Should We Be Concerned?

[Ken7]

With the announced closing of a large number of Tesla stores & mall locations, I find myself, for the first time, to be a bit concerned about Tesla's future. Although Tesla is promising a 7 day/1,000 mile return period, many prospective buyers will want to test drive a car prior to plunking down any money. Will all this negative news make prospective buyers wary to begin with and look elsewhere? I can't tell you how many times I've had friends ask me if I'm 'worried' about Tesla going under. I've always answered, "no".

What about test drives, will they no longer be offered? If so, with all these store closings, where? Where will customers pick up their cars? What about service centers? I know Elon promised to address some of the shortcomings of protracted service waits & issues, but will service centers be next to take a hit?

Hopefully I'm just overreacting, but it does make me somewhat apprehensive.

 

[Big Toys]

I am not yet convinced that Tesla will survive as a car company. The company will have to please everyone other than "enthusiasts" and I see a struggle to come. The Achille's Heel is service and parts. If you have any service to be done, get it done now. Service centers will be clogged with new M3s, fixing off-the-line issues.

 

[boaterva]

The plan is to put the time and energy and people into the Service Centers and mobile service (having them come to you). How well that works, we shall see. With younger people buying the Model 3's (many of them waiting for the $35K model were younger ones, of course), they should be more amenable to ordering online. And you can return it within a week if you don't like it.

It may work out just fine, as there were a lot of people waiting for the original car that they were promised, who didn't want the LR or MR.

 

[Sonic_78]

One can still visit a service center to look at, sit in, test drive, ask questions.... right?

 

[doofenshmirtz]

ask a friend if you want a test drive!

 

[croman]

One can still visit a service center to look at, sit in, test drive, ask questions.... right?

No. Only a very few stores will remain. No test drives.

 

[Big Toys]

The plan is to put the time and energy and people into the Service Centers and mobile service (having them come to you). How well that works, we shall see. With younger people buying the Model 3's (many of them waiting for the $35K model were younger ones, of course), they should be more amenable to ordering online. And you can return it within a week if you don't like it.

It may work out just fine, as there were a lot of people waiting for the original car that they were promised, who didn't want the LR or MR.

The OP is correct. Most young people outside of Google City do not have $40K cash, for anything. Good luck managing bank loans when your payment is due and you don't have your refund yet.

 

[Big Toys]

One can still visit a service center to look at, sit in, test drive, ask questions.... right?

You'll have to find a used car lot with the car you want. Convenient!

 

[PWlakewood]

Tesla will be fine, they arent going anywhere. There is nothing wrong with doing things different which is what they have done all along and look at how far they have come so far. I like the idea of online only. Dealerships/showrooms are not cheap to operate so it make sense imo to cut those expenses.

 

[Malbers]

With the announced closing of a large number of Tesla stores & mall locations, I find myself, for the first time, to be a bit concerned about Tesla's future. Although Tesla is promising a 7 day/1,000 mile return period, many prospective buyers will want to test drive a car prior to plunking down any money. Will all this negative news make prospective buyers wary to begin with and look elsewhere? I can't tell you how many times I've had friends ask me if I'm 'worried' about Tesla going under. I've always answered, "no".

What about test drives, will they no longer be offered? If so, with all these store closings, where? Where will customers pick up their cars? What about service centers? I know Elon promised to address some of the shortcomings of protracted service waits & issues, but will service centers be next to take a hit?

Hopefully I'm just overreacting, but it does make me somewhat apprehensive.

I've always recommended people rent a car for a day or a weekend to really get a good feel for it. A 10 or 15 minutes test drive with a salesman breathing down your neck is not conducive to making a good decision. It still might be the way to go even with Tesla if the 7 days return is a pain in the butt.

 

[exLeaf]

ask a friend if you want a test drive!

