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Exactly this. As much as people bitch about dealerships, and some of them truly do suck, the business model is well established and clearly successful. The ne

Exactly this. As much as people bitch about dealerships, and some of them truly do suck, the business model is well established and clearly successful. The newer EV startups are just converging on having the same model by a different name.

steveBK123 4y ago
It’s great to have a service network. It sucks having to haggle with these clowns when buying a car. Direct sales you get price transparency. Even dealers showing inventory online neglect to mention that they want a $10K ADM until you try to buy the thing in person. Or only if you buy $5K in accessories. Or only if you finance. Or only if you get some BS extended warranty/service contract, etc
- rootusrootus 4y ago
  I agree that some dealers are pretty shady. Some are great. Knowing in advance which one you're dealing with is close to impossible. I don't set foot in a dealer any more without working the deal first by e-mail. Then I bring in the purchase contract and pick up the car. No last minute fun surprises. I've also had fairly good success looking the finance manager in the eye and telling them point blank I will only be wasting their time by repeating 'no' if they insist on asking questions, just give me the final paper to sign and the keys to the car. "I will be modding it, I care not about your extended warranty, kthxbye"
gopalv 4y ago
> As much as people bitch about dealerships, and some of them truly do suck, the business model is well established and clearly successful. So the Lindy effect sort of suggests the dealerships will be around for a while - but the real revenue model of a dealership is the return customer for services. The main change with EVs is unpredictable on that side - one, they don't need a lot of periodic maintenance (like regen cuts brake wear for highway driving), but on the other hand there are almost no user-serviceable EVs & I doubt there will be any in the near future. So I wish the dealership model goes the way of the travel agent one. It's not that travel agents weren't useful or successful, but that without one more people bought tickets and flew to places. From that PoV, I think the model might converge closer to Carvana or Shift rather than a traditional dealership with loaned inventory (or Roadster.com). Especially when the car I want to buy is actually in Sacramento and only needs to be on a truck to a city when I want it.

steveBK123 4y ago

It’s great to have a service network. It sucks having to haggle with these clowns when buying a car. Direct sales you get price transparency. Even dealers showing inventory online neglect to mention that they want a $10K ADM until you try to buy the thing in person. Or only if you buy $5K in accessories. Or only if you finance. Or only if you get some BS extended warranty/service contract, etc

rootusrootus 4y ago
I agree that some dealers are pretty shady. Some are great. Knowing in advance which one you're dealing with is close to impossible. I don't set foot in a dealer any more without working the deal first by e-mail. Then I bring in the purchase contract and pick up the car. No last minute fun surprises. I've also had fairly good success looking the finance manager in the eye and telling them point blank I will only be wasting their time by repeating 'no' if they insist on asking questions, just give me the final paper to sign and the keys to the car. "I will be modding it, I care not about your extended warranty, kthxbye"

gopalv 4y ago

> As much as people bitch about dealerships, and some of them truly do suck, the business model is well established and clearly successful. So the Lindy effect sort of suggests the dealerships will be around for a while - but the real revenue model of a dealership is the return customer for services. The main change with EVs is unpredictable on that side - one, they don't need a lot of periodic maintenance (like regen cuts brake wear for highway driving), but on the other hand there are almost no user-serviceable EVs & I doubt there will be any in the near future. So I wish the dealership model goes the way of the travel agent one. It's not that travel agents weren't useful or successful, but that without one more people bought tickets and flew to places. From that PoV, I think the model might converge closer to Carvana or Shift rather than a traditional dealership with loaned inventory (or Roadster.com). Especially when the car I want to buy is actually in Sacramento and only needs to be on a truck to a city when I want it.