4 ms·

> Ford couldn't possibly service every municipality in the country Why?

• msandford 13y ago
  It's not that they literally would not be capable in a logistical sense. It's that they would probably do a worse job of it than the independent dealers would. At least with independent dealers there's a lot of oversight; the people that own dealerships generally own a few, the biggest players maybe a few dozen. Right now dealers aren't that great, they're the Mom & Pop bookstores. Having Ford sell directly would give us a Barnes & Noble experience. I personally think that might be worse. I dislike dealers for sure and prefer to work on my car myself. I have the feeling I would dislike them even more if they were all run by Ford.
  • warfangle 13y ago
    And if the protections were relaxed, manufacturer-certified repair centers would go the way of the dodo? That they're attached to the people who would want to sell you a replacement car if something goes wrong seems like a conflict of interest.
    • msandford 13y ago
      Do you prefer chain restaurants or local joints? Why?
  • SeanLuke 13y ago
    > It's that they would probably do a worse job of it than the independent dealers would. Why? Do you understand why dealers exist historically? It's completely different than what you're letting on.
    • msandford 13y ago
      Yes, I'm aware that dealers sprung up as a sales channel for cash-strapped automakers. They didn't have the money for a nationwide retail campaign so dealers sprung up to do it for them, and to earn some profits in the process.