We analysed 6,330 public reviews of four South African car companies: 6,251 on 38 Google profiles and 79 on Trustpilot. At two of the four companies, customers name the staff member who helped them in most Google reviews with text. Only one of the four usually says that name back.
And of 258 complaints on Google (1-3 star reviews that describe a problem), 144 (56%) are about something after the deal.
No company saw these figures before publication. Companies named can send a correction or a reply: see Replies and corrections below.
From public reviews to a scoreboard. We can re-run any figure on request.
Who’s in the study, and why don’t the windows match?
WeBuyCars gets far more reviews, so its window is shorter. We took every Google review on 13 of its branch profiles from 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026: 5,634 in all (two branches start later in August; see Method).
For the other three we took the 12 months to 6 Nov 2026: getWorth 317 (1 profile), Motus Select 254 (23 profiles) and ChangeCars 46 (1 profile). Trustpilot: the same 12 months, 77 WeBuyCars reviews and 2 for getWorth.
The 13 WeBuyCars and 23 Motus Select profiles are the ones our search returned, not every branch. In November 2026, Google Maps listed at least 9 more WeBuyCars branches in South Africa: Dome, George, Mbombela, Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane, Riverhorse Valley, Vereeniging, Witbank and the R21 truck branch.
Google Maps also listed at least 11 more Motus Select branches: Airport Park, Bryanston, Duncanville, Fourways, Nelson Mandela Drive, Northcliff, Parow, Table View, Tokai, Vaal and West Rand. So read the WeBuyCars and Motus Select figures as covering the studied branches, not the whole company.
These aren’t identical businesses. Motus Select’s profiles include dealerships with workshops. ChangeCars is a car marketplace, and many of its reviews thank its team for sorting out a problem with another dealer.
Two of the four sit in the same group. getWorth is part of Motus Holdings, which also runs Motus Select.
How do the four compare on Google?
Compare shares, not raw counts. The ± figure is a 95% interval on the share we observed. It doesn’t cover which profiles we chose or errors in labelling.
Study windows
| WeBuyCars | getWorth | Motus Select | ChangeCars | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | 3 months | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months |
| Profiles | 13 branches (not all) | 1 | 23 of 26 pulled (not all) | 1 |
| Reviews | 5,634 | 317 | 254 | 46 |
| Average rating, reviews in window | 4.83 | 4.06 | 3.81 | 5.00 |
| 1-2 stars | 3% | 22% (±5) | 26% (±5) | 0% |
| Review names staff | 95% (±1, n=5,317) | 46% (±6, n=248) | 49% (±8, n=164) | 86% (±10, n=43) |
| Reply rate | 96% (±1) | 94% (±3) | 74% (±5) | 100% |
| Complaints answered | 88% (116 of 132) | 97% (63 of 65) | 77% (47 of 61) | no complaints |
| Reply repeats the name | under 1% (n=4,853) | 75% (±8, n=105) | 2% (n=59) | n/a* |
| Complaints after the deal | 58% (±8, n=132) | 38% (±12, n=65) | 70% (±11, n=61) | no complaints |
Same 3 months for all four
| Google, 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026 | WeBuyCars | getWorth | Motus Select | ChangeCars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 5,634 | 145 | 89 | 13 |
| Average rating, reviews in window | 4.83 | 4.32 | 4.19 | 5.00 |
| 1-2 stars | 3% | 15% | 18% | 0% |
| Review names staff | 95% | 43% | 53% | 75% |
| Reply rate | 96% | 87% | 74% | 100% |
| Complaints answered | 88% (132 complaints) | 89% (19 complaints) | 69% (16 complaints) | no complaints |
| Reply repeats the name | under 1% (n=4,853) | 89% (n=38) | none (n=19) | n/a* |
| Complaints after the deal | 58% | 32% | 56% | no complaints |
All four companies, 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026 (WeBuyCars East London from 20 Aug, Silver Lakes from 27 Aug). Smaller bases for getWorth (145 reviews), Motus Select (89) and ChangeCars (13). *At ChangeCars, the person reviewers name signs the replies himself.
