Quote:
Originally Posted by wtwo3
My apologies if I misunderstood - but your last sentence in the previous message mentioned we could perhaps pay $65k instead of $80k because of the elimination of dealer profit. The issue with that is that 1) if there are cost savings by eliminating the dealer network, manufacturers aren't simply going to hand those over to the customers. I used to work for a manufacturer which also acted as a distributor, and the consumer paid the same price for the product whether they bought from a 3rd party dealer or if they bought it direct from the manufacturer.
The issue is, while sales people don't work for free, there's other cost benefits to utilizing a dealer network over direct sales from the manufacturers point of view. Delivering direct to customer as an example - there's a significant added cost to that as opposed to consolidated shipping into dealerships. Then there's the issue of service centers. The current model of utilizing dealers as service centers works well. Eliminate the dealer network and all of a sudden you, as a manufacturer, will either have to foot the bill to establish your own service centers, or you outsource to a 3rd party. Either way that cost doesn't go away. If you look at Tesla's model, customers getting timely service has been a major issue. And finally, even the process of setting up a test drive at your place of residence, there's cost associated with that.
Like I said before, I get the convenience benefit of this all. But if you're a savvy shopper, you're getting screwed by paying what everyone else is paying whereas previously you would have come out ahead (in some cases significantly) through discounts, since there's zero negotiation/shopping around/relationship building in a direct sales method.
We're in a crappy market, so it's easy to point the finger at dealers who are taking advantage by charging markups on top of MSRP. But in a normal market, if you follow the process I outlined, working with dealers is convenient and satisfactory while getting a great deal on a car. I'll take that any day of the week.
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Not necessarily though. I received my model 3 about a month or so now and i ordered it through the website. It took a couple of months for it to get built and when it was done, i went right to the dealer and did NOTHING. The car was in a parking spot waiting for me and all i did was sign a couple of papers at the front desk, basically acknowledging that i came to pick up the car. Similar to someone just going to the dealer to pick up plates for your new car. You go to the front desk, sign a paper and you get your plates. That was my tesla experience. I did not need a test drive as i have a couple of friends with model 3 performances so i knew how it was.
You might or might not be right on tesla service. I do not know on that part but the buying experience for tesla has been easier than going to walmart to get a pair of socks.
This is why i am saying what i said. That tesla experience, is what future car buying should be. We do NOT need a dealership. They are just there to store the cars, and have a person give you a key to test drive and "talk" about it. Then you have to meet with the finance guy and of course he wants to sell you a bunch of shit for his own pocket.
We do not need that.
We should go on the site, pick the model we want, the color, the options, the other stuff protection plans, extended warranty etc, ALL ON THE WEBSITE. Then go pick up the car somewhere or have a 3rd party come to your house, pay a fee for them to go, whether you buy the car or not, and if you do, you sign the papers and the person leaves. Done deal. No hassling. No extra shit. No buy this and buy that.
It's 80k M3, maybe 250 bucks for the person to go to your house for a test drive, non refundable 250. You say no to the car, they keep the 250. You say yes, you still pay the 250 but you also got the car for exactly 80k, as marked on the website. No other fees or nonsense. Delivery person makes his money (250 for example), you get your car. Done.
That should be the future.