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New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

blog.caranddriver.com

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Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#171

Post by mikeash »

brianstorms wrote: post #170
mikeash wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought maybe this had changed, since Tesla's "Find Us" map has a "Coming Soon" service center in Albuquerque. Upon further research, it looks like that's just an expression of desire and optimism on Tesla's part, and they're still not actually legally permitted to build one.

Nope. That "coming soon" is wrapped in an Elon-style reality distortion field and should be interpreted as "we intend to have one there one day." What they don't tell you is they cannot open it. And that there is NO WAY it is opening soon. How do I know? Well, I contacted the Governor of New Mexico's office, and I contacted the Global VP of Sales/Service at Tesla. That got me a call from a Tesla regional manager who…

I think I may have come across a forum post from you when looking at what was actually going on there.

Good for you for pushing against the dealers. This stuff seems to be changing at a (relatively, for political stuff) rapid pace at the moment. NJ now, looks like CT soon, VA just relented a bit and allowed a store, and it looks like things are moving in Texas. Maybe seeing other states ditch these laws will help push things in New Mexico.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#172

Post by chaostheory »

bnejad wrote: post #136
kbenson wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

The best way to buy cars is option out exactly what you want and get the invoice price. Personally I've used carsdirect. Now with invoice price in mind, send emails to all dealers in your area. Simply explain you want X car @ X price and that you are emailing many dealers and will move forward with the dealer that has the best deal. Its important that you compare cars across dealers by the difference from invoice pri…

> The best way to buy cars is option out exactly what you want and get the invoice price.

The problem is that you can't get exactly what car you want (all the options, color, etc...). Why? Because you're only limited to what dealers have in stock. You can't even wait a few months for what you. It's just not an option for most cars aside from Tesla.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#173

Post by [deleted] »

jbooth wrote: post #87
ctdonath wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm concerned that too often "potential to harm" is prioritized over with "actual harm is extremely rare, much less so than many things you're not worried about" and "sometimes harm is required to stop someone from causing more harm".

I'm pro gun rights, but if I could, I'd specifically outlaw sales of guns to anybody who's buying it based on a fantasy of taking out an active shooter.

[deleted]

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#174

Post by AtmaScout »

bnejad wrote: post #136
kbenson wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

The best way to buy cars is option out exactly what you want and get the invoice price. Personally I've used carsdirect. Now with invoice price in mind, send emails to all dealers in your area. Simply explain you want X car @ X price and that you are emailing many dealers and will move forward with the dealer that has the best deal. Its important that you compare cars across dealers by the difference from invoice pri…

As someone who is likely to need a car soon, thanks so much for posting this. I've heard others state that the trade in needs to be separate.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#175

Post by sib »

ck2 wrote: post #50

Does Tesla do free firmware upgrades for all owners, regardless if they are the second, etc. owner? Because that is another thing that will crush dealers. Gas car manufacturers will not update ECU software unless the car is either in warranty or its an actual recall.

That's not uniformly true. Mini dealers would upgrade firmware for cars out of warranty.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#176

Post by CamperBob2 »

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…

There's a lot of companies (like mine) that aren't deliberately withholding information, but instead are training and enabling reps to walk you through a process that can't be navigated with blog posts and product pages alone.

I've designed complex electronic devices via product pages (data sheets) and other online information sources, and sold them to the Federal government through GSA procurement. I'm pretty sure I can "navigate" your "process" without wasting time schmoozing your sales guys on the telephone.

If you have a competitor who doesn't make me do that, they have a strong advantage over your company, right out of the gate. Just saying.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#177

Post by imh »

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…

>People often forget that dealerships often abuse their power and take advantage of consumers.

Aren't corporations selling directly to consumers known for doing the same?

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#178

Post by rodgerd »

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…

> Somehow car dealers in the U.S. have managed to enshrine this sleazy sales model into state laws, which is certainly an amazing feat of lobbying.

It's a perversion of originally customer-friendly laws. The regulations were from an era where being able to be sure you have a local presence to service your car was very, very important.

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#179

Post by digikata »

chaostheory wrote: post #172
bnejad wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best way to buy cars is option out exactly what you want and get the invoice price. Personally I've used carsdirect. Now with invoice price in mind, send emails to all dealers in your area. Simply explain you want X car @ X price and that you are emailing many dealers and will move forward with the dealer that has the best deal. Its important that you compare cars across dealers by the difference from invoice pri…

> The best way to buy cars is option out exactly what you want and get the invoice price. The problem is that you can't get exactly what car you want (all the options, color, etc...). Why? Because you're only limited to what dealers have in stock. You can't even wait a few months for what you. It's just not an option for most cars aside from Tesla.

I've found that dealers will trade cars with other dealers to the get what is wanted, but they'll try push back on the buyer to avoid having to do that. If it's out of stock in the region - then you have a harder situation...

Re: New Jersey legalizes direct Tesla sales

#180

Post by marincounty »

AtmaScout wrote: post #174
bnejad wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best way to buy cars is option out exactly what you want and get the invoice price. Personally I've used carsdirect. Now with invoice price in mind, send emails to all dealers in your area. Simply explain you want X car @ X price and that you are emailing many dealers and will move forward with the dealer that has the best deal. Its important that you compare cars across dealers by the difference from invoice pri…

As someone who is likely to need a car soon, thanks so much for posting this. I've heard others state that the trade in needs to be separate.

Don't even bother to trade it in. Just sell it private party. I have always been shocked to see what dealerships offer for a trade-in. It's money. I have given cars to relatives, or friends rather than accept their low ball offers.
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