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These laws are anachronisms back when they didn’t want manufacturers directly selling vehicles to consumers because there was a fear (or maybe, an experience?)
by Kirby64 11mo ago
These laws are anachronisms back when they didn’t want manufacturers directly selling vehicles to consumers because there was a fear (or maybe, an experience?) with manufacturers selling vehicles without any reasonable ability to get parts, repairs, etc.
Nowadays with nationwide fast shipping and the internet these aren’t really problems… but in the 1950s I could see how there would be some benefits to having a dealership near you.
- SoftTalker 11mo agoIt was more protection for local dealers, to avoid the manufacturer coming in to a market that the dealer had developed and undercutting them.
- jvanderbot 11mo agoYes, but that's the first layer. The second layer is "Why would we care about undercutting local dealers"? And there are good reasons to avoid undercutting, not just greed, as is often the case.
- freedomben 11mo agoDo you think there still are, or just were?
- SoftTalker 11mo agoI think Ford would be happy to sell a car direct and pocket at least some of the commission they otherwise pay to the dealership. But they sort of need dealers also, to do local marketing, help customers who want hand-holding, and to provide warranty/recall service.
- ch4s3 11mo agoThey were merely well organized and. connected to state legislatures. It's just regulatory capture.
- dh2022 11mo agoIn my view if the local dealers will go to hell in a hand basket I won’t shed a tear. Michael’s Subaru of Bellevue couldn’t tighten some gasket under the car and my car was leaking oil after the oil change. When I took the car to the dealership they said it was because of my car being too old (older Subarus have indeed a problem with oil leaks). The guy behind the counter looked like he had anger management problems with my request to take another look. So yeah, if Amazon will put these dealerships out of business - good riddance.
- jvanderbot 11mo agoYou know, sometimes they get anger management issues after the 1000th angry customer asking them to fix what appears to be a design flaw in the car that customer bought. I'm not sure that buying from that dealership via amazon would do anything for you (amazon is just listing dealer cars), or that the situation would be better if you bought directly from the manufacturer.
- axus 11mo agoHas Tesla been selling cars directly to consumers without these problems?
- ceejayoz 11mo agoTelsa has precisely this problem; they want a lot of control over the repair process. It can be tough to find an independent mechanic to work on them. https://service.tesla.com/docs/ModelS/ServiceManual/en-us/GUID-A8601AB7-DC81-41BA-B471-67ECF8C13AE6.html https://service.tesla.com/docs/ModelS/ServiceManual/en-us/GU... > Tesla does not allow the use of any used, recycled, alternative, aftermarket, or third-party replacement parts. Use only new parts ordered directly from Tesla.
- kube-system 11mo agoThat's quite an interesting statement from Tesla. How much weight does it actually hold beyond just being "their opinion" considering that the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act forbids the voiding of warranties for those reasons?
- ceejayoz 11mo agoIIRC, they won't sell parts to a non-certified mechanic, and there's a lack of third-parties making the more complex parts. You're fine if you need a tire swap. You're not gonna have much fun if you have to replace the screen. A Federal-level right to repair can't come soon enough.
- kube-system 11mo agoBut what can they legally do if you decide to use parts on the secondary market anyway? (... are they punishing consumers for this?)
- ceejayoz 11mo agoNothing. But they don't need to. They just tackle it at the supply side. If you're a mechanic who wants Tesla parts, you need to go through Tesla. If you go through Telsa, you can't use third-party parts or resell the first-party ones. As a result, the market for third-party parts stays largely too small to exist.