Windows: WeBuyCars 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026; the others 6 Nov 2025 to 6 Nov 2026. Average rating is the mean of the reviews posted in each window. It isn’t the star rating Google shows on a profile, which covers every review ever posted.
“Review names staff” = share of reviews with text that name a staff member. “Reply repeats the name” = share of owner replies to those reviews that use the staff member’s first name. “Complaints answered” = share of complaints with an owner reply.
“Complaints after the deal” = share of complaints about something after the deal. *At ChangeCars, the person reviewers name signs the replies himself.
Same 3 months for everyone (6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026)? The pattern holds. getWorth repeats the name in 89% of replies (n=38), Motus Select in none (n=19).
The average rating of reviews in that window is higher at getWorth (4.32, n=145) and Motus Select (4.19, n=89). ChangeCars stays at 5.00 (n=13).
Do customers name staff, and do replies say the name back?
Customers name staff. Only one of the four usually says the name back
Google reviews. WeBuyCars 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026; others 12 months to 6 Nov 2026. Names back = automatic first-name match, greeting and sign-off ignored; hand-checked on 25 matches and 20 misses.
“Wonderful service from [staff member] during the entire process from start to finish as well as aftersales service from [colleague].”
“Thank you [staff member] for helping me. Very energetic and friendly. You know and love what you do. Great service, well done.”
“Even though our purchase didn't work out for other reasons, [staff member] was professional, responsive and went out of his way to try make things work.”
“Extremely knowledgeable and an amazing communicator. [staff member] answered all my questions thoroughly and explained everything in a way that was easy for me to understand as a beginner.”
“An excellent experience with GetWorth Cape Town when selling my car. From start to finish very professional and transparent.”
“[staff member] was so professional and he really did a great job and I’m very impressed with his service, his turnaround time was impressive as well.”
Short excerpts from public Google reviews, quoted as written. Staff names replaced.
At two of the four, customers nearly always name someone. 95% of WeBuyCars’ Google reviews with text named a staff member (5,055 of 5,317, 3 months), and 86% of ChangeCars’ (12 months).
Reviews show that customers name people. They don’t show why.
This study didn’t look at how any of the four companies asks for reviews, and nothing in it suggests any of them breaks Google’s rules.
Complaints are the real test of replies: WeBuyCars answered 116 of 132 (3 months), Motus Select 47 of 61 and getWorth 63 of 65 (12 months).
Saying the name back is rarer. When a review named someone, getWorth’s reply repeated that first name 75% of the time (79 of 105, 12 months).
Motus Select did it once in 59 replies (12 months). WeBuyCars did it 8 times in 4,853 replies over 3 months.
Our view: it’s one of the cheapest changes a reply team can make. We can’t show it lifts a rating: getWorth does it most, and its average for reviews in the window is 4.06. But adding a first name to a reply takes seconds.
Use only the name the reviewer wrote, under a written staff policy. A first name tied to an employer can be personal information under POPIA.
Which branch does best?
Of the 13 WeBuyCars branches in the study, none leads on everything (Google, 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026):
- Highest average in the window, and fewest 1-2 star reviews: Rustenburg, 4.95 with 1% (n=452).
- Naming staff: a three-way tie at 98% between Durban Springfield, Rustenburg and Bloemfontein.
- Replies: East London, 98% (n=90, counted from 20 Aug).
- Lowest average in the window: Richmond Park, 4.43, with 13% at 1-2 stars (n=185).
Every branch in the study replies to 93% to 98% of all its reviews, but complaint replies vary. Germiston, the study branch with the most reviews (1,339), had answered 7 of 11 complaints by 6 Nov, while six branches answered every one. Ratings differ as well, with 1-2 star shares from 1% to 13%.
If you run branches, put this table in front of your branch managers. Use it to find process gaps, not to set review targets or ask customers for names. Google bans both.
