<img alt="" src="https://secure.wire0poor.com/215720.png" style="display:none;">

Menu

Access Reputation Index & More

The most comprehensive reputation data resources in automotive, brought to you by Widewail.
  • Widewail Automotive Reputation Index
  • The REV Newsletter (1x/month)
  • Industry Reports

1 of 6

Automotive Index Training: Basic Actions

Sort

  • In the top toolbar, click “Sort”

  • Select a column title in the dropdown menu and sort in ascending or descending order

  • Add multiple sorts for additional layers of ordering

2 of 6

Automotive Index Training: Basic Actions

Filter

  • In the top toolbar, click “Filter”

  • Focus on certain areas by filtering by categorical fields like "Brand" or "City"

  • Set conditional filters like "all dealers with an average rating greater than 4"

3 of 6

Get to Know the Reputation Data

This Widewail Automotive Reputation Index dataset consists of:

  • 16,671 new car dealers in the U.S.

  • 1.6M reviews

  • Google reviews only

  • Current Timeframe: February through June of 2023

4 of 6

What Does This All Mean?

Find definitions of each column header

In the row of column headers, you can hover over the ⓘ symbol next to each label to read the definition of what is being measured in that column and how the data was collected. 

5 of 6

Where to Find Benchmarks

At the bottom of the table, you'll find aggregated numbers for each column. These are the benchmarks. We've preset the benchmarks in each column for you.

The benchmark data updates as you filter and sort the table, producing thousands of variations, each specific to your market or interests.

 

6 of 6

Common Use Cases & More

Below the Reputation Index table, you'll find a Common Use Cases section to get you started. Each common use case includes a how-to video.

The Automotive Reputation Index is ever-evolving. Check back regularly for updated data and new use cases. If your dealership is missing and you’d like to add it to the Index, select “Submit a request to add.”

Get Started
April 4, 2024

REV #008: Price Rankings, Employee Retention, Days Supply

REV #008: Price Rankings, Employee Retention, Days Supply

Welcome to the REV. A briefing that goes deep into the Widewail Automotive Reputation Index data, surfacing the most interesting insights. Every 3 weeks we Rank, Explore & Visualize automotive reputation & sentiment data. 

All data is sourced from the Widewail Automotive Reputation Index (unless noted). The Index aggregates over 1.6 million Google reviews from 16k new car dealerships in the U.S. Customize the dataset like it's your own personal spreadsheet. Try it out. It’s free.

Read online. Subscribe.
 

This week's trivia question. Let's focus on two topics: Deals and Friendliness. Only one of these topics is in the top 10 of mentions in positive reviews. Which is it?

Find the answer at the bottom.
 

RANK

Genesis & Hyundai Have Lowest Negativity Around Price

Price is the 6th most frequent topic in negative reviews.

It’s mentioned in 20.68% of negative reviews.

The leaders? Genesis, Hyundai and Land Rover. This leaderboard is a stark contrast to the overall Brand Scorecard reputation rankings, in which Genesis places 32nd (out of 32 brands).

Rankings, percentage of mentions of price in negative Google reviews, by brand:
Price Negativity Rankings
 

EXPLORE

Playbook to Retain Service Techs Also Minimizes Negative Reviews

Ryan Haskell, the Fixed Ops Director at Jeff Wyler Honda of Colerain in Cincinnati, had a problem.

Every time he hired a new service technician, another vacancy appeared. It was constant.

After some research, he found that his technicians didn’t want just any job. They wanted career trajectory. They wanted growth.

This was 2018.

In response, he put together a playbook, and it’s working. Today, the dealership has lower turnover rates than other Wyler dealerships.

And customers are noticing the impact. 

Looking at the dealership’s review activity, negative mentions of repairs occur 62% less often than the industry benchmark.

Negative mentions of the service department at Jeff Wyler Honda of Colerain are 16.65% below the industry benchmark.

Here’s the playbook, very simplified.

Technicians want to know:

  1. What is the next level of the job?
  2. How long might it take to move up?
  3. What are the pay rates?
  4. The benchmarks do they need to hit to advance?

No matter your business, this playbook is universal.
 

VISUALIZE

Days Supply vs. Brand Reputation Health Score

A higher reputation health score is better. 100% is perfect.

My understanding is that a lower days supply metric is generally a good thing, indicating healthy sales, but too low of a supply may indicate other problems.

If you can articulate this well, please respond and let me know, I'd be interested to understand this better.
Healthscore vs Days Supply

Source of Days Supply as of January 2024: Cox Automotive - vAuto. Source of Reputation Health Score: 2024 Widewail Brand Scorecard Report. The Widewail Reputation Health Score comprises industry data based on 4.1M Google reviews from 17,000 dealerships in 2023. The Health Score aggregates monthly average review volume, lifetime review volume, rating and response rate. 
 

Answer to the trivia question: Friendliness.

Friendliness is mentioned in 23.10% of positive reviews, the #5 topic. Deals are only mentioned in 3.90% of positive reviews, the #13 topic.

 More REV in 3 weeks - Jake, Marketing @Widewail