We recently surveyed 110 UK used car dealerships and found that 48.2% had opening-hours inconsistencies across Google, Apple Maps, Bing, and their own websites.
When a customer searches for a used car dealership, they are usually doing something practical. They may be checking whether a specific car is still available, planning a test drive, arranging a visit after work, or deciding whether it is worth travelling across town — or across the country — to view a vehicle.
That makes one basic piece of information incredibly important: is the dealership actually open when the customer thinks it is?
Localise surveyed 110 used car dealerships in the UK, comparing dealership information across Google, Apple Maps, Bing, and each dealer’s own website. The results show a clear problem: 53 out of 110 dealerships had an opening-hours mismatch, equal to 48.2% of the sample. By comparison, 15 out of 110 dealerships had an address mismatch, or 13.6%.
In other words, opening-hours inconsistency was more than three times as common as address inconsistency.
Why incorrect opening hours can cost real sales
Wrong opening hours create a very specific kind of customer frustration.
If an address is slightly inconsistent, a customer may still be able to find the site. But if the hours are wrong, the customer may only discover the problem after they have travelled, parked, rearranged their day, or taken time out of work.
That creates three immediate risks for a dealer:
- The customer loses trust before speaking to anyone.
- The customer leaves a negative review.
- The customer buys from another dealership instead.
There is clear evidence that local listing information influences customer behaviour. In a UK local search behaviour study from Google and Ipsos, business hours were the most commonly searched local detail across all verticals, including the “local” category, where 86% of smartphone searchers looked for business hours during their purchase journey. The same study found that local search often leads to quick action: 47% of consumers took a follow-up action within one hour of searching, and 62% said web searches strongly helped them decide what product or service to buy.
Google’s own Business Profile guidance also reinforces the point, stating that business hours on Google Maps and Search help customers find a business’s “most up to date and accurate hours of operation”. Google also recommends using special hours for holidays, temporary closures, or other unusual opening times.
For dealerships, the implication is simple: when a customer checks opening hours, they may already be close to taking action — calling, getting directions, booking a test drive, or visiting the forecourt. If the hours are wrong or inconsistent, the mistake appears at one of the most commercially important moments in the customer journey.
The blame game: Why customers hold you responsible, not the platform
There is a critical disconnect between how online listing platforms operate and how the average consumer perceives them.
When a customer searches Google, Apple Maps, or Bing and sees a set of operational hours, they don’t see it as third-party data aggregation. They assume that you, the dealership, provided and verified that exact information.
What most consumers don’t realise is that business hours online are frequently overwritten by platform algorithms, user suggestions, or automated data scrapes. But to the customer standing outside a locked gate, that technical nuance doesn’t matter.
- The assumption of accuracy: Customers believe that if a business is listed online, the business itself is actively maintaining its profile.
- The direct blame: When those hours are wrong, the consumer doesn’t get angry at Google or Bing; they get angry at your dealership. They view it as a direct lack of professionalism, organisation, or care on your part.
- The reputation hit: Because the consumer assumes you intentionally put the wrong hours up—or simply didn’t care enough to update them—the resulting negative review or loss of trust is aimed squarely at your brand.
Ultimately, even if a platform overwrites your hours without your permission, you pay the ultimate price in lost sales and a damaged reputation. This is why active, automated monitoring of your listings isn’t just about data entry—it’s about protecting your brand from being misrepresented.
Real automotive reviews show the damage
This is not a theoretical issue. Public automotive reviews show customers complaining about exactly the kind of experience dealerships should want to avoid: wasted journeys, closed sites, inaccurate online hours, and customers taking their business elsewhere.
On Trustpilot, a customer reviewing Audi described being told to collect their car, only to find that the dealership had closed early without warning. The customer described it as a wasted journey, said there was no apology, and stated that they would not return or recommend the business.
The same type of complaint appears on Yell, where a review for Audi Approved Aylesbury says the dealership closed early after telling the customer to collect their car, resulting in a wasted journey and a loss of trust.
These examples show why opening-hours accuracy matters. A customer who checks online hours is often already close to taking action: collecting a vehicle, booking a service, viewing a car, or arranging a test drive. If the information is wrong, the dealer may not just create frustration — they may hand a ready-to-buy customer to a competitor.
Common causes of opening-hours mismatches
Opening-hours errors often happen because of normal business changes that are not pushed everywhere.
A dealership might change Saturday hours, introduce Sunday appointments, close on bank holidays, alter service department hours, or move to an appointment-only model. The website may be updated first, but Google, Apple Maps, Bing, data aggregators, directory sites, or old duplicate listings may continue showing outdated information.
For independent used car dealers, even one incorrect profile can affect the whole business. For dealer groups, the challenge scales across multiple locations, departments, and brands.
The common problem is that listings are not static. Localise’s Business Listings Module, part of the Customer Connect software platform, helps dealerships keep key business information accurate across important online touchpoints and manage both their reputation and online presence under one roof.
What dealerships should check
Dealers should treat opening hours as part of the sales journey, not as a back-office detail.
The key question is simple: would a customer get the same answer wherever they look?
If not, the dealership has a customer experience problem waiting to happen.
Why this matters for local search performance
Accurate listings help customers, but they also support local search visibility.
The Business Listings Module within Customer Connect helps dealerships improve consistency across Google, Apple Maps, Bing, and other relevant online platforms. Accurate names, opening hours, addresses, and contact details help turn online searches into showroom visits.
This is especially important in automotive because a dealership visit is high intent. Someone checking hours is often close to action: calling, booking, viewing, test driving, or buying.
A wrong opening time does not just inconvenience that customer. It can damage the dealership’s reputation, reduce trust, and send demand to a competitor.
The takeaway
Localise surveyed 110 used car dealerships in the UK and found that 48.2% had an opening-hours mismatch across key online sources. That is a major customer experience risk.
Opening hours may look like a small detail, but for customers they answer a very important question: can I visit now?
When the answer is wrong, the result can be a wasted journey, a bad review, or a lost sale.
For dealerships that want to be found, trusted, and chosen, accurate opening hours are not optional. They are part of the path to purchase.
Stop losing buyers to inaccurate opening hours
When was the last time you checked your dealership’s opening hours across Google, apple and major directory sites?
Platform updates and automated overrides frequently scramble business hours—and for multi-site dealership groups, manual monitoring is nearly impossible. Incorrect hours mean buyers show up to locked doors and head straight to a competitor.
Get your free opening hours audit
Localise will scan your entire digital footprint, pinpoint every inconsistency across your locations, and show you how our Customer Connect platform keeps your hours 100% accurate across all channels—automatically.
