The stars look healthy.The reputation does not.

The largest study of Google reviews in the Dutch car retail sector, carried out by Repmanager: over 600,000 data points from three sources, including 204,976 full review texts from the 30 largest dealer groups (853 locations).

53.1 percent of complaints (1 and 2 stars) at the 30 largest dealer groups went unanswered. Right now 12,147 complaints sit publicly unanswered on Google, visible to every car buyer and every AI system.

Three sources: the public Google scores of 2,481 dealer profiles (403,316 reviews), 204,976 review texts from the 30 largest dealer groups, and 55,103 reviews from Repmanager's own customer data. Every number states its source.

Every number is counted, not estimated. For groups appearing in two sources the scores differ by less than 0.1 point, and the complaint gap came out identical across three independent calculation routes. The full method is documented in the methodology.

The complaint gap is the share of negative reviews (1 and 2 stars) that never receive a public reply from the dealer. Across the 30 largest dealer groups in the Netherlands that is 53.1 percent over their full history.

The more expensive the brand, the larger the complaint gap. Premium dealers reply to 29 percent of their reviews, mainstream dealers to 62 percent.

The share of public departure announcements that go unanswered. Of 2,105 customers who publicly announced they were leaving, 47 percent never received a reply.

The complete report (PDF) is free to download through the form on this page. All headline figures are also openly available on this page and in the in depth articles.

Yes, this is an annual measurement. The next edition is due in 2027, using the same method, so the trend per dealer group and per brand can be tracked.