How Does CarGurus's Rating Actually Work?

CarGurus does not publish the exact formula behind a dealer’s overall rating, but it does state that reviews older than two years are excluded from that calculation, even though they remain visible on the dealer’s profile. That means the number can move over time with no new customer activity at all, simply because older reviews age out of the window — a rating built on a review base from a few years ago will keep drifting even without a single new negative experience.

Every submission is also screened before it posts — CarGurus’s stated content guidelines bar things like criminal accusations, profanity, personal attacks, exposed personal information, reviews about the wrong dealership, and feedback that’s really about CarGurus rather than the dealership. CarGurus may ask a reviewer to edit a submission that’s too thin or contradicts its own star rating, and reviews CarGurus determines to be fraudulent don’t count toward the rating at all.

• Lead-gated eligibility — only shoppers who contacted the dealership through CarGurus (listing contact form or on-page phone number) are eligible to review it.
• Platform-controlled invitations — CarGurus, not the dealer, sends up to two review-invite emails, starting about a week after that first contact.
• A rolling two-year window — reviews older than two years drop out of the rating calculation entirely, even though they stay visible on the profile.
• Content and fraud screening — submissions are checked against CarGurus’s content guidelines before publishing, and reviews CarGurus determines to be fraudulent are excluded from the count.