Tesla seeking to open Richmond facility

[chickensevil]

Yes that's what I searched.
It's an active thread now with a couple of recent posts. "single women tesla owners"

Yes I was there, back row, however I'm not testifying under cross examination because of personal & professional reasons...I will consider sending a letter but would prefer to offer the collective voice of a group of single women who appreciate the Tesla buying/servicing experience over the bullying of a stupid superfluous auto dealer.

I don't blame anyone for not testifying. That guy was rather brutal with how he attacked some of us on a personal level. What does it matter about our personal lives and how many businesses we may or may not be affiliated with.

That said, mad props to those willing to subject themselves to that just to get our message across. We are not to be some kind of "expert witness" we are just providing some amount of consumer opinion of this issue and that is all...

I hope you can get a chance to speak next time!

 

[linkster]

OH
Thanks so much for taking the time to attend the hearing. A letter would be great!

 

[bonnie]

Yes that's what I searched.
It's an active thread now with a couple of recent posts. "single women tesla owners"

Yes I was there, back row, however I'm not testifying under cross examination because of personal & professional reasons...I will consider sending a letter but would prefer to offer the collective voice of a group of single women who appreciate the Tesla buying/servicing experience over the bullying of a stupid superfluous auto dealer.

I'm going to just hazard a guess that it's not just 'single women Tesla owners' that appreciate the Tesla experience over dealerships. Like just about everyone on this forum (with a few notable exceptions, but they're always grumpy).

I'm not sure what it means to offer the collective voice of any group - we're all very diverse, even gender/marital status specific. I'm mostly interested in making sure consumers have a choice in how they purchase/service a vehicle -- and stopping the dealership lobby from perverting laws intended to define their relationship with their manufacturer and changing them into protectionist laws keeping out competition. They don't understand the concept of 'free market'.

 

[OregonHill]

I don't blame anyone for not testifying. That guy was rather brutal with how he attacked some of us on a personal level. What does it matter about our personal lives and how many businesses we may or may not be affiliated with.

That said, mad props to those willing to subject themselves to that just to get our message across. We are not to be some kind of "expert witness" we are just providing some amount of consumer opinion of this issue and that is all...

I hope you can get a chance to speak next time!

Depending on what you do for a living people will often think certain speakers are somehow representing "something" else even if that's not the case. :-/


Here's a new article just chock full of the painfully obvious...duh

Virginia Car Dealers Incorrectly Think They Can Sell Teslas Profitably -- The Motley Fool

 

[chickensevil]

Depending on what you do for a living people will often think certain speakers are somehow representing "something" else even if that's not the case. :-/


Here's a new article just chock full of the painfully obvious...duh

Virginia Car Dealers Incorrectly Think They Can Sell Teslas Profitably -- The Motley Fool

Considering I think statistically speaking most of us are in the tech field of some kind that almost puts us on the complete other end of the spectrum when it comes to this subject, so you would think that would make us less biased and therefore better agents of the public... *shrugs*

Not saying that any field is going to be biased... I am just saying that it's pretty hard to claim that someone like myself was paid off by Tesla.... Which is what annoyed me most of all about the Lawyers questioning...

 

[CatB]

I'm going to just hazard a guess that it's not just 'single women Tesla owners' that appreciate the Tesla experience over dealerships. Like just about everyone on this forum (with a few notable exceptions, but they're always grumpy).'.

This is the first time I've ever partially disagreed with you Bonnie. Granted dealerships probably try to take equal advantage of men and women when they walk into a dealership to buy a car, but women are subjected to an extra set of discriminatory and condescending tactics that they cannot apply to men.
Personally, I think it's in the public's interest to support organizations that hire men and women equally. Last time I tried to buy a car (2013 - needed a Prius when I lost local garage access for my MS), I called 3 different dealerships asking if they had any women salespeople - NONE of them did. And this is in the DC area, which I believe has among the highest percentage of working women in the US.
Hate to take this thread on a tangent, but with the current news on cyberbullying women in sportscasting and firefighting, I'm enough upset about that to get annoyed at the likelihood that the same culture prevails in dealerships.

