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Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

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Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#31
Tesla said it best: "Tesla will sell its cars the way it wants. If some states don't allow that, then Tesla will simply sell them elsewhere."

When a piece of a neural network becomes corrupt and entrenched beyond repair, (cancerous) the tumor or cancer fights to protect itself, there are two solutions to these kinds of problems.

1. One solution is what Musk is doing, treat the dealerships as a cancerous growth in the mind, and pathways are built to bypass it, route around it. Don't fight it, don't fix it, don't interact with it. Establish as many barriers to its growth as possible and starve it so it doesn't grow. Eventually the superior paths created by Musk are the preferred ones to use, and the defective paths are garbage collected. The cancer will seeks to prevent the growth of new pathways because it does not want to be garbage collected.

2. Remove the growth. When the surgeon finds a tumor or cancer in your brain, it doesn't try to coax it to become better or try to "enhance it" to be better. A hole is cut in the head, and lasers and scalpels are used to physically remove the cancer.

These are the only two options to deal with cancerous growths working only to maintain its take on the system.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#32
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would they have been collecting and paying sales tax?

I think you pay the sales tax when you register the car, just like you would during a private sale. The only difference is that when you buy a car from a dealer, they probably help fill out that paperwork. I could be wrong, I've never bought a new car & my current vehicles were both gifts from a family member which only carried a flat $10 tax. Texas auto sales tax info: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/mtr_veh/m…

In some states, Illinois for example, the dealership can register the car on your behalf and collect tax at the time of the sale. When you leave the dealership, you already have your permanent license plate along with the registration sticker and get to skip the DMV altogether.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#34
post #3

There's already a Tesla store in Houston. How did they open that store, and will they be able to keep it open? I've seen a couple Teslas driving around Dallas, and am hoping to see more.

They can show the demo car and the skateboard model (i.e. wheels and battery pack) they have in the store, and they can answer technical questions about the car, but they are not allowed to discuss prices with anyone nor are they allowed to facilitate the purchase. There are further frustrating restrictions in Texas around the service of vehicles. The Tesla service center cannot directly handle a request for service.…

However it is important for them to make a point why they are not allowed to do that.

Tesla buyers are not average Joes, they are people with money. People with money have connections, often political. Annoy just a few rich people and it is like magic, the legal and lobbying wheels start spinning.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#35
post #5

All too often, the media as well as average people mistake support for corporate interests as support for "free enterprise." When large corporate interests are essentially writing bills for lawmakers, "free enterprise" is precisely what is not being practiced.

Other car manufacturers can't sell directly. Why should Tesla get special rules?

It's mentioned in the article that joining the dealership network is relatively more difficult for a startup like Tesla than the other big manufacturers.

Also I don't see why being able to sell directly to consumers should be count as a "special rule". On the contrary, being forced to find a dealer in the "network" to work between you and your consumer is.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#36
post #5

All too often, the media as well as average people mistake support for corporate interests as support for "free enterprise." When large corporate interests are essentially writing bills for lawmakers, "free enterprise" is precisely what is not being practiced.

Other car manufacturers can't sell directly. Why should Tesla get special rules?

The law was put in place to protect dealers who invested their own money in their infrastructure from predatory manufacturer practices.

Tesla has no existing dealer network, and therefore has no need to have said non-existed dealer network protected from them.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other car manufacturers can't sell directly. Why should Tesla get special rules?

Tesla shouldn't get special rules. Instead, no car maker should be compelled to use dealerships.

I'm responding directly to his "large corporate interests" talking point, when those large corporate interests are barred from selling directly.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#38
post #9

I wonder, do they allow Louis CK to sell his own tickets? :-)

What does Tesla have to do with Louis CK?

I believe they were drawing a parallel to parasitic middle-men in other industries, like Ticketmaster in live entertainment.

Re: Texas won't allow Tesla to sell electric cars directly

#40
post #9

I wonder, do they allow Louis CK to sell his own tickets? :-)

What does Tesla have to do with Louis CK?

I think he's pointing out that Louis CK also sells his product directly to his customers instead of going through a middleman like Ticketmaster/Dealership.
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