11:04 am, July 7, 2026
AA Cars has seen a rise in dealer closures this year, with its national sales manager saying smaller independent sites are increasingly coming under pressure amid tighter margins and fierce competition for used stock.
Speaking on the Car Dealer Podcast, James Reeve from AA Cars said the business had seen ‘quite a lot’ more dealers close than in previous years, with businesses stocking between 10 and 30 cars most affected.
He explained: ‘We’ve had more dealers close down this year than previous years for sure, quite a lot.
‘We have a lost rate in terms of how many dealers we bring on versus how many drop out, and we’re seeing a lot more drop out.
‘The reason isn’t because they don’t like what we’re doing, it’s because they’re simply just going out of business, shutting the door.’
Despite the challenges, Reeve said there were still plenty of good dealers in the market, adding that building trust with consumers had become increasingly important as buying habits evolve.
You can listen in full to the full podcast below or watch it on the video above.
Reeve said the changing behaviour of used car buyers meant dealers needed to work harder than ever to build confidence, with many consumers researching not just the vehicle but the retailer behind it before making contact.
He added: ‘People want to trust people. They need to feel like they trust that person and they want to do the deal with that person.
‘People want to feel like they’re making the right decision. They don’t want it to be a gamble.
AA Cars only works with dealerships that meet its standards, with the business inspecting both its existing network and prospective partners before they join the platform.
Reeve explained: ‘We’re trying to build a platform where consumers feel confident buying a car from us.’
He said buyers were carrying out more research than ever before contacting a dealership, with much of that effort focused on establishing whether they could trust the retailer.
Reeve used his friend as an example and said he was ‘looking in the background of the photo to see what’s in each image, trying to get an idea of this dealer’.
He added: ‘With the greatest will in the world, the car dealer telling him that the car’s good, it doesn’t mean anything because he’s trying to sell him the car.’
When asked what AA Cars does differently to build trust with customers, he said: ‘I think the biggest thing we’ve got, which other platforms don’t do, is we’ve got a mediation team.
‘If you come and buy a car from one of our dealers and something goes wrong, then you can come to us and we’ll essentially do an investigation into it and try and help the consumer or the dealer.’
The platform is integrated into its network too, with dealers also having the option to have checks done by the AA Cars mechanics who give it an approved status if it meets their standards.
Subscribe to the Car Dealer Podcast on Spotify, Apple, Amazon and more to listen to the interview in full or find more interviews like this.
