You should have allowed him to give it a go and then laugh when he gets confused looking for the tailpipe. I had a diesel mb that some jerk insisted on doing an emissions test on, I got a good laugh when the numbers come up crazy and I pointed out the diesel badge to him.
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Car sales people sure love to hate Tesla
- Thread starter ReturnZero
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- Model S
Pezpunk
Active Member
Car salesmen will say whatever they have to in order to close the deal, and that includes talking s--t on other car companies. It's nothing personal against Tesla.
When my wife was buying a minivan in 2008, the Toyota salesman said matter of factly: "Chrysler and GM won't even be in business next year, you'd be crazy to buy from them."
In 2005, the Acura dealer laughed in my face when I told him i was considering a 300C SRT8. he said "here, try this TL. It's got the power you're looking for" sorry, no, 250hp is not 425hp.
I've also had tons of salesmen ignore me or condescendingly steer me away from expensive cars because i was young and didn't dress "rich", although that's less of a problem nowadays with all the Zuckerbergs running around. Salesmen have caught on that in this area anyway, there's a decent chance that the kid in jeans and ratty t-shirt might not be wasting their time.
But the point is, playing off of and amplifying whatever fears or risks or rumors are associated with other manufacturers will ALWAYS be part of a salesman's job.
heck, i only tend to believe half of what they tell me about their own product. their batting average on info about competitors' products is probably more like 10%.
When my wife was buying a minivan in 2008, the Toyota salesman said matter of factly: "Chrysler and GM won't even be in business next year, you'd be crazy to buy from them."
In 2005, the Acura dealer laughed in my face when I told him i was considering a 300C SRT8. he said "here, try this TL. It's got the power you're looking for" sorry, no, 250hp is not 425hp.
I've also had tons of salesmen ignore me or condescendingly steer me away from expensive cars because i was young and didn't dress "rich", although that's less of a problem nowadays with all the Zuckerbergs running around. Salesmen have caught on that in this area anyway, there's a decent chance that the kid in jeans and ratty t-shirt might not be wasting their time.
But the point is, playing off of and amplifying whatever fears or risks or rumors are associated with other manufacturers will ALWAYS be part of a salesman's job.
heck, i only tend to believe half of what they tell me about their own product. their batting average on info about competitors' products is probably more like 10%.
Krugerrand
Meow
AMPd
Well-Known Member
He's probably making way more money at BMW.If I'm the BMW sales guy, I might consider applying for a job at Tesla. Problem solved.
consider letting her drive and live with the Tesla for a while before closing on the Mercedes and see if she doesn't change her mind
Saimaannorppa
Member
I guess Tesla sales guys don't need to / or are perhaps instructed not to talk trash about competiton. I spent half a day discussing a deal on the MS with two of local SC sales reps (I guess it was a slow morning), talking about cars in an open and honest way. I mentioned I never imagined buying an american car, they had a big grin but said nothing about other brands.
The fact that pricing related dealing and wheeling is out of the reps hands means a more trustful experience for buyer as well. I will not miss haggling the last 100 euros, with somebody with forked tongue, never sure if I got the best deal available.
The fact that pricing related dealing and wheeling is out of the reps hands means a more trustful experience for buyer as well. I will not miss haggling the last 100 euros, with somebody with forked tongue, never sure if I got the best deal available.
JPoldo
Member
Actually, I'd be encouraging her to drive it.
Curious about this part:
Um, gear shift? Do they mean the steering wheel lever to select R/N/D/P? Does Mercedes make electronic steering wheel gear levers?
Yes, the Mercedes sales guy called it a gear shift, the selector for R/N/D/P. I think Tesla calls it a gear selector but doubt the mechanics have a transmission. For reverse, I assume they simply reverse voltage polarity for the DC motor. There must be a voltage limit too so there's no way to propel the vehicle 40 mph in reverse. The new Mecedes window switches look different from Tesla but that may be the plastic lever only.
When a salesman negative sells his competition, you never know what to believe. It's an act of desperation.
Tesla doesn't use DC traction motors.
Tesla does reverse the car by generating negative torque in the motor system without switching anything mechanically, so you have the right idea in general but the car actually fabricates its own AC sine waves to drive the induction motors, specific to the current motor speed and desired torque level (and to each motor in dual drive cars.) The limitations for maximum speed in reverse are part of the same inverter firmware that's making the sine wave decisions.
JPoldo
Member
Yes, I may not get it back when she feels the acceleration. My wife always drives significantly over the speed limit. At her 23rd speeding ticket, the jolly officer asked to view her foot for size and weight. It's embarrassing to attend remedial drivers education class and see young classmates of your daughter.
JPoldo
Member
Tesla doesn't use DC traction motors.
Tesla does reverse the car by generating negative torque in the motor system without switching anything mechanically, so you have the right idea in general but the car actually fabricates its own AC sine waves to drive the induction motors, specific to the current motor speed and desired torque level (and to each motor in dual drive cars.) The limitations for maximum speed in reverse are part of the same inverter firmware that's making the sine wave decisions.
Thank you very much for the correction. As an electrical engineer, this newbie appreciation your education. It's my first Tesla weekend.
Tesla doesn't use DC traction motors.
Tesla does reverse the car by generating negative torque in the motor system without switching anything mechanically, so you have the right idea in general but the car actually fabricates its own AC sine waves to drive the induction motors, specific to the current motor speed and desired torque level (and to each motor in dual drive cars.) The limitations for maximum speed in reverse are part of the same inverter firmware that's making the sine wave decisions.
If I need a reminder why I hang out in this forum - here is one great reason.
whitex
Well-Known Member
They call it something else, but other cars, including MB have similar features to what Tesla does today. There is an Audi that is coming out now that does even more.
Yes and no. There are several cars that will attempt to stay in the lane, but so far no one has either the confidence or the performance of AP. The longest I've read of a car going between prompts is 30 seconds - vs up to 3 minutes on the Tesla.
Audi's new system is supposed to take all responsibility - up to 37 mph on freeways only, anyway. I don't think it functions at all above that?
Cadillac's Supercruise has potential. It's only a 15 second system - but that's between times you look at the road, not times you move the wheel, so that seems more reasonable. Of course, it only works on roads that they scanned for you, and it gives the driver almost no feedback as to what the system sees.
A lot of cars have far more sensors, but so far there's no production system that's close to AP in any review that I've read - they don't tell the driver what's going on, and they aren't confident handling the car for long. Kinda surprising after almost two years, but sometimes the industry moves slowly I guess.
Reminds me of BMW's, from Björn Nyland's review - you had to hack the system to get it to let you drive at normal freeway speeds with it on.
Sounds sort of like Hyundai's (also from my watching of Björn's videos
)"Production" is key. Some of the LIDAR systems like Waymo's have really impressive self-driving stats.... but they require an expensive, awkward LIDAR dome on the vehicle.
thegruf
Active Member
so essentailly pointless then.
At <37mph you are basically stuck in traffic, Tesla system is perfectly capable in such a scenario.
