Direct-to-consumer sales banned in Louisiana

[Vamken]

The LA governor signed SB107, banning direct-to-consumer motor vehicle sales.
Bill Info - SB107

Guess I’ll have to cancel my Model 3 reservation.

Just kidding. Anyone know how a Louisiana resident will go about taking delivery under the new law?

 

[FlyF4]

sounds like some ICE money went in his backpocket

 

[Saghost]

It really depends on how the bill is worded. I think sometimes people take delivery in another state. Some states it seems like Tesla can deliver it to your door or a nearby parking lot even though they can't have stores or even galleries.

 

[Saghost]

sounds like some ICE money went in his backpocket

More likely to be NADA money I suspect, but in this case it's effectively the same. Dealers have often had a big say in politics over the years.

 

[ZAKEEUS]

The governor actually said he signed it after being urged by the dealerships. Then some BS about Louisiana wanting Tesla to come here and partner with a dealership. I hope Tesla never does that, my wife will just be picking up her X in Houston just like I did with my S

 

[andrewket]

The way around it is you pay for the car prior to delivery. The transaction legally happens in California. Tesla then uses a third party carrier to ship the vehicle to your door. You will have a California temp tag, and it's up to you to handle title and registration. It isn't that bad.

 

[wycolo]

That 'way around' is exactly the same as how my routine purchase was done in Dec 2012. And AFAIK nobody in any of the 50 States has ever been impeded in making a Tesla purchase by phone, internet, by visiting a Store across State lines, etc. And who purchases without first paying for it? So nothing new here, just too much political cash being spread about by Dealerships.
--

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Feel free to reeducate them:

Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association

Be sure to have fun doing it.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Well... that was fast. Apparently they not only dislike competition, but they dislike being told about it.

 

[andrewket]

Well... that was fast. Apparently they not only dislike competition, but they dislike being told about it.

Wow. If the dealers spent half the energy to learn how to properly sell and maintain a business with electric vehicles than they do fighting Tesla they would be successful.

Tesla is 100% correct that EVs won't be successful if left in their hands.

 

[xyeahtony]

Tesla sales are banned in Texas too so basically the way around the law is to just pay for the car before delivery, therefore technically buying it in a different state.

They can't legally stop you from registering the car in Louisiana so while the process is more inconvenient vs direct sales in basically every other state, people in LA can still buy the car.

And the Louisiana Dealers Association can suck a big fat bag of ****s. They dont support EVs and they know EVs are the future which are maintenance-free essentially which will destroy their core business. They're all running scared. Piss off Price Leblanc.

 

[JoeMap]

Feel free to reeducate them:

Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association

Be sure to have fun doing it.

Now that's funny right there. The only way to improve on it would be to also tag the Governor and use all social media channels. If enough people do it, they might get the message that passing a direct sales law presents only an inconvenience. Guaranteed the state/governor want the significant sales tax revenue, which they get when you register the vehicle.

Joe

 

[Dameon]

The governor actually said he signed it after being urged by the dealerships. Then some BS about Louisiana wanting Tesla to come here and partner with a dealership. I hope Tesla never does that, my wife will just be picking up her X in Houston just like I did with my S

Same here... pickup in Houston. They would have delivered it, but I wanted to check out the Houston Service Center.

For the reasons already stated, they were adamant that I not bring any funds or transaction information to Houston when I picked the car up. I walked in, they showed me my car on the supercharger and I drove it home with a quick charge stop in Lake Charles.

 

[muleferg]

The way around it is you pay for the car prior to delivery. The transaction legally happens in California. Tesla then uses a third party carrier to ship the vehicle to your door. You will have a California temp tag, and it's up to you to handle title and registration. It isn't that bad.

This is how my purchase was made on my S in 2014. It was a delivered to Tractor Supply.It had the cardboard CA lic.

 

[Vamken]

Picking it up in Houston sounds compelling. However, I have zero experience driving or charging an EV, and planned on getting the standard range battery. I’m a little leery of my first exposure being the 350-mile drive from Houston to New Orleans. The route planner shows I would need to charge in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. Anything to be concerned about?

 

[Electric700]

Wow, I was just reading about new restrictions in Charlotte and proposed in that thread that we contact the NC state government to restore the right for Tesla to demonstrate their cars. We should do the same for Louisiana and contact the government offices there as well. In fact, it's just common sense that Tesla be allowed to demonstrate, sell and service their cars across the country. Even the FTC agrees: Direct-to-consumer auto sales: It’s not just about Tesla.

 

[Saghost]

Picking it up in Houston sounds compelling. However, I have zero experience driving or charging an EV, and planned on getting the standard range battery. I’m a little leery of my first exposure being the 350-mile drive from Houston to New Orleans. The route planner shows I would need to charge in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. Anything to be concerned about?

With a Tesla? Not in the slightest. You enter a destination, the Nav will tell you how much battery you'll have when you get there.

If you enter one that's beyond range, the Nav will automatically string together a series of Superchargers to get there, with estimated charge at arrival and charge times for each one.

There are times when the car's plan for your trip isn't the optimal one for you for whatever reason (meals, rest breaks, roads you like and short cuts you know,) but it's always executable and easy - it'll tell you where to charge, guide you there, tell you when you're ready to go to the next stop and guide you to it.

 

[arcus]

Picking it up in Houston sounds compelling. However, I have zero experience driving or charging an EV, and planned on getting the standard range battery. I’m a little leery of my first exposure being the 350-mile drive from Houston to New Orleans. The route planner shows I would need to charge in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. Anything to be concerned about?

The trip planner in the car comes to the rescue. It will take into consideration your current state of charge and gives you and estimate on where your next supercharger should be and how long you should stay there. You don't need to wait to charge to 100% as long as you can arrive at your next point with 20-25% of estimated range. Of course, that will also depend on your driving habits

 

[Dameon]

Picking it up in Houston sounds compelling. However, I have zero experience driving or charging an EV, and planned on getting the standard range battery. I’m a little leery of my first exposure being the 350-mile drive from Houston to New Orleans. The route planner shows I would need to charge in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge. Anything to be concerned about?

I wouldn't be concerned in the least. The Lake Charles supercharger is right off the Interstate next to a Sonic (lunch stop!) and the Baton Rouge supercharger is right off the Interstate in a snazzy shopping center.