Reviews you can actually trust
The rules our decision pages, reviews and data products run on. Short version: verified or labelled, negative treated like positive, nothing for sale inside guidance.
1. Where reviews come from
Reviews on our decision pages are invited from real transactions we arranged — test drives, purchases, finance settlements — and each carries a badge saying exactly how it was verified: Verified test drive, Verified purchase, Verified owner, or, where a transaction wasn't through us, Invited or Unverified. We would rather show fewer reviews with provenance than more without it.
2. Positive and negative reviews are treated identically
We invite a review after every eligible transaction regardless of how it went, publish negative reviews on the same terms as positive ones, and never "gate" (screen sentiment before inviting). If we ever offer an incentive to review, it is offered for reviewing at all — never for reviewing favourably — and it is disclosed on the review. This is both our standard and the ACCC's published position on online reviews under the Australian Consumer Law.
3. What we remove, and what we don't
We remove reviews that are fake, written by (or procured for) a competitor or the business being reviewed, AI-fabricated, defamatory of named individuals, or unrelated to a genuine experience. We do not remove reviews for being critical, and no dealer, manufacturer or lender can pay to remove or bury one. Moderation decisions can be appealed by the reviewer and the reviewed business alike.
4. Right of reply
Dealers and partners named on our pages can respond publicly to any review about them, and can flag a review they believe is false for re-verification against our booking records. Where a model or dealer has too few verified records for a fair aggregate, we publish the count and hold the score until the sample is meaningful.
5. Seeded content is labelled
New decision pages start with editorial content written by our team — cross-shop lists, typical reasons buyers choose or reject a car, and wait estimates. Every such figure is labelled Editorial seed until verified buyer records replace it, and the record count is shown. Aggregates from real data are labelled Verified buyers or Observed.
6. How we're paid, and what that never buys
Book A Test Drive earns a disclosed success fee when a customer chooses to have us source a vehicle, and remuneration on finance and novated leases we arrange (we provide credit assistance as an authorised credit representative). Decision pages, reviews and the wait index are free, and payment never influences a ranking, a score, a recommendation, or a sentence of editorial. There is no sponsored placement inside guidance surfaces. If we would recommend keeping your current car, we say so — that recommendation costs us a fee, and we make it anyway.
7. Your data
Decision records (what you considered, chose and why) are stored against your booking with your consent, used to improve recommendations, and published only as aggregates — never as identifiable records. Reviews display a first name and verification badge, never your contact details. See our Privacy Policy for the full handling detail, and our Complaints Handling Policy if you believe any content on our pages is wrong or unfair.
This policy sits alongside our Terms and Conditions. Last updated July 2026. Questions or corrections: hello@bookatestdrive.com.au.