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Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

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Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#51

Post by rrr_oh_man »

itsoktocry wrote: post #43
kevingadd wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting, because in theory the requirement for independent dealerships could promote competition - they can compete to offer the lowest markup over MSRP, offer different addons, or offer better service. Just like going to a specialist shop for computer parts or audio gear or whatnot. But instead we ended up with a system where car dealerships basically own local lawmakers and got laws passed that not only pr…

> But instead we ended up with a system where car dealerships basically own local lawmakers and got laws passed that not only prevent the manufacturer from competing with them, but make it really hard for people to start new dealerships to compete with them. There are practical reasons for this. People buy expensive items and expect to be able to get those items maintained and serviced. If the business was cutthroat,…

> you can shop quotes around

And use them openly against each other to get a better subsequent quote.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#52

Post by shagie »

One of the reports of this I heard was on Marketplace the other day... and the part that made me chuckle was on cursive.

Pen and paper, but please no cursive: Widespread cyberattack sends car dealers back to 20th century - https://www.marketplace.org/2024/06/21/cdk-global-hack-softw...

> Car dealers are a pretty big part of this economy, doing some $1.2 trillion in sales last year, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. In the wake of the CDK hack, there’s a new policy among the salespeople and mechanics at the Willis Automotive dealership in Des Moines, Iowa: no cursive.

> “We have a lot of staff members that are younger than 30 that I’m not sure have seen cursive in their life. So we try not to go the cursive route just to make sure everybody understands what’s going on,” said Jason Willis, CEO of the dealership.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#53

Post by senthil_rajasek »

vunderba wrote: post #41
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

That's a hell of a purchase to make effectively "sight unseen" without the ability to test drive the vehicle first which you would do at a dealership. The last vehicle I purchased was certified preowned and I went through several models before landing on one - much of my decision was based on how the vehicle handled to me.

We buy so many things "sight unseen" because of the quality and reliability.

As an average car consumer, I have done many test drives and gotten nothing out of it except the car salesman looking like he did something.

I will buy a reliable car sight unseen like I bought my big screen t.v.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#54

Post by simonw »

DowagerDave wrote: post #37
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

I'm not sure why you hate car dealerships so much, doesn't your opinion apply to any distributor between the manufacturer and the end consumer? This is a the same narrative that people said about bicycle retailers as well, but there are significant problems with the DTC model, notably service and support. And if you look where dealerships are located nobody wants to build housing in a big strip beside the freeway.

Dealerships are a special case. From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_dealership

> They have considerable political influence and have lobbied for regulations that guarantee their survival and profitability. By 2010, all US states had laws that prohibited manufacturers from side-stepping independent car dealerships and selling cars directly to consumers. By 2009, most states imposed restrictions on the creation of new dealerships to compete with incumbent dealerships.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#55

Post by kube-system »

xnx wrote: post #38
jameshart wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this a related note? Is the regulatory framework around car retail a contributing factor to their vulnerability to ransomware? This feels like a reflexive response to the mention of the word ‘car dealerships’, not something that will lead to a discussion of the substance of this article.

I suppose dealerships couldn't get hacked if they didn't exist.

The activity of dealing cars will still exist even if someone else (e.g. the manufacturer) is doing the dealing.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#56

Post by ClumsyPilot »

legitster wrote: post #32
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

It is kind of a crazy model. You don't go to the Pepsi store for Pepsi and the Coke store for Coke. The exclusivity dealerships get enshrined in law is kinda nuts. Still, I think there is something to be said for independent dealerships overall for service quality. Trying to get a Tesla serviced is still something of a nightmare. In comparison the service departments of dealerships have are much more robust.

> The exclusivity dealerships get enshrined in law is kinda nuts.

It’s wired that the country of free market has all these protectionist laws that do not exist in many ex-soviet evonomies

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#57

Post by ripjaygn »

vunderba wrote: post #41
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

That's a hell of a purchase to make effectively "sight unseen" without the ability to test drive the vehicle first which you would do at a dealership. The last vehicle I purchased was certified preowned and I went through several models before landing on one - much of my decision was based on how the vehicle handled to me.

There are Tesla showrooms where you can do test drives.

The key difference that the place is owned by the car company instead of rich middlemen that engage in regulatory capture, add markups that don't go the manufacturer and degrade the experience.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#58

Post by SoftTalker »

AlexandrB wrote: post #36
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

> All that land they own can be used for productive economic activity or housing. No it can't. You still need places where cars can be repaired as well as storage for parts/cars inventory. The only way you reclaim some land is if service gets worse. Edit: For example, Tesla sells direct to consumers but there's still a Tesla "showroom" in my town. In terms of footprint/appearance it's basically a dealership. So where…

A repair shop doesn't need parking for 100 unsold cars, and it doesn't need to be in a high-traffic part of town.

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#59

Post by [deleted] »

SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

[deleted]

Re: Car dealerships revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

#60

Post by sureIy »

metalliqaz wrote: post #24
SSJPython wrote: post #15

Related note: car stealerships are a relic of the past. There is no reason why a middleman should exist when buying a car. Consumers should have the option to purchase directly from the manufacturer. I am personally not a fan of Tesla as a vehicle, but I admire the business model of buying directly from Tesla. Stealerships are a drain on the consumer. All that land they own can be used for productive economic activit…

I think you go too far. I too have a deep dislike for dealerships, but they are not useless. Specifically, it's a place you can go to test drive cars and they have OEM-certified garages for warranty repairs. Can't test drive when you buy online. I think the main problem with dealerships is the government granted monopoly. If a dealership is in a region, most states prevent any other dealership from setting up shop in…

To be fair, how many copies of one car do you need? Once you got 15 models on display you should be good to go for testing purposes. You don’t need a parking lot with a hundred cars.
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