2025 Cars.com Dealer Awards FAQ

To be eligible to win a Cars.com Dealer Award at the end of this year, the following minimum criteria must be met:

• Minimum of 25 reviews on Cars.com or DealerRater for the previous calendar year.

• Minimum of 1 review in each calendar quarter of the previous calendar year.

• Minimum of 1 “Sales (New)” review in the award category during the previous calendar year (only applicable for Dealer of the Year).

• An average rating greater than 4.0 (out of a maximum of 5.0) for reviews received during the previous calendar year.

Once the minimum criteria has been met, a PowerScore™ will be calculated for each dealership in their award category based on reviews collected in 2024.  This PowerScore™ calculation considers the following three metrics for reviews in each category: the dealership’s average star rating, the total number of reviews collected, and the dealership’s response rate on reviews received during 2024.  

The Dealer of the Year award is offered at the Regional level, National level (by brand), and State/Province level (by brand).  Dealers who meet the criteria above and have earned the highest PowerScore™ in their category based on their Cars.com and DealerRater reviews & responses will be named Dealer of the Year for that category. 

The Consumer Satisfaction Award will be awarded to all dealers that win Dealer of the Year, as well as a number of dealers that ranked highly but came just short of winning Dealer of the Year.  Dealers must meet the same minimum requirements as listed above.  The top 10% of US franchise dealers (regardless of make) will receive the award, along with a top percentage of US Used Car dealers, and Canadian Franchise and Used Car dealers.

Introduced in 2022, the Regional Award category is awarded to the dealership with the top PowerScore™, regardless of brand, in 8 geographic regions. The 8 regions that we will be awarding are: New England, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Plains, Rocky Mountain, Southwest, and West. The list of states included in these regions is based on the regional breakdown used by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Review response rates are factored into the PowerScore™ calculations because it is an important factor in how consumers evaluate dealerships.  Per BrightLocal’s 2024 Consumer Review Survey, “88% of consumers would use a business that replies to all of its reviews, compared to just 47% who would use a business that doesn’t respond to reviews at all”.  The best dealerships treat every review as an opportunity to build loyalty and create connections with their customers.

The Consumer Satisfaction Awards is intended to recognize dealerships that provide an exceptional customer experience, and Consumer Satisfaction awards are given out to a percentage of the top-rated dealerships. There is no limit to the number of dealerships within a certain State/Province or brand that could potentially receive a Consumer Satisfaction Award - rather each dealership is compared against all others when determining Consumer Satisfaction Award recipients.

Dealer of the Year and Consumer Satisfaction Award winners will both be announced on March 11, 2025, via email. Email recipients will be dealer users who have administrative access to DealerRater.

For a Dealer of the Year winner, here’s what the dealer will receive: 

• Dealer of the Year Badges will appear on the dealer’s Cars.com and DealerRater Dealer Profile pages, as well as on Dealership Search Result/Locator pages.

• High-resolution Dealer of the Year graphics are available in the Dealer Panel.

• A customizable press-release template in the DealerRater Dealer Panel to help announce their award.

• Customizable social media post templates to spread the word throughout social media.

• Showroom Collateral that a dealer can use in their dealership to promote their win: 

  • Regional and National Brand winners will receive a trophy, banners, table tents and window clings

  • State and Province Brand winners will receive window clings and table tents only. 

In most cases, any showroom collateral the dealership receives (trophies, banners, table tents, and window clings) should arrive by early April.