Tesla Ranks Last in Dealership Mystery Shopping Survey

A survey by mystery shopping firm Pied Piper ranked Tesla last among carmakers for dealership experience.

Tesla ranked 34th out of 34 auto brands included for the fourth consecutive year.

Pied Piper hired 3,466 people to shop at 3,466 dealerships across the U.S. between July 2017 and June 2018 to evaluate criteria, including how frequently salespeople asked customers how they might use a vehicle, if they offered comparisons to competitors, and if they explained why customers should buy from their dealership. Pied Piper shopped 57 of Tesla’s 74 U.S. showrooms.

Pied Piper’s chief executive Fran O’Hagan told the L.A. Times sales staff for the highest scoring car companies on the index, “work hard to be helpful, rather than just sitting back and answering customer questions. For example, they fact-find to determine why a customer is visiting, what’s important to the customer, and how the customer intends to use the vehicle.”

Audi finished first in the survey, followed by Lexus and Toyota.

Tesla has always made an effort to offer a different car-buying experience. There’s no giant lot of cars and haggling. It’s more of a showroom experience guided by “showroom advisors.”

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has previously celebrated the last-place finish. In a 2016 tweet he implied that being bad at being “salesy” is good.

https://twitter.com/x/status/752680739213156353

See the full release from Pied Piper here.

 

[Barklikeadog]

I totally get the unique customer experience at Tesla. But it is easy to get frustrated at the millenials working there. When I went for my test drive I had to ask the questions in the showroom. The most common answer was a reference to the website. Ask about the diff package levels... Look at the website. How much is the car? Website. About how much does it cost to go from this to that? Website.

You2re going to get a different experience from someone who benefits financially instead of a worker drone.

 

[Super_Popular]

Well that's good because Tesla is not a "dealership".... RIGHT PEOPLE!

 

[cgiGuy]

I totally get the unique customer experience at Tesla. But it is easy to get frustrated at the millenials working there. When I went for my test drive I had to ask the questions in the showroom. The most common answer was a reference to the website. Ask about the diff package levels... Look at the website. How much is the car? Website. About how much does it cost to go from this to that? Website.

You2re going to get a different experience from someone who benefits financially instead of a worker drone.

No real excuse for not knowing features of the car, but in Texas they couldn’t discuss price because they’re a “gallery” not a store.

 

[Struja]

I went from a Lexus, #2 on the list to Tesla, dead last and I would do it all over again, 100 times because at the end of the day, it’s the car that matters.

 

[dark cloud]

This "survey" is only relevant to the shopper who goes into an auto mall and asks:

"Hi, I need a car. Which one should I buy?"

A person who is as clueless about automobiles as the people who produce and endorse this survey.
Congratulations Tesla and Porsche.

 

[EinSV]

Tesla routinely finishes "last" in this survey, which puts a heavy emphasis on salespeople closing sales.

I don't think anyone in their right mind is clamoring to have Tesla adopt more high pressure sales tactics like traditional dealers. Definitely not Elon:


Elon Musk‏Verified account @elonmusk
Tesla finishes last in being salesy! Good. Also, I can't believe there is a real Pied Piper.

Tesla finishes dead last in auto dealership ranking, stores found to be horrible at selling cars but…

 

[David99]

Good example how surveys and their results can be completely missing the point or at least lead to wrong assumptions. Obviously Tesla is not lacking in terms of car sales.

 

[robarino]

I will have to say I mostly agree with the Tesla showroom experience sucking. I have been to the Dedham MA store a few times and the millenials and younger staff working there seriously need attitude adjustments and training on customer service. I felt like they were doing me a favor in answering my questions and I felt like they were gonna roll their eyes when I turned around.
The most helpful and friendly person in there was an older gentleman who told me he used to sell cars for another brand and he did this for fun now. Those millenials could learn a thing or two.

 

[RickAnstey]

I bought my first car in 1968 and 12 more cars since then from 9 dealers on the list, plus Pontiac and Oldsmobile that aren't on the list. My experience at each of those dealers was the same ... somewhere between awful and terrible. In mid-2016, I made 3 visits to the local Tesla store. Each experience was the same ... somewhere between fun and delightful. During the third visit, I told Nathan, our adviser, that I was ready to buy. I asked him if I should buy it from him on the spot or go home and do it on the website. He said it didn't matter; it was my choice. How many traditional car salespeople would ever let you out of the showroom after telling him/her that you're ready to buy? Right, exactly zero!

