Why Supplier Reliability Is Part of the Offer Score
A used part offer has two components: the part itself, and the supplier behind it. The part gets graded by ARA condition standards. The supplier needs to be evaluated separately — because the best-graded part from an unreliable yard is still a sourcing risk.
What reliability actually means in practice:
- Does the yard respond when contacted — by phone, email, or text?
- When they quote availability, is the part actually in inventory?
- Does the part arrive in the condition described?
- If there's an issue, do they resolve it without a fight?
- Do they ship on time when they say they will?
A yard that answers half the calls, occasionally quotes parts that have already moved, and occasionally ships something different from what was described — that yard isn't a bad yard, but it's a different risk profile than a yard with a documented track record of consistent performance. Radar Parts surfaces that difference.
Phase 1 — Google Business Signals
When Radar Parts launches, we don't yet have our own transaction history with our supplier network. We haven't processed hundreds of orders through each yard and built up response rate data, quote accuracy scores, and fulfillment percentages. That data comes with time.
In the meantime, we anchor reliability scores in Google Business ratings — the most widely available, independently generated signal about a business's track record.
What We Read from Google Business
Star Rating Average
The overall rating — 1 through 5 stars — is the primary signal. A 4.5+ rating with meaningful review volume indicates consistent customer satisfaction. Ratings below 3.5 are weighted accordingly. Ratings with very few reviews (fewer than 10–15) are treated with lower confidence regardless of the number shown.
Review Volume
A 4.8-star rating from 12 reviews and a 4.5-star rating from 380 reviews tell different stories. Volume matters. More reviews reduce the statistical noise of any single outlier — positive or negative. We weight volume alongside the rating itself.
Years in Operation
A business that has operated for 20 years has demonstrated staying power — it has found parts, fulfilled orders, resolved disputes, and survived in a competitive market long enough to build a reputation. Longevity is an indirect but meaningful reliability signal, especially in a trade where margins are tight and reputation is everything.
What We Don't Use from Google
We don't weight reviews that appear to be about factors unrelated to parts quality — reviews about the customer lounge, the parking lot, or a personal dispute that ended up on Google. We're looking at the signal pattern, not individual reviews, and weighting accordingly. We also don't use Google ratings as a disqualifying mechanism — a yard with 3.8 stars still gets sourced; it gets surfaced with an appropriate reliability score so you can make an informed decision.
Phase 2 — Platform Transaction Data
As Radar Parts processes orders through the platform, we build our own first-party reliability dataset. This is the long-term data layer that replaces the proxy signals from Google with real performance measurements specific to the parts sourcing context.
Google-Anchored Score
Star average × volume weight × longevity adjustment. Honest, transparent, externally sourced. Displayed on every offer while platform transaction history builds.
Transaction-Based Score
Response rate, quote accuracy, on-time fulfillment, part condition match rate, return rate. Sourced directly from Radar Parts order data. Layers on top of Google signals as volume accumulates.
What Gets Scored in Phase 2
Once transaction data is available, reliability scoring incorporates the following metrics:
| Metric | What It Measures | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Response rate | What percentage of sourcing requests the yard responds to within the expected window | A yard that quotes 80% of requests is more useful to buyers than one that quotes 30% — even if the ones they do quote are accurate |
| Quote accuracy | When a yard quotes a part as available, how often is it actually in inventory and shippable | Phantom inventory — parts quoted but unavailable when the order is placed — is one of the most common frustrations in salvage sourcing |
| Condition match rate | How closely the part received matches the condition described in the quote (grade, damage code, mileage) | A grade B part arriving as grade C creates a return, delays the repair, and costs the shop money |
| On-time fulfillment | Does the yard ship within the stated timeframe after an order is accepted | Shipping ETAs matter to shops with committed repair timelines and customers waiting |
| Return / dispute rate | What percentage of orders result in a return claim or condition dispute | A low dispute rate indicates consistent, accurately described inventory and reliable shipping practices |
These metrics are tracked per yard, per part category, and over rolling time windows. A yard that has historically been accurate on engine components but has a higher dispute rate on body panels will show different reliability scores for different part types — which is a more accurate signal than a single blended number.
How Reliability Is Shown on Results
On every Radar Parts offer result, the supplier reliability score appears alongside the ARA condition grade, the delivered cost, and the estimated arrival time. It's presented as a numeric score, not a star rating — to distinguish it from the Google signals it's partially built on.
The score contributes 20% of the offer's composite ranking score, alongside:
- Fitment confidence — 35%
- Delivered cost — 25%
- Supplier reliability — 20%
- Estimated arrival time — 15%
- Warranty coverage — 5%
These weights reflect a deliberate priority: a part that fits correctly and comes from a reliable supplier at a fair total cost, arriving when you need it, is more valuable than a cheap part from an unreliable source that might not match what was described.
The weights are configurable in the platform's ranking system — as Radar Parts learns what buyers value most, the weighting can be adjusted to reflect actual decision patterns.
For Yard Operators — How Your Score Is Built
If you're a yard operator joining the Radar Parts network, your initial reliability score comes from your Google Business profile — the same signal that buyers see. This means your public reputation on Google has direct bearing on how you're positioned in Radar Parts sourcing results from day one.
As you transact through the platform, your score evolves based on your actual performance data. The yards that build the strongest scores over time will be the ones that:
- Respond to quote requests consistently and promptly
- Quote parts accurately — if it's not in stock, don't quote it
- Ship parts that match what was described, in the condition stated
- Communicate proactively when something changes
- Resolve issues without requiring escalation
These are the same behaviors that build a good reputation in the trade generally. The Radar Parts scoring system formalizes what buyers already know intuitively about which yards they'll call first.
Yards that want to be in the network and build their score from the ground up can request to join. We reach out to confirm inventory focus and sourcing preferences before the first request arrives.
Source with Suppliers You Can Trust
Every Radar Parts result shows you the part's condition grade and the yard's reliability score — independently. Request early access to start sourcing with visibility into both.
Request Early Access →