New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales • Hacker News Board

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#121

Post by damon_c » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:29 PM UTC

randomdata wrote: post #73

damon_c wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm concerned that your machine guns have the potential to harm others. The rest though, by all means...

Maybe we could create a law that makes harming others with machine guns illegal...

So obvious right?

Well, we already have laws that make the possession of heroin illegal. They are broken all the time. With regards to the original point about silly laws that prevent us from spending our money and free time in ways that don't harm others, if person A is walking down the street and person B illegally uses heroin on the same street, person A is not likely to be harmed. You can't really say the same about person B and his/her machine gun.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#122

Post by devicenull » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:29 PM UTC

hvidgaard wrote: post #33

edvinbesic wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The ban was created after Tesla started selling, and now it only lifted the ban for zero emission vehicles as far as I can tell (didn't read the whole bill). If Ford or GM wanted to sell direct, they couldn't." Which is a damn shame. When shopping for a car every manufacturer currently has a 'build your own' tool online where you can build you car to spec and you get a rough estimate. However, in my experience, this…

It's a double edged sword. The manufacturer will be happy if he sell a car. The dealer needs to first buy the car from the manufacturer and then sell it for a profit. Thus the manufacturer have a competetive advantage, that they could use to remove all competition, and then charge whatever the fuck they want. I just don't think this blanket ban is the way forward, but rather some regulation/comparison about what a st…

> It's a double edged sword. The manufacturer will be happy if he sell a car. The dealer needs to first buy the car from the manufacturer and then sell it for a profit. Thus the manufacturer have a competetive advantage, that they could use to remove all competition, and then charge whatever the fuck they want.

I don't think that's it... having dealerships does nothing to stop the manufacturer from changing prices to whatever they want.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#123

Post by ctb_mg » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:31 PM UTC

naskwo wrote: post #79

Suggestion: go to Amsterdam Schiphol. Take a Tesla Model S to the city. Then make up your mind about the "Apple of cars". The consensus in NL is that you're better off with a Porsche Panamera than a Tesla, most likely with a less painful (although still painful) amortisation. Certainly, if you're taller than 180cm, drive before you buy into the hype.

A Porsche Panamera vs Tesla comparison is a poor one at best, knowing both the public perception of these brands and the products they have produced.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#124

Post by rconti » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:34 PM UTC

naskwo wrote: post #79

Suggestion: go to Amsterdam Schiphol. Take a Tesla Model S to the city. Then make up your mind about the "Apple of cars". The consensus in NL is that you're better off with a Porsche Panamera than a Tesla, most likely with a less painful (although still painful) amortisation. Certainly, if you're taller than 180cm, drive before you buy into the hype.

1. What? Why the airport? Why drive that particular route? What is it about being in Amsterdam proper that makes the car worse than it was at the airport or on the motorway? What does this have to do with Apple? What's the comparison being made?

2. Ok? Why?

3. I am, in fact, 182cm, and was just in a Model S yesterday. I had tons of headroom. I've driven them with a helmet on and had no issue.

Though I will note, on the ride home yesterday, I sat in the back seat. When I rested my head on the headrest (which I almost never do in a car), I noticed my head brushed the sloping roofline, which is a common problem in sloped roof designs like the CLS and Panamera and A7. In fact, because I have a long torso, I find that my head often scrapes the roof in the driver's seat of (taller) friend's cars, until I adjust the seat downwards.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#125

Post by Tenhundfeld » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:35 PM UTC

ctdonath wrote: post #88

GFK_of_xmaspast wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the ban on self-service fueling is a great idea and I wish more states (beyond Oregon) would do it.

I'm baffled that anyone would think that's a great idea. Compelling drivers to pay someone to do something that nearly all drivers have no problem doing themselves seems absurd. Please explain your reasoning.

I wonder if GP is trolling. Having spent time in NJ visiting family, I've researched this issue a bit and have never found any logic to support the ban on self-service pumps – beyond corruption, politics, etc.

The one interesting thing I did find is that many disabled motorists have a very hard time using self-service pumps – while still being able to drive safely with vehicle modifications. The Americans with Disabilities Act even has a requirement that gas stations provide refueling assistance, with some exceptions. (http://www.ada.gov/gasserve.htm)

That still doesn't mean self-service should be banned. At most, it's argument for requiring gas stations to have >=1 full-service pump.

The other funny thing is that many NJ natives seem to really like using full-service pumps and want to keep the ban. And because they have low gas taxes and import so much fuel, NJ still has some of the cheapest gas in the country. So, there's not much political will to change it – despite the inanity.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#126

Post by habitmelon » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:37 PM UTC

I'm surprised 4 hours have gone by and no one has made a joke about Teslas on a bridge.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#127

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:39 PM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #67

bko wrote: post #18

This is great news. People often forget that dealerships often abuse their power and take advantage of consumers. This is especially true since purchasing a car is a large purchase with information asymmetry (although new resources have made this less true). It's especially appalling how dealerships often discriminate on race and gender [0] I am disappointed that this move only applies to zero-emission vehicles but h…

>This is great news. It is! > People often forget that dealerships often abuse their power and take advantage of consumers. I doubt many people forget that. Car salesmen have some of the worst reputations of any profession in the US. Purchasing a car can be nerve-wracking. The research I felt compelled to do beforehand felt like I was preparing myself for battle, because I knew the incentives were diametrically oppos…

[deleted]

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#128

Post by josh2600 » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:41 PM UTC

benmw333 wrote: post #53

Why only (4) stores? Why only "zero-emissions" vehicles? There should be zero limitations on direct to consumer sales for any manufacturer of any product.

>Why only 'zero-emissions" vehicles?

What incentive does Elon Musk have to lobby for other companies? If he's doing the lobbying work, why wouldn't he structure the regulations to favor his organization?

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#129

Post by mtgentry » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

twoodfin wrote: post #38

themartorana wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla didn't do anything really. Christie has national ambitions and knows that keeping Tesla out of the NJ market and bending over to support the current NJ regime won't play well on the national stage. His story was different when Tesla was first banned. But then he wasn't running for national office.

His story was different when Tesla was first banned. But then he wasn't running for national office. That was 11 months ago. I'm pretty sure Chris Christie's political ambitions haven't radically altered in the meantime. The original "ban" was a perfectly reasonable reading by a regulatory body of the existing law. Regulatory bodies shouldn't be in the business of rewriting unpopular laws; that's the legislature's jo…

I'd be willing to bet they discovered during polling just how much people love Tesla and their hand was forced.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#130

Post by pavlov » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 5:56 PM UTC

trjordan wrote: post #112

pavlov wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It's like visiting the websites of two competing software vendors. One has a plain-as-day pricing table with a $100 / month plan and a big blue "Buy now" button. The other company's Pricing page just reads: "Call us for a quote". Given the choice, who would ever go with the company that makes you talk to an enterprise salesman? Somehow car dealers in the U.S. have managed to enshrine this sleazy sales model into…

Pro-tip: if you're calling them, they don't have a $100 / month plan to sell you. There aren't many companies that sell most of their business at $5,000 / month through the website. And for those that do, talking to a sales rep gets you a discount just for picking up the phone. Also, having moved from programming to sales/marketing, I'm a bit more sympathetic towards the "call me" model of selling. There's a lot of c…

I imagine the car salesmen also think of buying a car as a "process that can't be navigated with blog posts and product pages alone". Probably your business has a more valid claim to that.