Study Reveals the Pushiest Car Dealerships in the U.S.

People in auto sales get a bad rap for being some of the most hard-selling, harassing, high-pressure individuals in the sales industry — and rightfully so. Would-be car buyers are often met with a dizzying maze of overbearing sales tactics the second they step onto a car lot. However, that’s not always the case.

With recent fluctuations in supply resulting in higher car prices, many dealerships have strived to enhance their customer experience hoping to make every visitor a customer. This includes offering no-haggle pricing, and at some dealerships, you can simply buy your car online or from a vending machine and bypass an interaction with a salesperson altogether.

Unfortunately, not every dealership has evolved to a more customer-focused approach and those in the market for a car can still experience the traditional headache of car buying. At Tinting Chicago, we value providing our customers with a great experience, so we were curious to find out which dealerships do the same.

To find out, we identified the pushiest dealerships in the U.S. by diving into over 40,000 low-star Google reviews for nearly 7,000 dealerships in 100 cities. Focusing on telltale mentions of pushy sales tactics and leveraging cutting-edge natural language processing, we pinpointed which specific auto dealers are turning up the pressure in the nation. We didn’t stop there; we also found the brands, states, and even particular cities where relentless, insistent, and hassling sales tactics are the common theme.

Key takeaways

• Walker’s Renton Subaru in Seattle, WA, is the absolute pushiest auto dealership in the U.S.
• Dealerships in the cities of Milwaukee, WI, and Garland and Fort Worth, TX, are the pushiest in the U.S.
• Fiat, Kia, and Chrysler are the pushiest branded dealerships in America.
• Independent dealerships are less pushy than 75% of brand dealerships.

The 50 pushiest dealerships in the U.S.

When it comes to car shopping, Americans have options. From shopping online to visiting low-contact dealerships, potential new car owners can shop where they feel comfortable. However, not all traditional dealerships keep the customer experience top of mind, and encountering a pushy salesperson can still be an all too common occurrence.

What should be an exciting experience can quickly turn into a stressful process when you feel you’re being pressured into making a purchase or modifying the vehicle with upgrades and warranties.

Through our analysis we uncovered the top 50 pushiest dealerships in the U.S. according to reviews from their customers. From high-pressure negotiation techniques to relentless pitches hoping to upsell, these dealerships tend to prioritize aggressive sales tactics over genuine customer service.

The pushiest dealership in America is Walker’s Renton Subaru in Seattle, Washington. Although this dealership has an average rating of 4 stars on Google, its pushiness frequency is over 2.6%, which is modestly higher than the second pushiest dealership, which has a 2.2% pushiness frequency.

The 50 pushiest independent dealerships in the U.S.

Many Americans shop for cars with no specific make or model in mind. Instead, they prefer allowing their eyes to guide them and their test drives to steer them, so they shop at independent dealerships where they can take in a wide range of models. They may be on to something — despite the stereotype of a used car salesperson, independent dealerships are 75% less pushy than brand dealerships.

Since these dealerships aren’t tied to a specific brand, there is generally less pressure to push a particular deal on you. However, our study found that independent dealerships can still practice pushy sales tactics. Although independent dealerships generally don’t have to stress about manufacturer-set sales targets, there are still in-house and personal goals each sales representative is trying to achieve.

The pushiest independent dealership in America is Rocky Mountain Auto Brokers in Colorado Springs, Colorado, followed by Husker Automotive in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Ricart Automotive Mega Mall in Columbus, Ohio to complete the top three.

The pushiest dealership brands in the U.S.

Branded dealerships are those that are directly affiliated with specific automotive manufacturers. These dealerships offer a one-stop shop for those looking for a vehicle of a specific make. They are even able to offer special deals that can make buying a new car from them seem appealing.

In an effort to determine what car manufacturer is associated with the pushiest dealerships, we clumped together all branded dealerships and analyzed each brand’s cumulative pushiness score. The pushiest branded dealerships throughout America are Fiat, Kia, and Chrysler. The pushiness frequency of these dealerships ranged from 0.530% to 0.470%.

