When searching for an auto transport company, one of the first steps you’ll probably take is to seek out previous customer reviews online. However, there are hundreds of review websites out there, all with scores of reviews to sort through.
You should know that there can be a lot of clutter on review sites in general. Reading review after review of various auto transport companies, you may be struck by the fact that a lot of the reviews are basically useless. A five-star review with no explanation is almost as unhelpful as a one-star review with no explanation. And while most of the reviews will be written by customers that have actually used the companies they’ve reviewed, some reviews may be suspect.
That said, we know that thorough, well-written reviews can be an invaluable resource when you’re choosing an auto transport company. That’s why we’ve created this quick guide to the best review websites. These sites are where you’ll find the most trustworthy reviews — often because reviewers are vetted — and all the information you need to make an informed choice when you’re shopping around for an auto transport management company.
How to use the following sites
Most review sites will let you sort reviews of auto transport companies in various ways. Perhaps you want to look at only companies operating in a certain service area or only auto transport companies that operate nationwide. On some sites, you can see five-star reviews first or show only the three-star reviews. Other websites will rank transporters based on the overall number of positive and negative reviews they’ve received, giving you an at-a-glance view of their reputation. All of these details can help you choose a company, but be wary of relying too much on reviews alone.
Here are some quick tips to help you use the sites below more thoughtfully:
Look at the number of reviews a company has. The more reviews a company has, the more likely it is that their overall ranking will be reliable. Thousands of reviews (like Montway has on Transport Reviews) will paint an accurate picture in a way a handful of reviews simply can’t.
Give more weight to recent reviews. Companies change over time, and so glowing reviews that are a few years old should not carry more weight than so-so reviews that are just days or weeks old.
Look for reviews written by people like you. If, for instance, you need to ship a car that’s an antique or particularly valuable, the most important reviews for you to read will be those left by people who were shipping classic cars, race cars, rare cars, or luxury vehicles.
Read beyond the extremes. Watch out for reviews that are so overwhelmingly positive or so crushingly negative that they read as almost fake. Most customers’ experiences will fall somewhere in the middle — including yours — and that’s what you should be reading more about.
Watch out for jargon. When reviews include a lot of industry terms or include a lot of details most regular customers would never even think about there’s a good chance they were written not by customers, but by a PR firm or a company representative.
Look for a common thread. If a lot of reviewers mention the same experiences, have had similar issues, or offer up the same compliments, take those reviews seriously. Don’t assume that your experience will be the exception.
Now let’s take a look at our top 8 auto transport review sites.
Transport Reviews
This is where many people start when searching for auto transport company reviews. Their site is home to over 200,000 reviews of 4,100 different auto transport companies. The reason Transport Reviews is such a valuable resource is that only real, actual customers can post reviews. Reviewers are subject to verification (by submitting their order details), and if a company flags a review as being posted by a non-customer, Transport Reviews will take steps to determine whether the review is a fake. Fictitious reviews and non-customers are quickly removed from the site.
BBB
The Better Business Bureau is more than just a forum for complaints. Consumers visit the site not only to leave critiques of companies but also to showcase great service. You can use their search feature to look up various companies, and read good, bad, and even neutral reviews. For example, you can read Montway Auto Transport reviews on the BBB.org website to get an idea of the experiences our customers have had.
These reviews are vetted by Better Business Bureau team members and sent to the businesses in question before they are posted online. When there is a question about the legitimacy of a review, the Better Business Bureau will follow up with both the business and the customer. What that means is that you can be sure the reviews you’re reading are truthful.
TrustPilot
TrustPilot is a popular review site for people shopping for anything from wedding venues to auto transport because of its zero-tolerance policy toward fake reviews. They even have a dedicated compliance team who work around the clock to identify fictitious reviews. This website hosts over 13 million trustworthy reviews, so you’re likely to find many customer experiences that will help you choose the right auto transport company here.
My Moving Reviews
Although it’s geared toward moving companies, this website hosts auto transport company reviews as well. Because most moving companies don’t transport vehicles, the majority of people will have to book a separate service to ship their car. Click the Auto Transporters tab at the top to easily search for companies by state. Some companies, like Montway, ship anywhere within the continental United States, while others only ship locally.
Reseller Ratings
Don’t let the name throw you off, because the site ResellerRatings actually has reviews of service providers, too. It collects shopping experiences from a wide variety of consumers and aggregates them into a 10-star rating system, which can be more helpful and specific than the standard 5-star rating. ResellerRatings not only lets businesses flag fraudulent reviews but also works directly with them to source reviews from verified customers who’ve actually purchased products or services.
There was a time when Facebook allowed users to post reviews directly on businesses’ Facebook pages, but there was no system in place for moderation and fraud was a big problem. They’ve since replaced reviews with a feature they call Recommendations. There are no more star ratings. Instead, users who have interacted with a business are asked whether they would recommend it and to share more information (there’s a minimum character count) about the experience they had.
The goal is to prompt users to write richer, more authentic reviews that are more like a word of mouth recommendation. You’ll find a link to our Recommendations by scrolling down our Facebook page.
Almost every auto transport company will have reviews that users have posted directly on Google. There are two ways to find these. First, by searching for the company name on Google and then scrolling through the results until you get to the local results (which are paired with a small map). You can click the company name, and it will take you to a second page with a larger map. There, you’ll see a link to the reviews right under the company name. The second way to find Google reviews is to search for the company name right in Google Maps.
You can sort Google reviews by most relevant, newest, or by highest or lowest ratings. In some cases, Google will also show the names and ratings of other auto transport companies in the same results, giving you a way to compare two or more companies quickly.
Is Twitter a review site? No, but it made this list because it’s such a good resource for gauging the reputation of an auto transport company. Like Facebook, Twitter is another high-traffic social media network that people will use to reach out to a company or to share their experiences about a company.
A quick search on Twitter will help you find customer experiences and overall opinions, positive or negative, about most companies. Try searching not only for the company name and @ mentions, but also using hashtags like #companyname, #companynamerules, #autotransport, and #carshipper.
How to spot fake auto transport reviews
One of the reasons we recommend that people do more than just read reviews when choosing an auto transport company is that there are both false negative and false positive reviews online. The main reason we like the sites listed above is that they are unbiased. There is an oversight by the website to prevent fake reviews (or to remove them quickly), reviewers have to post under their real names (as is the case with Facebook), or reviews will prompt discussion that can be more eye-opening than the original review (which is what frequently happens on Twitter).
We’ve written a comprehensive guide to spot fake reviews that you can read here so you don’t unwittingly get duped by fictitious online reviews. Remember that word of mouth is a great starting point when you’re researching auto transport companies, but reviews shouldn’t be the only thing guiding your decision. You need to use your own judgment and do your homework.
Choosing a reliable auto transport company
There are so many auto shippers out there that the challenge isn’t finding one, but rather figuring out which ones will deliver on their promises. At first glance, most shippers look the same, but the fact is that auto transport companies, like Montway, that care about their customers and work hard to get those good reviews by providing stellar service are relatively rare.
So when you’re browsing auto transport companies, ask yourself these questions: What is the company promising you? How much do they charge? Is the quoted price the final price? Are they pushy? What do their reviews tell you? Does the company’s website look legitimate? Are they friendly? And responsive? Can they show proof of registration and insurance? Are their policies clear?
Answering these questions may take a little longer, but remember that your car or truck is probably one of your most valuable assets. Finding a reliable shipper is important, and you should feel confident about the one you ultimately choose. Reading reviews is only the first step in the process.
