This conflates dealerships with the ability/right to repair. I think dealerships are absolute scum but am completely on-board with enabling 3rd party mechanics to repair vehicles.
Dealerships don’t even ensure you don’t have the same vendor lock-in issues (getting modern ICE foreign cars repaired in small cities/towns can be a nightmare).
I own a Tesla and have had no problems with customer service.
What I do have a problem with is negotiating a price for a vehicle from a slimy dealership agent who have a litany of techniques to increase their profit for no good reason. On the Tesla website the price you pay is the price that everyone pays.
I'm hardly a Musk fanboy, in fact I have strong negative opinions about the, er, gentleman, but this push towards flat pricing and allowing sales directly to individuals is imo an unequivocal good. If the price everyone pays is the same online and at the dealerships then dealerships can prove their value to the customer - or not.
https://www.hotcars.com/ford-cracking-down-greedy-dealers-ma...
Apple sets a floor price through razor thin margins but how do they set a ceiling?
Am I wrong?
On the other hand, dealerships also sold future cars - and sometimes still do - when you want to have something customized.
So, there's no difference besides difference in demand.
FWIW, the delivery estimates displayed on the Tesla web site for cars currently in production are pretty accurate. Also, if you order a Performance/Plaid model, you get to the front of the queue. ;-)
> I suspect the spot price for a Tesla now and here is also fluctuating, opaque, and subject to negotiation.
In that case, you're buying a used one from a dealer, so that would be true.
The annoying thing with dealers though is that when it comes to Tesla, they often have no clue what they're actually selling, or they're trying to rip off naive customers. I've seen them try to sell base Model 3's for $55K. For just a couple thousand more, you could get a brand new Model 3 Performance delivered in 2-4 weeks.
Good for you, really. That doesn't invalidate the countless horror stories that prop up on those forums multiple times a day.
https://electrek.co/2022/06/15/tesla-tops-list-most-satisfie...
People negotiate the price of a $40 ride to the airport with taxi drivers every day. I negotiated the price of a pair of prescription glasses just yesterday, and they cost less than $300.
So... yes?
Even in chain stores for hardware/DIY or white goods (fridges, washing machines, etc) there is almost always leeway for haggling to some degree on higher priced items.
He works in the automotive industry, where haggling is basically mandatory - if you don't haggle, you are going to get shafted. Its the same at builders merchants and lumber suppliers.
As opposed to the haggling model where they expect to sell a car for $55K but put a $60K tag on it knowing people will haggle it down to $55K and think they got a good deal.
It's an absolutely shitty model, and it's saddening that you're falling for it.
Dealerships do not set the sticker price. Only manufacturers do. At Tesla, your only option is to pay full sticker. At dealerships, you can certainly do the same, but you can also negotiate a better deal.
Manufacturers (other than Tesla) know people aren't going to pay MSRP.
"Negotiating a better deal" is just bullshit. Honda will throw a $24K MSRP on a Honda Civic knowing people will probably actually pay $22K or whatever.
The problem here is that you think that if Tesla participated in negotiations, then you could get a $63K Model 3 Performance for $58K by negotiating. That is false. What would actually happen is that they would up the sticker price to $68K so you could feel like you got a deal when you drive away after paying $63K.
And if you were on the hook for repairing $50,000+ machines, would you allow the users of those machines to get oil changes and other services just anywhere? Or would you require a minimum level of maintenance and a known quality of parts and fluids?
Dealerships are paid by the manufacturer for new-car warranty service. My experience is they’ll go out of their way to get a warranty repair job as it pays them well and earns goodwill with the customer for a directly profitable job.
People keep saying this but its just not true. Look at their growth in terms of service centers.
And their mobile service fleet is the largest in the US, and reduced the need to bring the car in. And their software capability allows for less trips due to software issue.
Of course their costumer service is not perfect, but given the growth they had its essentially impossible to keep up with customer service.
If you look at other car startups, dealerships also don't fall out of the clear blue sky. Had Telsa built with dealerships they very likely would have had very similar growth problems in terms of service capacity.
> Non-Tesla customers have virtually infinite options, and someone to actually take care of them. I suggest you read even the most die-hard Tesla fansites and see just how bad Tesla's anti-dealership strategy is for the customer.
Only browsing forums where people specifically to complain is selection bias.
And you can find forums like this for lots of dealerships and car companies.
Lol. Startup. That crutch is long gone. If you are worth more than Ford and Honda combined, there are no excuses.
I.e. they're big but they're operating like a (s)crappy startup.
Every serious VC is like Microsoft.
What you're talking about are not startups, in my opinion, they're mom and pop stores, the ones that don't grow explosively.
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/05/12/strategy-letter-i-...