Check this out: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.—Women in the Driver's Seat: Gender Diversity as a Lever in Japan

So, Nissan won this award in 2008. So is this the best auto companies can do?

The percentage of sales people (Car Life Advisors) at Nissan-owned dealerships who are women has increased from 4 percent to 6 percent, while the percentage of women in manufacturing plants more than doubled.

Excuse me? I get it that the population of experienced, educated auto technicians is smaller and therefore there is a chicken and egg issue with automotive mechanics, but I work in IT, and I don't even need to count to know that the m/f ratio is close to 50/50 for sales people, right on up into senior management, so there is no excuse.

Oh, and so the manufacturer could DOUBLE the number of women, but the dealers could only do half as well....

Ok, sorry, enough ranting for this morning.

 

[bonnie]

This is the first time I've ever partially disagreed with you Bonnie. .

I don't see that we're disagreeing - I only said that it's not just 'single women Tesla owners' that appreciate the Tesla experience over dealerships'. It's not just single women. It's women. It's men who look like they can be taken advantage of. It's anyone who isn't comfortable negotiating.

 

[hsctiger93]

Oregon Hill...Not sure why you'd limit to single women, though. My wife's an attorney an litigates for a living but remains categorically opposed to ever setting foot in a dealership to have her car serviced. She simply does not trust what the men tell her and she has no way of verifying what they say to her.

I take the family truckster to the local Acura dealership. I know going in I'm paying a stupid markup and have told her that in the past. She wants the dealership for now. The only way I've found to combat this is to remain true to one service advisor and to ask him for deals on the work he does. I get 10% off everything, which we both know is a drop in the bucket but it's something.

When the truckster hits 100k miles I'll shift the business to a local guy who worked on my old 3 series. He's honest and charges less but still makes plenty of money off repairing ICE cars. So I'll move from knowing I'm getting completely fleeced to knowing I'm getting less-fleeced.

 

[CatB]

Agreed, not just single women, but I do think (all) women have to put up with more @#$^ from dealer salesmen than men do (even those who can walk in and out-talk the guys, per the posts here of super-car-savvy women who still get put down). Just my opinion, based on my experience and what I've heard from others.
Of course, it's not just auto dealers - I also had a surgeon tell me that I didn't need an ACL reconstruction (note I was on crutches and literally could not put weight on my left leg) because "you're not a Redskin or an Oriole, you're a girl."
You can't make this sierra up...

 

[OregonHill]

not limiting anything...
I'm just a single woman who searched "single women tesla owners" (check it out) and !behold! the three year old thread was conveniently already here...some new posts this week including my personal story of compare/contrast buying cars with/without my husband etc. other women totally relate (are we shocked) with similar stories...like "go ask your boyfriend"

for what it's worth, since I cannot testify at VADA like all those **guys did on Monday my rationale is to summarize the stories from women for the VDMV commissioner...planning to pepper that collective voice with the lovely stats like women have majority of the drivers' licenses in US and women make 70%buying decisions but only 5% dealerships franchised to women etc etc.

 

[OregonHill]

OH
Thanks so much for taking the time to attend the hearing. A letter would be great!

Thank you !
Drafting letter now and including antidotes from others asked by dealers to go "get your boyfriend" haha (eye roll)

 

[CatB]

Any update on the date for part trois?

 

[hsctiger93]

Haven't seen anything posted on Richmond.com.

Question for the group. When Fisker opened its doors it used dealerships, correct? Do those dealerships still service the Fisker cars today even though the company went under? Would seem relevant to VADA's argument about Tesla's fiscal condition and how dealers buffer against bankruptcies...

 

[bonnie]

Any update on the date for part trois?

Not yet! I believe the hearing officer fell on the way out of the hearing last week and medical attention was required. That might impact the date for the next hearing. (Would hate to go through the first two hearings again!)

 

[TexasEV]

If dealers say they protect the consumer against bankruptcy of the manufacturer, ask if they would be willing to put that in writing. Are they committing to taking financial responsibility for the warranty if the manufacturer goes under? If not, their assertion is meaningless.

Haven't seen anything posted on Richmond.com.