Overall, the top 25 pushiest brand dealership list consists of a mixture of high and mid-level car brands. However, we noticed that luxury car brands didn’t make the list, signaling that the more money you’re expected to spend, the less hassle from the sales rep.

The cities with the most and least pushy dealerships

The likelihood of coming across a pushy car salesperson can also be determined by the city where you’re car shopping. When looking at the dealerships specific to each city, we found the cities with the most and least pushy dealerships.

Milwaukee, WI, isn’t just the largest city in the state of Wisconsin, it also ranks as the place with the most pushy dealerships in America. For perspective, the city’s average pushiness score was 3.14% and the average pushiness score for all the cities on the pushiest list was 1.39%. If you’re not looking for pressure with a car purchase, you might consider shopping outside of the city.

Through our analysis we also found the cities with the least pushy dealerships. Laredo, TX, Buffalo, NY, and Atlanta, GA, all top the list of cities where it’s safest to buy a car without encountering a pushy salesperson.

For a simple roadmap on where you can expect to be hassled into a car purchase, on average, cities on the East Coast, Western Gulf, and Great Lakes Region have the pushiest dealerships. If you’re in the upper East Coast, you’re not likely to catch a break, as this region hosts the most pushy auto dealerships by volume.

The states with the most and least pushy dealerships

It can be hard to bypass pushy dealerships when they seem to be all you encounter. For residents of particular states, the car buying experience is more than likely to come with some added pressure.

The states with the pushiest dealerships in America are Wisconsin, Alaska, and Oklahoma. When looking at the country as a whole, auto dealerships in the western U.S. tend to be the pushiest. Although some states offer more dealerships to shop around at, the added hassle can follow you around at multiple locations. Especially if you live in California or Texas, which are home to the most dealerships with pushy tendencies by volume.

The states with the least pushy dealerships are Georgia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. If you come across a pushy salesperson during your car search in one of these states, chances are you may find a more relaxed atmosphere at the next dealership you try.

A customer-focused experience at Tinting Chicago

The idea of facing aggressive salespeople may not sound like a pleasant way to spend your day, but you can effectively deal with them by knowing what you need — or don’t — before you walk through the doors of a dealership. This empowerment includes understanding the range of post-purchase modifications that enhance any car’s value and appearance.

At Tinting Chicago, we pride ourselves in offering a top-notch customer experience with every service we perform. When it comes to your vehicle upgrades, we offer affordable aftermarket tinting, XPEL paint protection, and auto wrapping customization, and you can always count on high-quality service without the hassle. Get started today by giving us a call for a free estimate on a range of our services.

Methodology
In February 2024, we analyzed over 40,000 1, 2 and 3-star Google reviews of nearly 7,000 auto dealerships across 100 cities in the U.S. to determine which have the pushiest salespeople. We collected review information in each town by dealership brands and independent auto dealers. We focused our analysis on 37 keywords indicating aggressive, hard-selling, intimidating, and high-pressure sales experiences.

To ensure our keywords fit in a pushy sales context, we used natural language processing (NLP) and keyword-in-context (KWIC) analysis to clean our data. We then calculated the frequency of reviews containing our keywords against each dealership’s total number of reviews. We determined the dealerships with the highest review frequencies are the pushiest. We calculated the pushiest cities and states using a grand mean technique and calculated the pushiest brands using the arithmetic mean.

We started with a list of over 11,000 dealerships and over half a million total reviews before cleaning our data with star filtering, NLP + KWIC analysis, sentiment thresholding, statistical significance, and review floor setting.

By focusing solely on individual Google reviews with ratings of 3 stars or less combined with natural language processing and keyword contextual analysis to remove false positives, we ensured our analysis was a concentration of reviews indicative of pushy sales tactics, providing extraordinarily valuable insights into the locations, brands, cities, and states where auto dealerships could enhance their sales service to improve the overall experience.