Cars.com review management · Automotive

How to get Cars.com reviews and respond to them

Cars.com is one of the long-running online marketplaces where shoppers browse new and used inventory and read reviews of the dealerships behind the listings. Reviews there separate sales from service experiences, so a shopper can judge both how you sell and how you look after the car afterward.

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Inbox · Summit Motors4.6 ★ · 127 reviews
Replying to Maria K. on Google ✦ AI draft
Post to GoogleEdit

Collect, reply and get new reviews on 100+ sites

Why Cars.com reviews matter for dealerships and automotive businesses

Shoppers on Cars.com are comparing dealers that carry the same models, often across a whole metro area. They read reviews to decide which showroom to visit first and whether the service department is worth returning to. A profile with stale or unanswered reviews reads as a store that has stopped paying attention, and that costs both the sale and the service revenue that follows it.

Monitor

Every Cars.com review in one inbox

Paste the public URL of your Cars.com profile under Track Reviews, Review Sources. Reviewshake shows the URL format it expects, and syncing starts as soon as the source is saved.

Reply

AI-drafted replies in your tone

Cars.com does not allow replies to be posted through third-party software, so Reviewshake drafts the reply with AI in your tone and gives you a one-click link to the exact Cars.com page where it is posted. Copy, paste, done. The reply is still logged against the review in your inbox so nobody answers it twice.

How to respond to Cars.com reviews

Cars.com readers often look at service reviews as closely as sales reviews, so reply to both departments, not just the showroom. Name the department, say what was done, and avoid generic thank-you text, since a page of identical replies looks automated to someone deciding whether to trust you.

  • Reply to every review, positive ones included; readers notice the pattern, not the single reply.
  • Use the reviewer's name and one specific detail so it cannot read as a template.
  • For negative reviews: acknowledge, state the fix, take it offline. No arguing in public.
  • Keep replies in one place so nobody on the team answers twice or misses one.

See how this fits the rest of the workflow for auto dealerships.

Replying to a Cars.com review · AI draft

Thank you for taking the time to write this. We're glad the visit went well and we've passed your note on to the team. We'd love to see you again.

Edit · Open on Cars.com to post

How to get more Cars.com reviews

Ask every customer after the visit, by email or SMS, with one reminder. The request links to a review landing page that can send people to Cars.com first, and a QR code covers the customers who never open email. Customers come in from a CSV, Zapier or the API, so nobody has to remember to ask.

Campaign · After visitLast 30 days
0
requests sent
0
reviews posted
0
conversion
Dan Reyes added from SquaresquareTue 14:02
Request sentsmsThu 10:00
Opened · tapped 👍 Good experienceThu 10:14
Review posted on Google ★★★★★Thu 10:19
Reply drafted and postedThu 10:21

Show your Cars.com reviews where buyers are looking

Put the best Cars.com reviews on your website with a carousel, grid or badge, filtered to Cars.com or mixed with Google and Facebook, with rich-snippet markup so stars can show in search results. Share the good ones to social in one click.

summitmotors.com
Sales and service, one roof
reviewshake widget
4.6★★★★★from 127 reviews on Google and Facebook

See the Cars.com trend, not just the latest review

Rating trend, volume and sentiment by site and location, with Cars.com next to every other site you are listed on. A monthly report, white-labelled for agencies, and an email alert the moment a negative Cars.com review is imported.

Rating trend · Summit Motors12 months
5.04.54.0 4.6 now NovAprOct
Google
4.7 · 86
Facebook
4.5 · 24
Healthgrades
4.2 · 17

Reviews on G2

What customers say

“We can access all our customer feedback in one place, we can easily show off our good reviews on our website and across socials.”

Brad C.
Brad C.Director · 5/5 on G2

“ReviewShake's interface is clean and intuitive. I found it quite easy to set up a widget for my website and the reporting is clear.”

Armand G.
Armand G.Owner · 4.5/5 on G2

“A well-designed app that does what it is meant to do, increases quality reviews and reduces the negative ones. Easy to learn interface and it can be set up to work in the background.”

Jeffrey T.
Jeffrey T.Owner, Professional Photographer · 5/5 on G2

Questions

About Cars.com reviews in Reviewshake

How does Reviewshake collect Cars.com reviews?

Paste the public URL of your Cars.com profile under Track Reviews, Review Sources. Reviewshake shows the URL format it expects, and syncing starts as soon as the source is saved.

How often are Cars.com reviews imported?

New Cars.com reviews are imported every 12 to 24 hours depending on the source, and you get an email alert for each new or negative one. Historical reviews are imported when you first connect the profile.

Can I reply to Cars.com reviews from Reviewshake?

Cars.com does not allow replies to be posted through third-party software, so Reviewshake drafts the reply with AI in your tone and gives you a one-click link to the exact Cars.com page where it is posted. Copy, paste, done. The reply is still logged against the review in your inbox so nobody answers it twice.

Can I ask customers for Cars.com reviews?

Yes. Review request campaigns by email and SMS send customers to a review landing page that can point to Cars.com alongside Google and Facebook, so you decide which site gets asked for next. Requests go to every customer; no gating, no incentives.

Does this work for an agency managing Cars.com reviews for many clients?

Yes. Agency plans are fully white-labelled: your domain, your logo, your sender email, and a separate Cars.com source per client location, with monthly reports under your brand.

How are Cars.com and DealerRater related?

DealerRater is owned by Cars.com, and dealership reviews are shared between the two sites. A review left on one can appear on the other, so manage them as a pair.

Can I reply to reviews on Cars.com?

Yes. Dealerships can respond to reviews through their Cars.com dealer account, and the response appears publicly under the review.