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What value do you think dealerships provide?
by hughes 5y ago
What value do you think dealerships provide?
- arduinomancer 5y agoTest drives? I don’t get how people buy a car without trying it
- lostlogin 5y agoVarious companies offer very easy returns or various other forms of testing directly.
- filoleg 5y agoTesla doesn't have dealerships in the traditional sense (aka third party places where you can buy the cars), and you can totally test drive their cars. You just show up to their storefront or gallery, express interest, and they let you test drive them.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- zamfi 5y agoI think the GP here means test drive the particular vehicle you're buying, not just some other vehicle of the same make & model (and possibly, but possibly not, trim level). With Tesla, the most you can do is refuse delivery, but you won't get to drive it before you do that... GP's not wrong, but as someone who only started driving frequently well into my 30s, I've personally never had the "I must kick the tires" mentality -- and Tesla's at-the-time "7-day return policy" helped a lot with concerns about a lemon.
- speby 5y agoMost states (maybe all?) have a common 3-day "regret" clause for many types of transactions, including car buying, mortgages, etc. So you can, in many cases, still 'take delivery' and then if you change your mind in 72 hours, you can return it. Again, I forget if all states have a similar set of laws for this or only a subset.
- tahoeskibum 5y agoThe same way people buy a phone without trying it. Electric cars will be appliances. Some will pay premium for Tesla like for Apple, and others will find that Hyundai's are a good bang for buck too.
- analog31 5y agoI figure the car companies would provide enough pictures and dimensions to make a test drive unnecessary, at least for me. The seats are adjustable, and I never have a problem fitting into the various rental cars that I've driven. I just want to know if it will fit a double bass.
- beamatronic 5y agoBecause of the reputation. I've bought two cars without driving them first.
- travisporter 5y agocarvana, carmax and tesla all give you an option to return in a certain timeframe no questions asked. on paper anyway.
- Johnny555 5y agoI bought my past 2 cars without test drives, relied solely on internet research and reviews. Haven't been disappointed yet. But then, I drive a car for transportation, not for a driving experience.
- bm-rf 5y agowho else is going to explain the value of paint sealant and an extended warranty?
- jbigelow76 5y agoWell the robo callers have the extended warranty market covered.
- soperj 5y agoAs someone who has actually done the job, paint sealant absolutely has utility, but the bottle of paint sealant costs $20, and you apply very little of it to each vehicle. I got paid like $9 to actually apply it (it took very little time). So while it has utility, the consumer is absolutely being ripped off.
- topspin 5y agoPolitical. Dealerships are an invention of government. Look into the history of auto manufacturers and their relationship with US states. Also, I predict Ford is going to experience some legal difficulties with this. States govern the operation of dealerships, including pricing regulations, and they are not uniform. The dealers themselves are not powerless either, some being large, well heeled enterprises and associations that have fought and won against manufacturers.
- mooreds 5y agoInteresting history here: https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/rearview-mirror-the-evolution-of-car-dealerships https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/rearview-mirror-the-evolut...
- cptskippy 5y agoI imagine that's why they split into two separate companies. They can run the electric business much like Tesla as a competitor to their ICE business and let it slowly die with the dealerships.
- topspin 5y agoMany dealers sell products from more than one manufacturer. That affordance is the result of legal battles fought and won by dealerships. There will be few incumbent Ford dealers that won't also sell Ford's electric products, legal fictions notwithstanding. While it is true that Tesla has managed to operate under a double standard, I suspect the entry of traditional manufacturers and dealerships into the all electric market will lead to some resolutions of that. That story is still being written.
- cptskippy 5y ago> There will be few incumbent Ford dealers that won't also sell Ford's electric products Assuming it's an option. The Ford electric company could go the same route as Tesla and dealerships would have the same recourse they have now against Tesla, because it's a new company.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- czbond 5y agoAgree - I recently bought a vehicle (jeep) out of state. Did everything from pricing, sale, logistics, and delivery over email. It was fantastic!
- xyst 5y agoTo extract as much money from the buyer as possible.
- vkou 5y agoWhy do you think the manufacturer is just going to leave that money on the table?
- na85 5y agoTraining for boiler room salesmen.
- ec109685 5y agoCapital by financing cost of stores, repair shop and whatnot.
- jeffbee 5y agoAs a Californian I have specific consumer protections when buying from dealers that I wouldn’t have when buying direct from the manufacturer. If nothing else, they are a manageable-size target for individual litigation.
- somethoughts 5y agoAs I understood it, historically the primary value dealerships provided is when the automakers had a glut of supplies that they needed to get off the books to make quarterly sales targets for Wall Street. They could stuff the dealership channel with all that excess inventory and count it as sold. [1] With EVs and the current semiconductor shortage, batteries/semis are in short supply and so production volumes are lower than demand, so there isn't a use case for dealerships that's apparent. Once EVs mature and excess inventory builds up and has to sit on the books of the automakers and depreciate on the lot waiting for buyers - the dealership model will look more interesting. The bean counters will then team up with marketing department to (re)introduce independent dealerships under a different branded customer UX name. [1] Chrysler adds dealer incentives to clear stock https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12691116 https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12691116
- ajross 5y agoSerious answer: buffering. Right now, cars are undersupplied and so dealerships seem like a waste. But in times of excess inventory, dealerships guarantee that every market has a supply of cars available for shopping and testing on local lots, and guarantee the manufacturer a less "bursty" revenue stream. That doesn't justify their existence in a world where cross-continent orders over the internet are possible. But historically they've had a real role to play.