WeBuyCars: the 13 branches in the study
Google reviews, 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026. Bold = best on that measure (lowest for 1-2 stars).
| Branch | Reviews | Avg rating | 1-2 stars | Names staff | Replies | Complaints answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germiston | 1,339 | 4.92 | 2% | 97% | 95% | 7 of 11 |
| Silver Lakes | 740 | 4.88 | 2% | 97% | 96% | 10 of 12 |
| Durban Springfield | 623 | 4.90 | 2% | 98% | 96% | 7 of 9 |
| Rustenburg | 452 | 4.95 | 1% | 98% | 96% | 4 of 4 |
| JHB South | 450 | 4.76 | 4% | 93% | 97% | 12 of 13 |
| Montana | 400 | 4.75 | 4% | 92% | 95% | 13 of 13 |
| Lansdowne | 386 | 4.77 | 4% | 95% | 97% | 12 of 14 |
| Midstream | 305 | 4.68 | 6% | 88% | 95% | 12 of 14 |
| Brackenfell | 297 | 4.71 | 6% | 93% | 95% | 11 of 11 |
| Gqeberha | 220 | 4.75 | 5% | 88% | 96% | 8 of 8 |
| Richmond Park | 185 | 4.43 | 13% | 84% | 95% | 14 of 17 |
| Bloemfontein | 147 | 4.87 | 2% | 98% | 93% | 2 of 2 |
| East London | 90 | 4.77 | 6% | 97% | 98% | 4 of 4 |
East London from 20 Aug, Silver Lakes from 27 Aug. Average rating = mean of the reviews in the window, not the star rating Google shows on the profile. Scroll sideways on a phone.
Of the Motus Select branches in the study, 9 had 10 or more reviews in 12 months. Those bases are small: 12 to 45 reviews each.
Motus Select: branches with 10 or more reviews
Google reviews, 12 months to 6 Nov 2026. Bold = best (lowest for 1-2 stars). Small bases: read with care.
| Branch | Reviews | Avg rating | 1-2 stars | Names staff | Replies | Complaints answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boksburg East | 45 | 4.60 | 9% | 62% | 91% | 3 of 3 |
| Cape Town | 39 | 3.41 | 36% | 53% | 28% | 8 of 12 |
| Menlyn | 24 | 3.33 | 42% | 58% | 92% | 9 of 10 |
| Roodepoort | 23 | 3.87 | 26% | 53% | 96% | 6 of 6 |
| Isando | 15 | 3.93 | 27% | 67% | 100% | 4 of 4 |
| Vereeniging | 15 | 5.00 | 0% | 25% | 100% | none |
| Centurion | 14 | 4.50 | 7% | 55% | 100% | 1 of 1 |
| Zambezi | 14 | 2.79 | 50% | 18% | 100% | 7 of 7 |
| Rustenburg | 12 | 3.17 | 42% | 38% | 100% | 3 of 3 |
9 of 23 Motus Select profiles had 10 or more reviews in the window. Includes workshop and parts-counter reviews. Small bases: one review moves a share by 2 to 8 points. Average rating = mean of the reviews in the window, not the star rating Google shows on the profile.
Most complaints are about something after the deal
258 of the 6,251 Google reviews (4%) meet our complaint definition.
What went wrong: 258 complaints, by type
Tap a type to read one reviewer’s own words, quoted as written. These are customers’ claims, not facts we checked. We don’t say which company each one is about.
No call-back, poor communication
“The salesperson doesn’t reply to What’s Apps nor phone calls and messages over the past two days.”A 2-star Google review, Dec 2025. 28 of these 65 are about something after the deal.
The car itself: defects, condition
“Bought a car, just 2 months shy, the car stopped working, battery had to be replaced and clutch cable.”A 1-star Google review, Feb 2026. 51 of these 59 are about something after the deal.
Staff attitude
“Very nice cars but staff not helpful. No one to introduce u to the place or show you around or tell you about the motors.”A 2-star Google review, May 2026. 6 of these 29 are about something after the deal.
Paperwork, transfer, finance
“Service up to sale was good but after multiple messages and requested emails I am still waiting for answers regarding the missing log book and broken keys that was part of the advertised car sale.”A 1-star Google review, Aug 2026. All 23 are about something after the deal.
The offer or price
“They advertised a bakkie and gave me the price on email and whats app. The next day the bakkie was a different price and way more than the original price.”A 1-star Google review, Aug 2026. 1 of these 19 is about something after the deal.
