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Which then comes back and bites Tesla in the butt, when it is time for service or maintenance.

MrMan 4y ago
yes dealer comes in very handy when I want to not have my car taken on a trailer for 3 weeks. I watched my co-workers proudly saying good-bye to their Teslas for long periods of time while my Chevy Bolt never ever went to the shop and when it did it was out in an hour or so. My co-workers were so excited that Tesla came and took their cars away for a few weeks, it made them feel special.
Melting_Harps 4y ago
> Which then comes back and bites Tesla in the butt, when it is time for service or maintenance. You'd think so, but since customer retention seems to be brand loyalty based more than actual car experience it doesn't seem to pan out that way; also the OTA updates are an interesting way of getting around those issues. Rentals are easier when you own a large fleet of them in any given state/city as opposed to relying on the 2-3 courtesy cars a dealrship may have. As a logistics guy I've had to prep Certified Pre-owned for VW to give to buyers when we had the Diesel gate issue because I was a former tech and we had an influx of demand by people buying models/specs that were not in stock. They gave us their Tdi, VW/BOSCH gave them a check and they turned around and put a down payment on a Golf GTI/R, e-GOlf, or Wolfsburg model that took a week to deliver. What I saw more than anything over the years was supply/parts shortage encumbering Tesla mobile mechanics and body shops alike from fulfilling ROs. This could be anything from a windshield, bumper, or something more vital like a drive motor. Incidentally, the major dealership mechanics were always in short supply due to the churn of the Industry (low pay and high barrier of entry and pay to play pay models) but was made even worse after COVID [0], couple this with shortages in the Global Supply Chain and dependencies on external manufacturers for ROs and things get less likely for that to occur. Tesla has always been bad at stocking parts, but larger show rooms also function as repair bays. It's all crazy to deviate from 'what normally works' until supply chain shortages become the norm, which is something we've all been saying in that Industry was looming the entire time.
panick21_ 4y ago
The opposite actually. Dealers would need to be built up just like service centers. And when Tesla owns the service centers they will eventually be hugely profitable. Service is a huge buissness, for Tesla so far its a money loser, but as their cars go of warrenty steady state this is gone be huge for Tesla. Its and open secrete that car companies make little money selling cars and make extra margin on parts. However lots of the profit ends up with dealers. In the run this is huge, huge deal in terms of profitability for Tesla.

yes dealer comes in very handy when I want to not have my car taken on a trailer for 3 weeks. I watched my co-workers proudly saying good-bye to their Teslas for long periods of time while my Chevy Bolt never ever went to the shop and when it did it was out in an hour or so. My co-workers were so excited that Tesla came and took their cars away for a few weeks, it made them feel special.

Melting_Harps 4y ago

> Which then comes back and bites Tesla in the butt, when it is time for service or maintenance. You'd think so, but since customer retention seems to be brand loyalty based more than actual car experience it doesn't seem to pan out that way; also the OTA updates are an interesting way of getting around those issues. Rentals are easier when you own a large fleet of them in any given state/city as opposed to relying on the 2-3 courtesy cars a dealrship may have. As a logistics guy I've had to prep Certified Pre-owned for VW to give to buyers when we had the Diesel gate issue because I was a former tech and we had an influx of demand by people buying models/specs that were not in stock. They gave us their Tdi, VW/BOSCH gave them a check and they turned around and put a down payment on a Golf GTI/R, e-GOlf, or Wolfsburg model that took a week to deliver. What I saw more than anything over the years was supply/parts shortage encumbering Tesla mobile mechanics and body shops alike from fulfilling ROs. This could be anything from a windshield, bumper, or something more vital like a drive motor. Incidentally, the major dealership mechanics were always in short supply due to the churn of the Industry (low pay and high barrier of entry and pay to play pay models) but was made even worse after COVID [0], couple this with shortages in the Global Supply Chain and dependencies on external manufacturers for ROs and things get less likely for that to occur. Tesla has always been bad at stocking parts, but larger show rooms also function as repair bays. It's all crazy to deviate from 'what normally works' until supply chain shortages become the norm, which is something we've all been saying in that Industry was looming the entire time.

panick21_ 4y ago

The opposite actually. Dealers would need to be built up just like service centers. And when Tesla owns the service centers they will eventually be hugely profitable. Service is a huge buissness, for Tesla so far its a money loser, but as their cars go of warrenty steady state this is gone be huge for Tesla. Its and open secrete that car companies make little money selling cars and make extra margin on parts. However lots of the profit ends up with dealers. In the run this is huge, huge deal in terms of profitability for Tesla.