The Ranger lives in Houston so I imagine as long as he's based out of there, they'll do that but not sure. At least Houston is drivable from Dallas so much better than Chicago. They really need Texas to get it's legislative head out of well you know where and create a level playing field.
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How long will Tesla's current retail model be feasible?
- Thread starter Teslawisher
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- Tesla Inc.
The Ranger lives in Houston so I imagine as long as he's based out of there, they'll do that but not sure. At least Houston is drivable from Dallas so much better than Chicago. They really need Texas to get it's legislative head out of well you know where and create a level playing field.
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
The mall idea sounds good. Outdoor-type malls even better. They can keep 2 or 3 models in the store (40, 85, perf) and keep three more of the same type in a garage for test drives. The consultant can meet them for a test drive or they can sign up for a test drive appt. Curiosity will bring many of them back. Then, they can order, sign, finance, and wait one week for delivery. Tesla can have regional storage lots that contain the cars and ship them out as they are ordered.
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spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
Other thought is to link up with a dealership a la Fisker and do the same thing. For service, Tesla sends or trains Rangers to come to the dealerships within the area, solving the distance problem. What dealership they could link up with is anybody's guess. Bluestar - Toyota? , Model S - Mercedes?
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spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
Well since Bluestar is a more affordable model, more mainstream, and with greater exposure needs, using Toyota could work out better. Their vehicles should be similarly priced, although, by then, they should have several hybrid and BEV models too, so they may not want the Tesla competing for sales.
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spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
But not for most consumers who prefer to walk into a dealership and feel comfortable knowing a brick and mortar establishment is there to handle problems. They can still do a boutique and online thing. Apple realized the same issues, thus Best Buy and Radio Shack started carrying their phones.
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But only after a certain popularity level was reached. Isn't Best Buy closing a lot of stores because consumers no longer enjoy that kind of experience? And isn't Apple starting to put their own people into the various stores creating a boutique type experience?
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
Best buy is closing stores because people use them to test drive the product, then run to the parking lot, ordering the same item online for much cheaper. They cannot compete with Amazon et al. Bringing in your own trained personnel solves one of my biggest gripes with auto dealerships...most car sales staff have no real knowledge about the product they sell. They rarely do their homework.
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You got that right. But the same can be said about Best Buy personnel. They rarely know anything about what they sell either. Price is the excuse people use to not buy there but I suspect it's the experience and the limited selection that they really don't enjoy--there often isn't a large difference in price. The problems large brick and mortar stores have are:
Is the model you see in the store really the latest model?
Is the model you see in the store the best model, the worst model, something in-between?
Has the product been cheapened for that that store so they can sell for the price listed? This is particularly a problem with branded products.
Is the salesperson telling me the facts?
Now all these questions can be answered with research, but if you're doing that much research you might as well save the trip to the store.
There are some things that are either perishable or need to be fitted, so grocery stores and clothing stores are unlikely to go away. For cars you may need to sit in them, get into and out of them, etc.--particularly if you are extra-something because cars are generally designed to fit 80% to 95% of the population and fit is somewhat subjective.
My real concern about Tesla and dealerships is the service advisor model where you don't get to talk to the person who does the work on your car and have to hope that the advisor passes on what you told them. This has caused no end of frustration with the Prius, and is one of the two big reasons I'm going to pay 3X for a Tesla.
NigelM
Recovering Member
As with all cars, lack of maintenance could void the warranty at least partially. Tesla states in the Roadster Warranty:
Would anyone buying a >$50k car not do an annual maintenance to save money?
Yes, the annual Roadster maintenance is $600.
I hope the posters above are correct when they say that Tesla plans to open more service centers as their fleet in the wild grows. I'll continue to pay what I must without complaint. It's the long-term success of the company I'm thinking of when I say they'll need more service centers.
NigelM
Recovering Member
As much as it's inefficient to have too many stores and inventory, it's also inefficient to have Rangers spending 90% of their time travelling. Tesla will open even more service centers as the customer fleet grows.
P.S. I still wonder whether they'll do a servicing deal with Toyota or Mercedes though.
P.S. I still wonder whether they'll do a servicing deal with Toyota or Mercedes though.
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
You got that right. Hence the need for Apple to train their own people to sell the product. They actually offer a much better sales experience than the rest of the store personnel.
Hate the service advisor model. They never seem to completely communicate what I really want fixed thus I have to return to gripe about an ignored issue.
spatterso911
P100DL - Raven
Well, I don't know if the boutique sales and distant service center model will work when Bluestar arrives, provided they are able to ramp up production to 100K+ units annually as projected. They will need volume traffic, and with the current model, service could be profoundly delayed once the population starts really buying these cars.
I guess that is just one more reason why it is great to be getting one early on.
Service centers was my main concern with partnering with a dealership. MB could work fairly well because of the apparently shared parts and so on.
As far as sales goes, could bring some into MB but the overall model would need to change since we've currently got a flat price model versus priced-to-sell-a-loan-plus-undercoating model.
The Westchester NY store just opened last week. At the opening I asked if they planned on doing service locally (to avoid the trip to NYC) and they did say they would open something in the area eventually when critical mass is reached. No date given however. They did say there were many Model S owners in the area but I didn't get a count.
Dealerships are not great for generating volumes of foot traffic. Few people spontaneously walk into a car dealership "just to look." Mall locations as point-of-introduction and point-of-sale are much more in tune with modern shopping habits. I will not be sad never to drive to the "Auto Mile" and driving between stores in a dismal corner of the city's suburbs to test-drive cars.
As for service, I can't see the Ranger model carrying over to Bluestar as the primary means of service. Someone's time is being used up going between HQ and the car's abode, and cost-conscious people will want the ability to carry the cost of that time on their own, rather than paying costly Ranger fees. It sounds like Tesla has a thoughtful ramp-up strategy on service centers, though, so I'll reserve judgement until I see how those roll out.
