U.S. car dealerships saw a 15% drop in Google reviews from the previous year in the first quarter of 2026, but a majority of brands saw their ratings stay the same or rise.
Driving the news: Widewail, a customer intelligence company, analyzed 1.2 million Google reviews left for nearly 18,000 dealerships in the first quarter of the year.
Widewail credited the double-digit drop in reviews to market normalizing after a robust 2025 due to tariffs and the expiration of the clean vehicle credits.
The median number of monthly reviews fell from 13.04 to 12.3 per rooftop, YOY.
Top complaints: The number one complaint in the dealership reviews was communication, showing up nearly 42% of the time in negative reviews.
This was nearly double the complaints about price, which came in around 18.5% of the time.
The sales department’s communication worsened by 2.4% in negative complaints.
Improving marks in the service lane: Videos and texts to customers helped the service lane grow the positive mentions in reviews.
Positive mentions for the staff grew to 67.7%.
Complaints in the service department about honesty, professionalism, friendliness, and helpfulness fell between 7% and 15%.
Repair, maintenance, and wait-time complaints were also down.
OEMs hold marks: Widewail noted that 25 of 32 OEM nameplates held their star ratings or improved.
Lexus had the strongest Reputation Health Score, which takes into account star ratings, response rate to customers, monthly review volume, and lifetime review volume.
Toyota was the top in the mass market category.
Luxury brands received a higher amount of positive feedback on the service department, professionalism, and communication.
Regional breakdown: Areas west of the Rockies had the lowest cumulative star rating of 4.58, with 28 of 32 nameplates posting their lowest regional rating out west.
The Midwest region, which included the Great Lakes area and Ohio, had the highest average rating, 4.7.
Toyota showed the most consistency between the four regions with just a 0.07 spread.
What they’re saying: “Operational improvement is obvious, and dealers across the country have invested in improving on several fronts,” said Cuyler Owens, Widewail CEO, in a press release on the study. “Continuity for the customer still seems to be a challenge. Communicating with customers, offering more convenient scheduling and drop-off and pick-up options, and ensuring a smooth transition from one staff member to another all matter.”
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Takeaway for dealers: Google reviews remain important to customers, and improving communication channels with customers is a good starting point to making sure the reviews stay positive, especially in the service lane.
“Here's the encouraging part: communication is one of the most fixable things in the service drive,” said Melissa Terrell, Widewail COO, in the release about the study.
“The data shows communication, management, and service complaints moving together, which tells us the opportunity isn't a single advisor; it's the process and tooling around them. Establish clear ownership for each customer communication during the service experience.”
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