Tesla's fight with America's car dealers • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#11

Post by jukaks » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:07 PM UTC

axus wrote: post #6

The article brought up the point that Tesla owns all of the service centers. I don't care if Tesla owns all the dealers, but having a monopoly on Tesla repair would be bad for consumers. If the process for becoming a "Tesla mechanic" allowed competition with the Tesla service centers, that would be OK.

yeah, i agree with that 100%. more than buying a car from a dealership, i hate getting my car serviced at one. the other complaints are just the dealers bitching because they know their unfair, shady practices are soon coming to an end.

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#12

Post by cobrausn » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:08 PM UTC

jonknee wrote: post #4

taeric wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand the apparent surprise here. Firstly, there is a reason why, when driving through small towns, the names you see on the car dealerships are among the richest (if not the richest) around. Further, it is far from shocking that they have leveraged the power they have to entrench themselves. What is so special about Texas that you would think they would be unique?

Texas likes to boast about smaller government and more personal freedom. Except with cars apparently. If the tea party were a state it would be Texas and Austin would be forced out.

Austin is not near as special and 'weird' as it thinks it is. I say this living in the largest city in the U.S. with a gay mayor, also located in Texas.

You know nothing jon knee.

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#13

Post by Daniel_Newby » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:09 PM UTC

jonknee wrote: post #4

taeric wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand the apparent surprise here. Firstly, there is a reason why, when driving through small towns, the names you see on the car dealerships are among the richest (if not the richest) around. Further, it is far from shocking that they have leveraged the power they have to entrench themselves. What is so special about Texas that you would think they would be unique?

Texas likes to boast about smaller government and more personal freedom. Except with cars apparently. If the tea party were a state it would be Texas and Austin would be forced out.

> If the tea party were a state it would be Texas ...

You appear to have internalized the meme that Tea Party is a synonym for Country Club Republican. This is probably not accurate.

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#14

Post by beachstartup » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:14 PM UTC

there's a reason they call them stealerships.

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#15

Post by [deleted] » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:16 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #7

auctiontheory wrote: post #2

I love how Texas, of all places, puts up the most regulatory hurdles against a new technology and business model.

I grew up in Idaho. People there will talk about how important limited government is... until you mention farm subsidies. Suddenly they'll speak convincingly about the benefits of centralized markets, price controls and protectionist trade policies with no sense of irony.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#16

Post by gnoway » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:17 PM UTC

maeon3 wrote: post #9

Will Elon Musk fold under the pressure and cooperate with the dealer network when they offer to sell at low to no markup to bring him into the extortion racket of Car Dealers? I loathe buying cars so much because of the snakes that run those Dealerships. They want the car buying process to be so excruciatingly painful so people will leave money on the table to "Just take my money and make the pain go away". How far a…

I don't see how this will stand up if Tesla chooses to fight it. I don't think the laws were intended to guarantee the extension of the dealership model to entirely new manufacturers. The laws were intended to protect dealers from having the manufacturer come in and undercut them after they were established in the market.

On the other hand, I think the dealership model exists for a reason. There's a racket aspect to it, but would a Ford or GM really want to manage customer sales and showrooms all over the US?

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#17

Post by sdfaf » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:18 PM UTC

warfangle wrote: post #8

jlgreco wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am guessing because Texas is infamously a red state, and Republicans are perceived as claiming to be against government regulation.

Probably. Family was surprised that the anti-Tesla legislation in NC was spearheaded by some R's. Hasn't stopped 'em from voting red, though.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#18

Post by msluyter » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:18 PM UTC

maeon3 wrote: post #9

Will Elon Musk fold under the pressure and cooperate with the dealer network when they offer to sell at low to no markup to bring him into the extortion racket of Car Dealers? I loathe buying cars so much because of the snakes that run those Dealerships. They want the car buying process to be so excruciatingly painful so people will leave money on the table to "Just take my money and make the pain go away". How far a…

They want the car buying process to be so excruciatingly painful so people will leave money on the table to "Just take my money and make the pain go away".

Well, this is why I bought my last car used from Carmax. Sure, you probably spend more than you you might spend if you were willing to go to a dealer and haggle, but I found it to be worth the premium.

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#19

Post by atourgates » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:19 PM UTC

axus wrote: post #6

The article brought up the point that Tesla owns all of the service centers. I don't care if Tesla owns all the dealers, but having a monopoly on Tesla repair would be bad for consumers. If the process for becoming a "Tesla mechanic" allowed competition with the Tesla service centers, that would be OK.

Do the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which basically say you can get your car serviced anywhere you want without voiding your manufacturers' warranty, not apply to Teslas?

Re: Tesla's fight with America's car dealers

#20

Post by theevocater » Mon, May 20, 2013, 9:20 PM UTC

cobrausn wrote: post #12

jonknee wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Texas likes to boast about smaller government and more personal freedom. Except with cars apparently. If the tea party were a state it would be Texas and Austin would be forced out.

Austin is not near as special and 'weird' as it thinks it is. I say this living in the largest city in the U.S. with a gay mayor, also located in Texas. You know nothing jon knee.

Yeah Houston (I'm assuming you are talking about Houston) is a really progressive place. I do love Austin (its a young city and I'm a young person) but its not some shining light in the center of Texas. It's really not that different than any other big city in Texas.