Question for the group. When Fisker opened its doors it used dealerships, correct? Do those dealerships still service the Fisker cars today even though the company went under? Would seem relevant to VADA's argument about Tesla's fiscal condition and how dealers buffer against bankruptcies...

 

[linkster]

Tex

It's just one meaningless assertion after another, and another, and another, and yadda, and yadda, and ......

 

[techmaven]

Ted Britt Fisker dropped Fisker on 2/18/2013.

I lost my dealer...****! - Fisker Buzz Forums
dealership gone-privileges gone - Fisker Buzz Forums

Fisker had already started to be in financial problems after the U.S. government froze the credit line they had provided in May, 2011. Fisker did get another round of financing in April 2012, but shut down production in July, 2012. Dealers were dropping them in the fall of 2012, so I guess 2/18/2013 is considered pretty late, but certainly there were other dealerships across the country that continued to support customers for far longer. 3rd parties stepped in to fill the gap, most notably FiskerPhilly. Fisker fired basically everyone in April, 2013 leaving only a very small group. I would have had slightly more respect for Ted Britt if they at least held on past that point, well into summer, 2013. But no, they did not support their customers for even a year after Fisker stopped production, much less actual bankruptcy.. Fisker was essentially dead in April, 2013 but bankruptcy was November, 2013. If Ted Britt continued to offer paid for services for 2 years after November, 2013, I'd say that the dealership stood behind their customers. But no, they dropped Fisker well before that point.

 

[hsctiger93]

Here's another example of independent dealers not acting in the public interest. Related to servicing the cars...

One of Richmond's more respected repair shops is Import Autohaus in the West End. If you have an ICE car, Curtis Worsham is great to work with. I needed 2 new tires for my MS and didn't want to pay the $300+ to have the Raleigh SC pick it up, so I called Curtis. Because the Independently owned Firestone tire dealer shares a parking lot with his business, he is not allowed to sell or install tires. They literally have a monopoly on tires for that specific area.

As a consumer, I can certainly find another auto mechanic willing to mount tires. But to deny me the ability to use the guy I want to use is anti-competitive and certainly not in my best interest.

 

[techmaven]

Here's another example of independent dealers not acting in the public interest. Related to servicing the cars...

One of Richmond's more respected repair shops is Import Autohaus in the West End. If you have an ICE car, Curtis Worsham is great to work with. I needed 2 new tires for my MS and didn't want to pay the $300+ to have the Raleigh SC pick it up, so I called Curtis. Because the Independently owned Firestone tire dealer shares a parking lot with his business, he is not allowed to sell or install tires. They literally have a monopoly on tires for that specific area.

As a consumer, I can certainly find another auto mechanic willing to mount tires. But to deny me the ability to use the guy I want to use is anti-competitive and certainly not in my best interest.

I've taken my Mercedes and Infiniti vehicles to Curtis often in the past. He's a good guy.

That may very well be a contract with the building owners... there are any number of legal local monopolies. I doubt this is a government related restriction, which is what we are dealing with at the DMV.

That Firestone has a recently upgraded Hunter alignment machine and can now do alignments for Tesla's and Mercedes vehicles that they couldn't do before. I bought a lifetime alignment from them for my S, knowing that thus far they are the only Firestone in the area that can can do alignments on my S, and only Firestones still sell the lifetime alignment option. Due to a quirk in circumstance, I had my S aligned by Firestone and then checked by the Tyson's Tesla Service Center a few days later. The alignment was good, but the perfectionist at Tyson's wanted it better and spent some time getting it even better. I plan on using the Firestone alignment in between service center visits, especially when I know I've hit a pothole.

 

[hsctiger93]

Fair point on the landlord possibly making that decision. My point was that part of the issue with independent dealers is the lack of geographic competition carved out by the dealership network. You can have the guy running a Buick dealership in the West End of Richmond (Hendrick now?), but no other Buick dealers within an X-mile radius. I don't know if the same holds true for tire dealers like Firestone or Goodyear. But as consumers we again get harmed by artificial boundaries designed to protect the business owners, not the general public.

Ended up taking my MS to Dyke Tire on Curtis' recommendation. They installed my 2 tires and did my state inspection in about an hour.