What about explaining to regular driver why she/he should buy EV/Tesla. I use to have 2011 Leaf, but in no hurry to get another EV. I guess someone should explain cost and other benefits of EV comparing to plug in hybrid, hybrid and regular ICE. I think Tesla website statement is not really informative “Price after Est. Savings”. What is the benefit of taking for example M3 for long trip, is use of superchargers still free? Now is about time to try to convince regular buyer why changing what we drive is important. I am not convinced if just saying climate change, savings is going to convince many and I case of Tesla car wont be available to kick tire before buying.

 

[Ken7]

I've always recommended people rent a car for a day or a weekend to really get a good feel for it. A 10 or 15 minutes test drive with a salesman breathing down your neck is not conducive to making a good decision. It still might be the way to go even with Tesla if the 7 days return is a pain in the butt.

I couldn't agree more and it's something I've suggested too. But let's face it, most people don't do that.

 

[Sonic_78]

No. Only a very few stores will remain. No test drives.

Okay. Reason I ask is because we used the service center in Westmont, IL to look at, sit in, take for a overnighter, ect... service center not a store in a mall type. Was curious if service center types would stay the same. Maybe all service centers are not alike in that regard.

 

[croman]

Okay. Reason I ask is because we used the service center in Westmont, IL to look at, sit in, take for a overnighter, ect... service center not a store in a mall type. Was curious if service center types would stay the same. Maybe all service centers are not alike in that regard.

Might be. They said high traffic areas will remain. No real specifics.

 

[zer0cool]

I started a thread on this as well. I think the experiment will fail.

 

[born2run]

Tesla will be fine, they arent going anywhere. There is nothing wrong with doing things different which is what they have done all along and look at how far they have come so far. I like the idea of online only. Dealerships/showrooms are not cheap to operate so it make sense imo to cut those expenses.

I completely agree. The auto industry needs a change, sales people are less and less relevant given all the research one can do now. I found my buying experience for my S (all online) amazing. I never want to buy a car from a traditional dealer again.

 

[boonedocks]

When is the last time you, anyone here, has been in a Best Buy and actually asked a question....honestly can’t remember the last time for me. I haven’t visited a brick and mortar for electronics in forever. I do believe the same will be true fir cars, maybe sooner than later. The sales people almost always are at 1/2 the knowledge base you are at \i/

 

[TechOps]

This announcement made me nervous about Tesla's future, since they will undoubetdly lose a portion of their sales over this. The question is whether they have accurately predicted what that portion is. If so, they should be fine.

Tesla is so bad at many of the operational aspects of running their business, I have no doubt they are heavily burdened by poorly-negotiated, expensive leases. Add to that the fact that they chose the most expensive places to show off their cars, and I'm sure this is lifting a very significant financial load from their back.

The future will depend on whether they adequately invest in online infrastructure and making the end-to-end experience much better for online-sale deliveries. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them leverage existing owners (read: fanatics) in the process, as they did during the wave of Model 3 deliveries, and maybe beef up the referral program.

 

[Ken7]

When is the last time you, anyone here, has been in a Best Buy and actually asked a question....honestly can’t remember the last time for me. I haven’t visited a brick and mortar for electronics in forever. I do believe the same will be true fir cars, maybe sooner than later. The sales people almost always are at 1/2 the knowledge base you are at \i/

I actually always go to Best Buy to see a piece of electronics before I buy it. Since they carry high end TVs, I’m not in the habit of ordering one blind.

 

[Uncle Paul]

When you go to Best Buy to see a TV, it will be nothing like you will see when you get it home.

They constantly fool customers with a special Torche mode that makes the pictures look fantastic. They have direct ultra high definition audio video feeds that look fantastic in the store.
Most people simply look at internet reviews and order their big screens delivered direct to their homes, saving sales taxes and delivery hassles.

The future is to order direct. You get the lowest price and do not need to deal with high pressure dealerships with deceptive selling tactics.

Tesla at least publishes the price for everyone that orders at any given time. When you go to a legacy dealership everybody pays a different price, depending on how much they can fool you into paying. Not unusual for a special rebate/sale to happen at a dealership the day after you drive your new car home.