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Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

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Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#61

Post by ct0 »

SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

Manufacturers want to offload the customer service as it's extremely expensive as well as limit liability. That's why dealers exist and will continue to exist.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#62

Post by mattmcknight »

legitster wrote: post #32
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

It is kind of a crazy model. You don't go to the Pepsi store for Pepsi and the Coke store for Coke. The exclusivity dealerships get enshrined in law is kinda nuts. Still, I think there is something to be said for independent dealerships overall for service quality. Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare. In comparison the service departments of dealerships have are much more robust.

> Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare

They literally come to my house and fix things, it's incredibly easy for me, but I have four service locations within 30 minutes drive, so may not be the common experience.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#63

Post by cogman10 »

AlexandrB wrote: post #36
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

> All that land they own can be used for productive economic activity or housing. No it can't. You still need places where cars can be repaired as well as storage for parts/cars inventory. The only way you reclaim some land is if service gets worse. Edit: For example, Tesla sells direct to consumers but there's still a Tesla "showroom" in my town. In terms of footprint/appearance it's basically a dealership. So where…

> No it can't. You still need places where cars can be repaired as well as storage for parts/cars inventory. The only way you reclaim some land is if service gets worse.

You probably aren't going to have 10 Ford dealerships in town all selling the same models of cars. That's where the space savings comes in.

As for parts/service, that also gets more streamlined as you aren't likely to have the audi/ford/dodge dealerships and instead just the 1 ford manufacturer in town.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#64

Post by tonymet »

ThalesX wrote: post #47

I was involved in the building of the 911 system for my country. When doing that, we had to design it with this in mind. If the system ever fell down, the operators had standard templated papers they would fill, and once the system would be back up they would add the case data back in.

Thank you for investing in that it will definitely pay off.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#65

Post by legitster »

kube-system wrote: post #39
legitster wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is kind of a crazy model. You don't go to the Pepsi store for Pepsi and the Coke store for Coke. The exclusivity dealerships get enshrined in law is kinda nuts. Still, I think there is something to be said for independent dealerships overall for service quality. Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare. In comparison the service departments of dealerships have are much more robust.

I'm not sure that's a good comparison. There are several middlemen before you buy a Coke or Pepsi. Usually, your soft drink is manufactured from the brand's syrup by a bottling partner, which is then distributed to a retailer, who you buy it from. e.g: https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/a...

I used to work for Pepsi-Co so I am well aware of how their distribution works.

But in this case, at the point of retail it makes no difference. The store can sell as many different brands as they want. The problem is not the middlemen, it's the exclusivity arrangements that disincentivize brand competition.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#66

Post by bluSCALE4 »

gpm wrote: post #45
legitster wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is kind of a crazy model. You don't go to the Pepsi store for Pepsi and the Coke store for Coke. The exclusivity dealerships get enshrined in law is kinda nuts. Still, I think there is something to be said for independent dealerships overall for service quality. Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare. In comparison the service departments of dealerships have are much more robust.

Everyone I know IRL never gets their car serviced at the actual dealership, always going to a third party repair shop. Tesla has service issues, I'm not sure that they're related to their lack of dealerships though.

I go to the dealership. Half the time, the neighborhood guy sucks. I've almost never had luck with local guys.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#67

Post by juliangoldsmith »

n4r9 wrote: post #13

This is what happens when a single player (CDK Global) has massive market share (90% when measured by number of vehicles sold [0] --- EDIT: this is actually the combined market share of CDK + Reynolds, who have a non-compete agreement ---). The entire industry becomes fragile to product issues and/or malicious attacks. Anti-trust is important. [0] https://casetext.com/case/loop-llc-v-cdk-global-llc-in-re-de...

That 90% is for both of the two biggest DMSes, CDK and Reynolds & Reynolds. Both DMSes have been around since the '70s or so, so they're probably considered a safe option by a lot of dealers.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#68

Post by cogman10 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #58
AlexandrB wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All that land they own can be used for productive economic activity or housing. No it can't. You still need places where cars can be repaired as well as storage for parts/cars inventory. The only way you reclaim some land is if service gets worse. Edit: For example, Tesla sells direct to consumers but there's still a Tesla "showroom" in my town. In terms of footprint/appearance it's basically a dealership. So where…

A repair shop doesn't need parking for 100 unsold cars, and it doesn't need to be in a high-traffic part of town.

Yeah, the footprint of my local mechanics are peanuts compared to the gigantic parking lots gobbled up by dealerships. Parts take space, but not 5 acres of space.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#69

Post by legitster »

mattmcknight wrote: post #62
legitster wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is kind of a crazy model. You don't go to the Pepsi store for Pepsi and the Coke store for Coke. The exclusivity dealerships get enshrined in law is kinda nuts. Still, I think there is something to be said for independent dealerships overall for service quality. Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare. In comparison the service departments of dealerships have are much more robust.

> Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare They literally come to my house and fix things, it's incredibly easy for me, but I have four service locations within 30 minutes drive, so may not be the common experience.

Most other modern dealerships do this as well, when applicable. My parents had the software in their Ford Maverick updated by a mobile service team.
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