Waiting time
“Made an appointment for 09:00 as I came from far. The person did not meet me. Still here after 90min with no test drive in sight.”A 1-star Google review, Aug 2026. 9 of these 17 are about something after the deal.
Refund or deposit
“You have to beg and plead to get a call back. Waited 3 weeks for a refund.”A 1-star Google review, Sep 2026. All 14 are about something after the deal.
Other (incl. workshop visits)
“Always a struggle to know where they do their maintenance and services on the cars.”A 3-star Google review, Nov 2025. 12 of these 32 are about something after the deal.
No call-back or poor communication is the biggest single type overall: 65 complaints, before and after the deal combined. Complaints about the car itself are almost all after the deal: 51 of 59.
WeBuyCars supplies 132 of the 258 complaints, so we checked whether it drives the 56%. Without WeBuyCars, it’s 54% (68 of 126). With the three companies that had complaints weighted equally, it’s 56%.
At Motus Select, about 23 of the 61 complaints (12 months) are about the workshop or parts counter, not the car sale (our read). At getWorth, communication is the main theme: 24 of 65 complaints.
Our reading: the sale earns the 5 stars and the names, and the trouble shows up after handover. That points at the handover process before any one person. The first move is to count after-deal complaints per branch, every month.
Why do replies and profiles matter, even on pages you don’t run?
Google’s help page on local ranking says three things. “More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking.”
“Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results.” And on replies: “When you reply to customer reviews, it shows that you value their feedback.”
On 6 Nov 2026, Trustpilot labelled both the WeBuyCars and the getWorth pages “Unclaimed profile”, so neither company can reply there until it claims its page.
On 7 Nov 2026, the WeBuyCars page opened with a “Review summary” marked “Created with AI, based on recent reviews”. Trustpilot’s automated summary highlighted complaints about vehicle condition and mechanical problems after purchase. We didn’t verify those individual complaints.
Trustpilot’s own page notes that WeBuyCars hasn’t invited its customers, “so reviews may not be representative”. Separately, across all four companies, the car itself was the second-largest complaint type in our Google count.
WeBuyCars: one company, two review pages
96% of reviews replied to
3% at 1-2 stars
5,634 reviews, 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026
0% of reviews replied to
61% at 1-2 stars
77 reviews, 12 months to 6 Nov 2026
Not equal samples (3 months against 12). 2.47 is the mean of the 77 ratings in our window; Trustpilot’s own TrustScore (2.4 on 158 reviews, 7 Nov 2026) is a different measure.
In one test on 6 Nov 2026, we used OpenAI’s gpt-4.1 model with web search on, through an API rather than the ChatGPT app. We asked: “Is it better to sell my car to WeBuyCars or getWorth? What do customer reviews say?”
OpenAI gpt-4.1 via API, web search on, 6 Nov 2026. The opening of its WeBuyCars section, verbatim.
Its WeBuyCars section opened: “On Trustpilot, WeBuyCars.com holds a low TrustScore of 2.1 out of 5, based on nearly 2,000 reviews”. That page belongs to WeBuyCars.com, a US-facing business at a different website. The WeBuyCars in this study trades at webuycars.co.za.
One test can’t say how often this happens. It shows it can.
A review page you don’t answer still gets read and summarised, by people and by software. Our advice: claim every page under your name, reply wherever you can, and keep each branch’s hours and phone number current.
A review page you don’t answer still gets read and summarised, by people and by software.
Do reviews sell more cars?
We can’t prove it from this data: we counted reviews, not sales. Common sense says reviews influence buyers of something this expensive.
The Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern University (2017) found five reviews lift purchase likelihood 270% over none, but it studied retail products, not cars. The Cox Automotive 2025 Car Buyer Journey Study found 75% of about 2,300 buyers used third-party websites while shopping, but those are US buyers.
How do you ask for reviews within Google’s rules?
This is general guidance for any business. It isn’t a comment on any company in the study.
Google’s review policy prohibits these (quoted parts are Google’s words):
- Offering incentives, “such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services”, in exchange for “posting any review”.
- Merchants who “discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”.
