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Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

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Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#41

Post by btilly »

lysol wrote: post #32
tzaman wrote: post #26

True story (mine): I knew a car dealer that made it very clear to me that if I buy the new car from him (and leave the old one there for a lower price) he'll give me significant discount. I said to myself "can't hurt to try" and went this route. The next day after owning the car (which I still own) the new owner of my old car called to ask what's the realistic condition. Turns out the dealer sold him the car for abou…

This is normal. The dealer makes very little from a new car. They have to recoup that from trade-ins and selling used cars, which have a higher margin. New cars don't offer a lot of wiggle room because the invoice price for them is set, and they already sell them for little profit.

The dealer makes more than that from the new car. In addition to the invoice price (which is significantly higher than the dealer price) they also make money from add-ons, extended warranties, and the loan terms.

This doesn't stop them from making top dollar on everything else that they can though.

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#42

Post by pc86 »

lysol wrote: post #32
tzaman wrote: post #26

True story (mine): I knew a car dealer that made it very clear to me that if I buy the new car from him (and leave the old one there for a lower price) he'll give me significant discount. I said to myself "can't hurt to try" and went this route. The next day after owning the car (which I still own) the new owner of my old car called to ask what's the realistic condition. Turns out the dealer sold him the car for abou…

This is normal. The dealer makes very little from a new car. They have to recoup that from trade-ins and selling used cars, which have a higher margin. New cars don't offer a lot of wiggle room because the invoice price for them is set, and they already sell them for little profit.

And the invoice price is always more than they pay for the vehicle anyway. It's not uncommon to see new vehicles advertised at several hundred below invoice (most I've seen is -$300 or so).

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#43

Post by w1ntermute »

jwr wrote: post #20

Today I found out that USA (arguably the most libertarian country on earth, as far as business is concerned) has strict laws governing the sale of vehicles, said laws actually preventing companies from selling vehicles. I find that quite amazing.

> arguably the most libertarian country on earth, as far as business is concerned

Ahahaha, I hope you're joking. The US isn't even close to being libertarian. The American economic system isn't based on capitalism, it's based on corporatism and regulatory capture.

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#44

Post by travisp »

jwr wrote: post #20

Today I found out that USA (arguably the most libertarian country on earth, as far as business is concerned) has strict laws governing the sale of vehicles, said laws actually preventing companies from selling vehicles. I find that quite amazing.

Under most rankings of economic freedom, the United States barely manages to be in the top 10. The Heritage Foundation places Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Chile, Mauritius, and Ireland all above the United States on their Index of Economic Freedom.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Economic_Freedom

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#46

Post by jmaygarden »

freehunter wrote: post #22
tomrod wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only 3? I figured Radioshack/Bestbuy belong in this category in the long run. Would be interesting discussion on what industries denizens of HN think will fall in this manner.

Radio Shack made themselves obsolete. I don't think Best Buy is obsolete, but merely needs a restructuring. Radio Shack used to be great when you were working on a project and just needed one more part; a capacitor, a motor/servo, a PIC, etc. I don't need another phone reseller, I don't need useless RC cars, I don't need odd TV remotes. I need an electronics store that sells electronic parts. Best Buy is great for re…

The number of people that would buy a capacitor, motor/servo or PIC is not what it used to be. Electronics don't ship with schematics anymore or have nice big through-hole components that are easy for a layman to replace. I miss the old Radio Shack too, but we are in a tiny minority.

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#47

Post by ImprovedSilence »

jwr wrote: post #20

Today I found out that USA (arguably the most libertarian country on earth, as far as business is concerned) has strict laws governing the sale of vehicles, said laws actually preventing companies from selling vehicles. I find that quite amazing.

I know right? I have a couple college friends working for GM. They get some awesome employee discount, and can flip it and buy a new car every 6mo or year or so. But they still have to go through dealers to buy their car. It's crazy. They can see their car in the GM lot, as it's being built, but they have to wait until it's shipped to a dealer, pay through a dealer, pick out their options through a dealer and submit a build sheet through a dealer, and still wade though dealers trying to up sell them on crap sitting on the dealer lots, just to "buy" their car.

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#48

Post by Terretta »

praptak wrote: post #35
cs702 wrote: post #3

Anyone who's ever bought a car knows firsthand how unpleasant it is to deal with traditional car dealers. The price of every vehicle is fully negotiable but the negotiating room is opaque.[1] Key car features and options are bundled in arbitrary packages and priced in ways that make pricing even more opaque. Car salesmen (they're typically men) almost always have a fake smile on their face and come across as smooth-t…

> The price of every vehicle is fully negotiable but the negotiating room is opaque. Key car features and options are bundled in arbitrary packages and priced in ways that make pricing even more opaque. This is my ongoing remark on this topic: walking into a particular dealership is a mistake. You're making it hard for yourself to use your only negotiation asset - the option to go elsewhere. Figure out the features y…

> Figure out the features you need and contact multiple dealerships for a quote.

Sites like http://www.autobytel.com/ can help simplify this process.

See also: AutoNation’s AutoUSA, Microsoft Corporation’s MSN Autos, CarsDirect.com, Cars.com, eBayMotors.com, Dealix.com, and AutoTrader.com.

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#49

Post by randomdata »

cs702 wrote: post #3

Anyone who's ever bought a car knows firsthand how unpleasant it is to deal with traditional car dealers. The price of every vehicle is fully negotiable but the negotiating room is opaque.[1] Key car features and options are bundled in arbitrary packages and priced in ways that make pricing even more opaque. Car salesmen (they're typically men) almost always have a fake smile on their face and come across as smooth-t…

I kind of enjoyed buying my last vehicle. For some reason, the salesman had it in his mind that I could not afford the one I was looking at. I was the one trying to talk him into adding options, while he was trying to take them away to keep the costs lower. Once I finally talked him into the one I wanted, he, without asking, starts filling out the loan application. I'm like "umm, I'm going to be paying for it in cash."

Before I even left home I had already determined what I considered a fair market exchange for the trade with my existing vehicle. I think in the end, they actually ended up doing a little bit better than I had expected.

Re: Auto Dealers Whine That Tesla Stores Are Illegal

#50

Post by jrockway »

talmand wrote: post #34
jbigelow76 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why can't cars be sold just like any other product? Because then they run the risk of getting Amazon'd or Wal-Mart'd.

Why is that a risk? What's wrong with ordering a car from Amazon? Or do you mean it's a risk from the dealers' perspective? Because I get that and personally don't care.

Because I get that and personally don't care.

But you donate less money to political candidates than the auto dealers do, and so here we are.

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