After we got our fabulous P90D, we took Nathan out for dinner. And we've been back to the store several times just to chat.

Each year, this survey is the same ... somewhere between stupid and the dumbest thing ever.

 

[bhzmark]

I did a secret shopping survey on vendors who help independent dealerships figure out to retrain the mortgage originators that they hire to now sell cars. Pied Piper came in first!

 

[SO16]

I will have to say I mostly agree with the Tesla showroom experience sucking. I have been to the Dedham MA store a few times and the millenials and younger staff working there seriously need attitude adjustments and training on customer service. I felt like they were doing me a favor in answering my questions and I felt like they were gonna roll their eyes when I turned around.
The most helpful and friendly person in there was an older gentleman who told me he used to sell cars for another brand and he did this for fun now. Those millenials could learn a thing or two.

I buy the car, not the sales staff.

 

[Darscot]

Based on that criteria being last sounds awesome. I loathe the car salesman experience, nothing worse than a salesman treating you like you don’t know how to read. If I’m coming in to look at a car I’ve already done some research the last thing I want is a salesman giving me more lies and spin than a political representative. The idea of ranking a sales room experience on things like how much crap do they talk about the competition is pretty funny.

 

[glide]

Tesla is far and away the worst car buying experience I have ever had. I have bought both new and CPO.

The final product is good but they cannot keep up this level of service and expect to stay competitive when other manufacturers have comparable products.

 

[cartwright]

This survey seems really bizarre. The moment sales people start asking me what I intend to do with a car my eyes roll. So based on the criteria they've outlined, last would be best.

As far as the Tesla sales experience, I've always had a positive experience in the Tesla store. My OA figured out very quickly that I had done my research and likely knew more than him about a number of aspects of the car and just worked to find one in inventory that was good fit. I've found that no matter what dealership I'm in (Lexus down to Ford) the sales people rarely know very much about the cars and it is much better to do your own research.

 

[Unpilot]

Had a slow leak in a rear tire. I went to the Chicago Grand Ave store to see if they could fix it.

Everyone was very friendly and helpful.
Not a bad attitude in sight.

Your millage may vary.

 

[FloridaGary]

I will have to say I mostly agree with the Tesla showroom experience sucking. I have been to the Dedham MA store a few times and the millenials and younger staff working there seriously need attitude adjustments and training on customer service. I felt like they were doing me a favor in answering my questions and I felt like they were gonna roll their eyes when I turned around.
The most helpful and friendly person in there was an older gentleman who told me he used to sell cars for another brand and he did this for fun now. Those millenials could learn a thing or two.

I couldn't agree more. It would be nice to know if Tesla is making an effort to hire advisors at all ages. When I am at our local Tesla location for routine service, I always see a 20 something year old discussing the details of a Model S or X with someone in their 50's or 60's. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but there is certainly a different style of communication between the millenials and baby boomers.

 

[Chickenlittle]

Very deceiving study. The largest criteria is what percentage of shoppers purchase car. Most stores are mall based so casual shoppers may stop in but not seriously shopping for a car (they may remember tesla when later car shopping). Compare this to a stand alone auto dealer (I have never seen one in a store) where some one made deliberate trip shoppong for a car

 

[Steinwand]

Two comments I have to agree with. When buying my first Tesla, at the end of the test drive, I also had the same comment from my 40 some year old salesperson. "If you are ready to buy we can sit down at the computer now or you can do it at home. Your choice" I liked that no pressure. I did decide to do it there so I could be lead through the process.
In mentioning the 40 some year old salesperson that brings me to my second point. Tesla needs more of those. I've been in Tesla stores many times since and normally have that millennial age and attitude salesperson that many have described in earlier threads. If I can find the sales manager, (who is normally someone older) I prefer that as attitude seems to be non-existent. Tesla, hire more mature salespersons that don't feel they have to impress me.

 

[feurie]

I totally get the unique customer experience at Tesla. But it is easy to get frustrated at the millenials working there. When I went for my test drive I had to ask the questions in the showroom. The most common answer was a reference to the website. Ask about the diff package levels... Look at the website. How much is the car? Website. About how much does it cost to go from this to that? Website.

You2re going to get a different experience from someone who benefits financially instead of a worker drone.

Are you in a state that doesn't allow discussion of prices? And I've had salespeople of all ages suck at Tesla and other places. Not sure why this forum is turning into an anti-millennial thing.