4 ms·

I wonder if once Tesla fights back all the local monopoly regulation around dealerships, this will naturally transition to an online car dealership. They'll hav

I wonder if once Tesla fights back all the local monopoly regulation around dealerships, this will naturally transition to an online car dealership. They'll have to figure out test drives though.

swang 10y ago
easy. just crowdsource the test drives.
- libria 10y ago
  Car owners volunteer their cars for test drives and get a kickback if the customer purchases that model? Essentially crowd sourced micro-commissions, that's brilliant.
  - BinaryIdiot 10y ago
    I dunno have you seen the average person take a car for a test drive? Half the times they don't really want to buy it and just want to play with it. I don't know that I would want tens or hundreds of people in my [figurative] Tesla, possibly beating it up only for a chance at some sort of small kickback. Then again I didn't think Uber could work and now I take them all the time so who knows!
    - Johnny555 10y ago
      The kickback has to be large enough to make it worthwhile. You might not do it for $100, but maybe for $1000?
      - BinaryIdiot 10y ago
        Maybe? Depends on what the ratio shakes out to be. If I have to let 10 people drive my car then maybe. 20? Probably not worth my time. This will also raise insurance rates as you have to be covered for other drivers on your vehicle.
  - bonestamp2 10y ago
    I think you'd have to give a small kickback just for the test drive, but if the owner goes with them (and presumably does a good job selling them on the car) then the owner gets a bigger commission for a sale. I would actually prefer this to a dealership since a real owner probably knows that one car he/she drives everyday way better than the lazy sales guy who is trying to sell 10 different models and rarely drives them himself.
- superuser2 10y ago
  Personally I find driving a car from Getaround for a little while more illuminating than a dealer test drive. OTOH, this doesn't do much for specific used cars.
skykooler 10y ago
I note that Tesla is one of the brands listed on Amazon.
rargulati 10y ago
That's a good thought. Seems as if it's happening: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12362457 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12362457

I wonder if once Tesla fights back all the local monopoly regulation around dealerships, this will naturally transition to an online car dealership. They'll have to figure out test drives though.

swang 10y ago

easy. just crowdsource the test drives.

libria 10y ago
Car owners volunteer their cars for test drives and get a kickback if the customer purchases that model? Essentially crowd sourced micro-commissions, that's brilliant.
- BinaryIdiot 10y ago
  I dunno have you seen the average person take a car for a test drive? Half the times they don't really want to buy it and just want to play with it. I don't know that I would want tens or hundreds of people in my [figurative] Tesla, possibly beating it up only for a chance at some sort of small kickback. Then again I didn't think Uber could work and now I take them all the time so who knows!
  - Johnny555 10y ago
    The kickback has to be large enough to make it worthwhile. You might not do it for $100, but maybe for $1000?
    - BinaryIdiot 10y ago
      Maybe? Depends on what the ratio shakes out to be. If I have to let 10 people drive my car then maybe. 20? Probably not worth my time. This will also raise insurance rates as you have to be covered for other drivers on your vehicle.
- bonestamp2 10y ago
  I think you'd have to give a small kickback just for the test drive, but if the owner goes with them (and presumably does a good job selling them on the car) then the owner gets a bigger commission for a sale. I would actually prefer this to a dealership since a real owner probably knows that one car he/she drives everyday way better than the lazy sales guy who is trying to sell 10 different models and rarely drives them himself.
superuser2 10y ago
Personally I find driving a car from Getaround for a little while more illuminating than a dealer test drive. OTOH, this doesn't do much for specific used cars.

skykooler 10y ago

I note that Tesla is one of the brands listed on Amazon.

rargulati 10y ago

That's a good thought. Seems as if it's happening: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12362457 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12362457