What has selling cars at MSRP got to do with you basically calling me a criminal. Virtually no cars get sold at MSRP. And putting a Fiat 500 on a pedestal, give me a break. Do the guards at your facility know you're missing?
What has selling cars at MSRP got to do with you basically calling me a criminal. Virtually no cars get sold at MSRP. And putting a Fiat 500 on a pedestal, give me a break. Do the guards at your facility know you're missing?
When I sold my Gs430 and bought a Prius it was probably the best decision I ever made. I don't need a gas guzzler to drive to work. I worked for car dealers and they are crooks to both employees and the buyers that walk into the door. Looking forward to upgrading to a Tesla soon. Your comments go hand and hand with someone who owns a stealership.When I say no cars sell at MSRP, I mean we have to sell below that in order to be competitive. Go and pay full retail if that is what makes you happy. Too bad there weren't more like you out there. I'm afraid I won't be test driving a turd 500 anytime soon. Pretty much as bad as being seen in a Prius or a Smart car.
Blacknot, I'm sorry I don't believe that driving a Prius makes you a savior of our planet. Until our power is generated in a cleaner manner you are just fooling yourself.
Speaking of dealers....my personal experience is long time repeat customers pay more for their cars than the one off buyer.
This fact was confirmed when I shopped recently at local competitor just to see if the offer I received was legit....some dealers consider regulars as slam dunks.
You make it sound like long time customers are stupid, victims of a dealership and herd up like sheep to be gouged.
Sounds to me more like long time repeat customers choose to stay with their dealer of choice and may choose to pay more to do it.
No one is forced to spend more at any dealership, it's a free choice by the customer no?
Not true. We will need more independent mechanics (enthusiasts) to do so. NSX ownership is great example of that.And strangely enough we will need dealerships to keep these older cars running.
Do you realize that most customers are uneducated in this regard? Most are not mechanically inclined. This helps greedy business to take advantage of them. No, nobody forces you to pay. Except you may have no choice (think about time spent running around to explore market and compare etc)No one is forced to spend more at any dealership, it's a free choice by the customer no?
Wow.....To me trust means a lot until it goes away. Couple hundred no problem - $2K buys a lot of gas.
Not true. We will need more independent mechanics (enthusiasts) to do so. NSX ownership is great example of that.
Do you realize that most customers are uneducated in this regard? Most are not mechanically inclined. This helps greedy business to take advantage of them. No, nobody forces you to pay. Except you may have no choice (think about time spent running around to explore market and compare etc)
Stop living in the past guys, the era of fossil fuel is ending anyway.
Couple the fact the U.S. is out producing every other country in oil production and the increased efficiency of current automobiles I don't see electric being economically viable for the foreseeable future.
No dealer model for car sales. Still need shops to service it. This is the model that makes sense.Tesla's "no dealer" model is already becoming unsustainable as the number of cars they sell continues to increase. Some Tesla owners are currently reporting wait times of 2 to 3 months for service appointments to fix relative minor issues. And in Norway the current wait times are nearly 6 months! See here....
http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/57553-Tesla-doesn-t-want-to-service-my-Model-S
Tesla's supercharger model is likely unsustainable too. There are already occasional complaints of owners having to wait in line for a charge. If Tesla is successful at meeting their sales targets, their supercharger infrastructure will soon become inadequate and I don't see the company having the capital to fully build out what would actually be required.
But don't tell that to the starry eyed Tesla owners who love Elon with a near cult-like devotion. Many of them (mostly idealistic Boomers) like to tell us how their road trip was "powered by the sun" or that they're "experiencing the future today". It's a truly bizarre combination of demonizing oil combined with viewing technology as mankind's savior. For a good laugh I suggest watching nearly any of Tesla's shareholder meetings and check out the crazies in the audience that line up to ask Elon questions.
No dealer model for car sales. Still need shops to service it. This is the model that makes sense.
You go to manufacturer's show room. It doesn't have to be dealer. It doesn't have to be 3rd party to handle this simple thing. It can and must be manufacture's effort. This way to have standard and high level of service quality. Also it may be shocking to you to find out that over last few years numbers of car ordered online jumped a lot. No need to bring service into this equation again and again. I never argued this won't be a problem when dealerships go away. Servicing is needed (granted much much less with electric powertrain) but that's all that dealer should do. Not sell cars. Or sell at the same price you can buy online directly from the manufacturer.It makes sense for one model.
But what if you're considering whether you want a new sedan or the new SUV?
Or another new model yet to come out?
Do you want to sit in each one?
How do you do that?
And if your older Tesla needs servicing?
Where do you take it.
An independent shop or a Tesla factory certified shop?
If you want the factory certified shop (and most owners will) then what's the difference between a franchised Tesla service shop and a franchised Acura service shop?
None that I can see.
And while you're dropping your older Tesla sedan off at a factory certified Tesla shop for maintenance it might be handy to look at the new Tesla SUV or another new model while you're there no?
Servicing is needed (granted much much less with electric powertrain)
Also have you ever thought about how extremely complex internal combustion engines are comparing to electric motors?.
No dealer model for car sales. Still need shops to service it. This is the model that makes sense.