Is there room for a proper Trustpilot-for-cars?

[PistonHead1298]

Hi all,

I’ve been working on a small side project for fun with my dad while I’m at university, and I’m curious what PH thinks about the idea behind it.

One thing I’ve always found difficult when researching cars is that information is either:

-Marketing material

-Influencer content (good but usually based on a short period of time e.g. car loaned for a few days)

-Or forum threads scattered all over the place

It feels like there’s no single place where you can get real-world owner opinions in a structured, comparable way, something closer to a “Trustpilot for cars”.

As a bit of a learning project, we’ve built a lightweight prototype where:

-Owners can leave short structured reviews

-YouTube reviews are also shown in one place

-The goal is eventually to combine expert opinions + owner experience

It’s purely a hobby project at this stage (completely free, no ads, not monetised) and I’m mainly trying to understand whether the concept itself is useful before putting more work into it.

So I’d love to get PH thoughts on a few questions:

1. Would a proper owner-review database actually be useful, or do people prefer forums?
2. What kind of owner info matters most: reliability? running costs? quirks? pros/cons?
3. Would you trust something like this if it grew, or is it an idea that sounds better than it works in practice?

I’m not trying to promote anything, genuinely just trying to validate whether it’s worth continuing. Happy to take honest PH feedback (brutal included).

Thanks!

[Stu R]

It's a nice idea but it sounds a bit... old fashioned, at least in internet years.

People are slow to praise, quick to complain and don't like to feel like they made a mistake. So if someone doesn't do their due diligence and buys a rotter, blame will be apportioned to the dealer / manufacturer / neighbor's gatepost. Most will leave either a 1* or 5* review - see any Amazon product with a few thousand reviews. Nuance dies when browsers open, basically.

I'd also be concerned that a well crafted AI prompt can do what you describe without needing another login, bookmark etc - at least in terms of social listening, trawling video transcriptions, aggregating sentiment on reddit / Facebook groups / forums etc and creating a blended summary of information, dumping a response out with a few popular YouTube links etc. So what's the attraction / USP? I think you may get lost in the no man's land between big websites, niche websites, and AI utility.

I'd also say forums / subreddits / Facebook groups work because there's interaction. I don't care what Bob thinks of his 5 series, nor what he thinks of my car, I don't want to waste time writing letters to the void with no response, so once I've left my review, what am I returning for in terms of engagement / retention?

[Lester H]

Good that you are thinking along these lines. A problem for this is that drivers who post their experiences are either cross and disillusioned , or as happy as the proverbial Larry. It’s the same with reviews of hotels and restaurants in that consumers don’t tend to comment if their experience was just adequate. Also owners can be wedded to a particular marque and blind to anything else. The project looks worthwhile but will need much refining. With sites like Trusted Traders, many of the traders mates may comment favourably. Also there are some good garage sites into which one can subscribe.

[Inbox]

Don't forget to request a review on the level of upselling and far this was pushed as part of the service experience.

I think cars themselves are well covered, things like garages and dealers need a light to be shone on them.

[mikef]

If you're going to collate and publish negative reviews or allow user-generated critical content on a website that you operate, you are likely to need constant moderation, proper legal cover and deep pockets

[Inbox]

mikef said:

If you're going to collate and publish negative reviews or allow user-generated critical content on a website that you operate, you are likely to need constant moderation, proper legal cover and deep pockets

I think Ian Hislop can help you with that one and don't forget Arkell v Pressdam.

[Jag_NE]

It might work. Parkers have done something similar (albeit very basic) for years, more features might make a difference.

The only feedback that comes to mind is that PH is probably a bad focus group as most here think they know best. A forum like Mumsnet might give a more balanced response.

One issue in play is that OEM's dont really make bad cars anymore, its down to features, price, image etc. And with a car purchase being so expensive, people will evaluate these criteria in person, before buying. Reliability data will always be interesting but JDPower seem to have that covered, at least at brand level.