31–40 of 93 posts
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think he will, and I hope he won't. But Elon tends to be a guy who thinks very long term, and I think he knows the future for Tesla would be much better if they sold their own cars, and never depended on the dealers again. Plus, it's not like he's in a bad position with Tesla right now, and he's desperate.
If he was going to cave, he'd have caved already. There's nothing in it for Tesla now. The whole attempt to force Tesla into the existing supply chain model, at ZERO demonstrable benefit to consumers, looks bad politically. No politician will want to be seen publicly defending the dealers.
Defending "local small business owners" on the other hand...
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…
full disclosure: I work in the automotive industry. (Although not for them)
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.
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.
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.
If you want something _notable_, get me a politician standing up for principles which may be against their immediate self-interest (e.g. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo, on recent IRS shenanigans).
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…
Go to carmax. full disclosure: I work in the automotive industry. (Although not for them)
I've bought two Jeeps, two Corvettes, a Buick, a Camry Hybrid, an Infiniti G37, and my wife's Lexus CT200h from Carmax (over ~12 years). The experience has always been extremely pleasant. I hate to haggle. Hate it. Carmax is awesome if you're looking for a used car.
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.
> 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.
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?
disclaimer, I work a major auto parts supplier, etc. It will be very very interesting to see if tries to circumvent this law, which I doubt he can. If anything shuts down his expansion it may be through this route. As in, they may force them to curtail selling until they can provide the independent support.