21.6 | 6.7 |
| Volvo | 23.1 | 7.0 |
| Acura | 23.5 | 8.6 |
| Ford | 23.8 | 7.3 |
| Infiniti | 24.1 | 8.5 |
| BMW | 24.2 | 7.4 |
| Land Rover / Jaguar | 24.3 | 8.1 |
| Audi | 26.1 | 10.1 |
| GMC / Buick | 27.0 | 8.2 |
| Honda | 27.5 | 8.4 |
| Chevrolet | 27.8 | 8.2 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 27.9 | 10.1 |
| Mazda | 27.9 | 8.0 |
| Toyota | 28.9 | 8.5 |
| Nissan | 29.2 | 7.8 |
| Mitsubishi | 30.2 | 8.8 |
| Kia | 32.1 | 8.8 |
| Cadillac | 32.9 | 11.7 |
| Volkswagen | 34.5 | 9.8 |
| Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep / Ram | 36.8 | 11.0 |
| Hyundai | 37.9 | 9.3 |
Every brand runs more negative in service. Sales barely moves from brand to brand. Service more than doubles from top to bottom.
The badge on the building doesn't seem to change how the sale feels. It changes the service visit.
Is that a few rough stores, or the whole brand?
EXPLORE: How Many of Each Brand's Stores Land in the Best and Worst Service Groups
We split 18,670 rooftops into four equal groups by how negative their service mentions are. If brand didn't matter, every brand would have 25% of its stores in the best group and 25% in the worst.
| Brand | % of stores in best group | % in worst group |
|---|
| Porsche | 47 | 11 |
| Lexus | 43 | 10 |
| Lincoln | 42 | 15 |
| Volvo | 40 | 20 |
| Subaru | 39 | 15 |
| Land Rover / Jaguar | 38 | 20 |
| Acura | 36 | 19 |
| Mitsubishi | 31 | 28 |
| BMW | 30 | 17 |
| Ford | 29 | 16 |
| Infiniti | 29 | 18 |
| Mazda | 29 | 23 |
| Cadillac | 25 | 32 |
| Honda | 24 | 22 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 24 | 22 |
| Genesis | 23 | 25 |
| Chevrolet | 23 | 22 |
| Audi | 22 | 17 |
| Nissan | 22 | 25 |
| GMC / Buick | 20 | 18 |
| Toyota | 19 | 24 |
| Volkswagen | 17 | 34 |
| Kia | 17 | 29 |
| Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep / Ram | 16 | 37 |
| Hyundai | 12 | 39 |
It's the whole brand. 39% of Hyundai stores sit in the worst group. Lexus is the mirror image: 43% in the best.
Store size doesn't explain it. Bigger stores usually run less negative, and Toyota, Kia and Hyundai stores are bigger than average.
The data suggests the brand sets the starting line for the service lane. Next week: what moves a store off it.
Source: Widewail Index, October 2026 snapshot. Rooftops with 100+ lifetime reviews; brand read from the store name, single-brand stores only, brands with 150+ stores. "Negative" is the share of a department's review mentions tagged negative, averaged per rooftop.
See you next week - Jake
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