CENTREVILLE, Va. — Carfax Inc. is recognizing "Top-Rated Service Shops" based on online reviews of its Carfax Car Care subscribers.
The auto service shops recognized on the list have an average star rating of 4.77 out of 5 based on verified customer reviews from Carfax Car Care members (formerly myCarfax).
"Our goal is help car owners make confident decisions," Mike Liou, head of Carfax's service marketing, said.
"We have over 10 million active Car Care subscribers who use the program to help keep up with maintenance and recalls on their vehicles. We want to utilize this community to highlight the service shops who are going above and beyond when it comes to customer care, and we do so with reviews from only verified customers."
Top-Rated Service Shops will receive digital assets they can use in their online presence to promote their ratings, including using #Carfaxtopshop on social media.
In February, Carfax launched a Top-Rated Dealer award to recognized car dealerships with high customer ratings.
For a monthly fee, repair shops can join Carfax's Shop Loyalty Program, which is designed to help increase revenue and customer loyalty, the company said. In April, Carfax announced that new service shops who sign up will get four months free.
Participating shops receive advertising placement in the Carfax Shop Locator and appear in the Carfax Vehicle History Report with all service records, including the shop's Carfax ratings and reviews.
Carfax's email marketing program involves sending a monthly dashboard to all its customers, courtesy of the participating shop. The dashboard includes maintenance, recall and service alerts for vehicle owners, with the aim of driving them back to the service shop for repeat business, the company said.
Shops also receive Carfax ratings and reviews provided by verified customers who have had work done at the shop, which also helps give shops better Google placement, the company said.
Additional benefits include access to Carfax tools, such as QuickVIN, which offers instant license plate to VIN conversions, and Service History Check, which helps identify any unperformed maintenance.
Customers can download the free Carfax Car Care app or sign up online at www.Carfax.com/Service. Once a member of Car Care, customers can view their dashboard, which includes vehicle service history, maintenance recommendations and service alerts.
Customers who visit a shop that is signed up for the Shop Loyalty Program will receive email alerts with their dashboard, even if they haven't registered for Car Care themselves.
Carfax said it has more than 60,000 participating service shops in the U.S. and more than 10 million Car Care subscribers.
Carfax, a division of IHS Markit Ltd., provides vehicle history information to consumers and the automotive industry.