Carfax Badging, and maybe other 3rd party listing badging

[DrewAment]

Just had a meeting with Carfax - the badging came up (good, fair, etc). I asked what was the cadence for applying a badge and level. They said it was algorithmic and that they (corporate) does not share. WHAT??? So no customer, or dealer, transparency on why you are badging a vehicle a certain way?

When you click the info button, the website says - for great == "The dealer has priced this car well below the CARFAX History-Based Value."

Note the rep is saying it is more than just price, it is "history based" and takes into account the vehicle history. Like how?

So 2 questions....

1 - do you care that the rating is algorithmic but they don't share, even on basic level, the WHY of the badging. What would push it from good to great?

2 - Do you use these badges, and price/reprice accordingly, when pricing your vehicles for your website and 3rd party listings?

 

[Ryan Everson]

Just had a meeting with Carfax - the badging came up (good, fair, etc). I asked what was the cadence for applying a badge and level. They said it was algorithmic and that they (corporate) does not share. WHAT??? So no customer, or dealer, transparency on why you are badging a vehicle a certain way?

When you click the info button, the website says - for great == "The dealer has priced this car well below the CARFAX History-Based Value."

Note the rep is saying it is more than just price, it is "history based" and takes into account the vehicle history. Like how?

So 2 questions....

1 - do you care that the rating is algorithmic but they don't share, even on basic level, the WHY of the badging. What would push it from good to great?

2 - Do you use these badges, and price/reprice accordingly, when pricing your vehicles for your website and 3rd party listings?

Much like CarGurus, Carfax has a dealer portal where you can log in and see how much you need to drop the price to hit the next badge - like “Good Deal” or “Great Deal.”



^ In this example, best practice would be to lower the price by $13 to move from a Fair to Good badge.


Carfax’s deal ratings are market-based like CarGurus, but they also factor in your dealership’s rating and the vehicle’s Carfax history (number and severity of accidents, number of owners, service records, and type of ownership)

 

[Tallcool1]

It's pretty frustrating @DrewAment . I don't like it at all, and it isn't just Carfax.

What I see frequently is that the "Great Deal" vehicles are typically really tacky but have no REPORTED Accidents. These cars might be scratched up with door dings, cracked bumper covers, stained seats, headliners that look like they survived an Apocalypse, oxidized head lights, etc...but the Value Rating is really strong especially if they have even a decent service history.

Think about the cars that work really good for Sub Prime and you realize that those are the cars that score well on these 3rd Party sites.

Why they won't just tell us how the Rater System works is beyond me. I suppose they are afraid that dealers will somehow game their system?