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No dealers in my area have any cars on the lot to purchase. They all want you to buy them sight unseen and will deliver in months. I’d happily buy a EV today if
by upon_drumhead 3y ago
No dealers in my area have any cars on the lot to purchase. They all want you to buy them sight unseen and will deliver in months. I’d happily buy a EV today if I could just test drive it before placing the money down, but the interest is so high that they don’t need to cater to my request.
- lokar 3y agoIf you do t mind, what area? What brands? In Southern California every dealer I called had at least a couple of each model to check out.
- millzlane 3y agoI was in the market for an Audi RS3. I was ready to buy it off of the lot with cash. I called every Audi dealer in Maryland and VA. They make cars with seats you never sat in before, don't know what they feel like, and don't have any to test and want you to spend 60K on a car that you will drive for years. No thank you, I'll keep driving my shitty VW and fix it when it breaks.
- lokar 3y agoI would never buy without trying it out. Odd that they seem to be short on inventory there vs the west coast.
- linsomniac 3y agoCome now, an Audi RS3 is a pretty specialized car. I'll go months between seeing any of the RS models, I remember distinctly the last one I saw: an RS5 at Whole Foods 2-3 months ago. Autotrader lists 138 of them for sale (new and used) in the entire USA. So, yes, that is going to be something that the average car-buying experience isn't going to apply to. That said, I do see 7 of them used within 50 miles of Maryland zip 21278, I'm sure one of them would at least let you sit in one and probably drive it.
- millzlane 3y agoThank you for checking again. I may go check em out. Oh and you're not wrong. It is rare.
- linsomniac 3y agoNote: Those ones I saw were all used, no new ones listed in your area. I'm a big Audi fan here, who for a variety of reasons moved over to Tesla. Among others, I used to have a B6 variety S4, and it was a thing of beauty. 40v engine was like a German clock. Nose heavy, but still fun on the track. Ran into an RS4 with the aftermarket supercharger at the track, quite lust worthy. They are very fun cars, for sure see if you can get in the seat of one. (Mostly I moved away from Audis because I was spending so much in maintenance. My A8 had $10K worth of toys that needed repairing (phone bluetooth, a couple door handle buttons, steering wheel motor, slow leak in the air suspension, etc. Nothing that kept it from getting me around. And that 40v engine I knew if there was ever a problem it was going to cost more than the car was worth at that point. I had a throttle position sensor that left me stranded a couple times and put the fear of the German road gods in me :-)
- lowbloodsugar 3y agoI was looking at RS3 vs Tesla. Under 100mph, a performance model 3 destroys an RS3 in every metric (except how long it takes to refuel). Just FYI. I rented one for a week and I’m now just waiting until the new highland model comes out.
- KallDrexx 3y agoFWIW almost every dealership will allow you to buy a car with a deposit and will refund the deposit if you test drive and don't like it. That's how I bought my Bolt EUV sight unseen.
- Beached 3y agothe dealers in my area had evs I could test drive, but they were test drive vehicles only. you couldn't buy them, you had to order if you liked and wait for your specific one to come
- cj 3y agoA friend bought the new Ford Mustang Mach-E (100% electric) a few weeks ago. They went car shopping intending to buy an ICE but ended up test driving the Mach-E which was in stock and on the lot. Test drove and brought it home the same day, impulse purchase. They were going to pay all cash expecting the interest rate to be high, but they had a 0% interest promo so ended up financing it. This was a few weeks ago, honestly not sure how they’re still offering 0%. Edit: this happened in a rural dealership 2 hours away from the nearest large city and 1 hour from the nearest Tesla dealership.
- throwaway5959 3y agoService departments probably hate EVs and since dealerships make a fortune on service, they probably hate EVs too.
- CoastalCoder 3y agoWhy? Are they hard to work on, or just not profitable for some reason?
- closeparen 3y agoThey’re simpler, lower-maintenance machines.
- lowbloodsugar 3y agoThey don’t go wrong. It’s an electric motor instead of a reciprocating machine that explodes 100 times per second, combines water cooling and oil lubrication. That said, car and driver reports that the yearly costs were about the same for a Tesla because of the price of fixing things like a broken windshield.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y agoThis also applies to ICE cars, at least new ones in my area. You want a new civic? You can have it next june, maybe.