Toyota dealers don’t have scones lol

My only issue with the direct sales model is my faith in my ability to negotiate a better than average deal. For ease certainly direct sales are much better.

 

Ok, free coffee 🤣

I'm really not interested in negotiating over hours or days just save a few hundred dollars off MSRP. For Tesla, all you have to do is either wait for a price cut, or go through inventory, which I did and instantly saved $5000 off MSRP. You might have to drive out to a further away Tesla showroom to pick it up, but it will literally take you 20 minutes to buy it, including financing. All from your smart phone

 

It’s not a few hundred dollars. I negotiated $15,000 off of my Pacifica and $25,000 off of the S580. I’m saving myself about $1,000 a month between the two of them from what I would have been paying had I paid MSRP. $12,000 a year is worth some effort on my part.

 

And how many hours did you spend? And how long before you drove off the lot? My last two cars was 4 hours each.

Listen, I'm 57 years old, I'm lazy, and my patients for negotiations is limited. If I had to buy another minivan (it would probably be a Pacifica) I would do it, but I have no desire to unless I don't have a choice. All I can say is more power to you. I really mean that 👍

 

Nowhere near enough hours to not have saving $36,000 over the course of the leases not be worthwhile.

And in any event if you truly don’t care about saving money you can walk in and pay MSRP for any car and be out the door. In a direct sales model there’s nothing I can do. Thats my only issue, it’s a benefit my experience gives me and direct sales evens the playing field benefiting those who don’t have the skill or the interest and hurting those that do. Like anything else like that.

 

That's your interpretation. I've bought so many cars over 30 years, and I'm never going back to the old way of doing it, even if I have to pay more, because my time is money. And now that I found out no free scones at the Toyota dealership, they are on my blacklist

 

I think eventually over time, Tesla will become more like a traditional car manufacturer. Complete with a franchise dealer network and a franchise network of retail/charging locations. The sales growth has stopped and are there is a decline. I also think there is a limit on how people will buy direct, IMO Tesla has to evolve. I also think franchises offer more competitive competition and are good for the communities they serve. I am not saying the direct method is bad or not enjoyable, I just think there is a limit to how many people want to buy that way. I wonder if Tesla ever gets to 3.5M cars per year, what would a franchise cost to build out? Let’s say $100M and there were 1000 dealers? And what would a network of Tesla retail/charging franchises be worth? Similar to gas stations. The franchise method does work and it’s tried and true.

 

I totally get it, I'm just explaining why I am leery of a direct sale model. My time is money for sure, I run two businesses and am an executive for another company, so I have 3 jobs and a young family... but I spent maybe 10-12 hours total negotiating both of those car deals. Not including time shopping and test driving etc, actually sitting down and going back and forth and really hammering out deals. $36,000 saved over 3 years means thats $3,000-$3,600 an hour. $3,000 an hour is worth my time.

Plus like I said, you can always walk in and pay MSRP. You'll be out the door in no time.

 

You mean like Toyota sales being down 20 percent with all those dealerships? Lol 🤣 Tesla is down 12 percent and it's in deep trouble, right? 👍

 

I get it. That works out for you. I'm not against dealership sales, BTW

 

See this is part of the issue...you take things way too far. Jill has not said Tesla is in "deep trouble"...she's just expressing a viewpoint.

 

I'm having some fun here, and there you are ruining it.....

 

What do y'all think about Tesla partnering some of their sales thru dealers?

If so, what dealers would be a good fit?

I don't think Toyota would be attractive because they are too much direct competitor but I don't know.

Mercedes?
Just ideas.

 

I don't think they should be sold through any dealership unless they traded in to the dealership. Selling through a dealership means markups, as the dealership would need to make money

 

Yeah that's true
I keep forgetting they need to make a cut.
A big cut. Lol