- Requiring or pressuring users “to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises”.
- “Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews”.
- “Merchants requesting that staff solicit reviews that include specific content”.
- Content based on a conflict of interest, which “may include current or former employment”.
Our advice on top of the policy: never ask customers to mention a name, pay no bonus for being named, and keep staff and their families off your reviews. After the deal closes, send every customer the same message:
Thanks for choosing us. If you’d like to share an honest review of your experience, here’s the link: [link]. There’s no obligation.
How can AI help without breaking the rules?
- Draft replies a person approves.
- Flag unanswered reviews on every platform, Trustpilot and Hellopeter included.
- Send the same neutral request to every customer when a deal is marked closed.
AI should never write a review. Google bans fake engagement, and we’d count a review written by a business or its software as exactly that.
Replies and corrections
We didn’t send any company its figures before publication. If you’re one of the four, send a correction, or a reply of up to 75 words, to [email protected].
Want your own figures first? Same address. We’ll add replies here.
Method
Method in brief. Google: 13 WeBuyCars branches, 6 Aug to 6 Nov 2026 (East London from 20 Aug, Silver Lakes from 27 Aug). getWorth (1 profile), Motus Select (23 profiles with reviews, of 26 pulled) and ChangeCars (1): 6 Nov 2025 to 6 Nov 2026. Some WeBuyCars and Motus Select branches aren’t included (see Study data). Trustpilot: the same 12 months. Reviews and replies as they stood on 6 Nov 2026. An AI model (DeepSeek v4 Flash) labelled each review with text: staff named, after the deal, and one main complaint type. Hand checks: staff names right in 50 of 50, after the deal in 49 of 50, complaint type in 37 of 40, plus 25 name-back matches and 20 misses. A complaint is a 1-3 star review that describes a problem. Not measured: reply speed. Full method under Study data.
RhinoBerry has no link with any company named. Independent study of public reviews.
None sponsored or approved this study. It is not an overall assessment of any company.
Study data
Profiles. 38 Google profiles with reviews in the window: WeBuyCars 13, Motus Select 23 (of 26 pulled), getWorth 1, ChangeCars 1. Left out: 27 WeBuyCars “Buying Pod” mall kiosks (about one review a month each) and AutoTrader (no Google profile, one Trustpilot review from 2022).
East London and Silver Lakes start later because those pulls didn’t reach the full window. Our search missed at least these WeBuyCars branches (Google Maps check, 11 Nov 2026): Dome, George, Mbombela, Pietermaritzburg, Polokwane, Riverhorse Valley, Vereeniging, Witbank and the R21 truck branch. It also missed at least these Motus Select branches: Airport Park, Bryanston, Duncanville, Fourways, Nelson Mandela Drive, Northcliff, Parow, Table View, Tokai, Vaal and West Rand.
Labelling. A 5-star review about fixing another dealer’s mistake isn’t a complaint.
Names back. An automatic match on the staff first name in the review, ignoring the reply’s greeting and sign-off. We hand-checked 25 matches and 20 misses.
Every getWorth match was genuine. All 20 WeBuyCars misses were genuine too: those replies greet the reviewer by name, or use no name, and never name the staff member.
The check also caught ChangeCars’ sign-off being counted as a match. We now exclude it.
Errors found and fixed before publication. We found four. Positive reviews about another dealer’s problem were counted as complaints.
Full names were matched where replies used first names. Names in the reply greeting and the sign-off were counted.
Not included. Hellopeter, because its review text couldn’t be read in bulk. Reply speed, because Google shows a reply’s age as “x days ago”.
AI test. OpenAI gpt-4.1 via API, web search on, 6 Nov 2026, one run per question. Trustpilot screenshots taken 7 Nov 2026.
Use the data. The scoreboard, charts and branch tables on this page are free to use with credit: “RhinoBerry car review study, Nov 2026”. Please quote each share with its window and say it compares these four companies. It isn’t an industry ranking.
Want the full data pack (counts per profile and branch, no review text or names), or your own branch figures? Email [email protected].
Spotted an error? Same address.
Corrections: none yet. We log every change here with its date.