The new fantasy sales framework will fail

[jerry33]

If you bought from Hendrick BMW, then they charged you $699 do to all of that paperwork for you... I haven't bought a new tesla so I don't know if they charge closing and administrative fees, but just pointing out that those dealers that do all of the work for you don't do it for free...

The only fee I had from Tesla was a delivery fee. (There was also sales tax)

 

[jelloslug]

Unfortunately I think you are correct. Outside of the "enthusiast" niche, few customers with $40K will bother to jump through these hoops and call it a feature once other local options are available, and they are coming. However, there is a significant Apple-product demographic that is accustomed to being told what they want. So the bet is on those users who think hoop-jumping at 45 years old is hip.

When we picked up our Model 3, we were in a group of 25 customers that were taking delivery. Of that group, only 3 of them had ever even sat in a Model 3 before.

 

[zer0cool]

If you bought from Hendrick BMW, then they charged you $699 do to all of that paperwork for you... I haven't bought a new tesla so I don't know if they charge closing and administrative fees, but just pointing out that those dealers that do all of the work for you don't do it for free...

Maybe that's a new business opportunity, filing DMV paperwork for auto buyers...

Hendrick has a monopoly in the Charlotte area, so I don't buy from them (their service is great, but prices are bad). Dealership fees are negotiable and other dealerships charge much less than Hendrick (both prices and fees).

The fees dealerships do charge take care the entire process of getting tag and registration. Otherwise I would have to (I have done for two Teslas I have bought, because I love Tesla) personally go to the tax assessor's office, get tax assessed, pay taxes, then take that receipt and wait at the DMV to get the tag and registration. That takes half a day; and my time is pretty expensive such that paying someone to do it is well worth it.

 

[RogerHScott]

The only fee I had from Tesla was a delivery fee. (There was also sales tax)

Just to be clear, despite the common misconception and the misnomer, it is a purchase tax, owed by the buyer directly to the government, not a sales tax (which would be owed by the seller). Most sellers collect it from you and forward it to the government as a convenience, but if they did not do so that would in no way free you of your obligation to pay it. The point being, any such tax is not, in any way, "from Tesla".

 

[jerry33]

Just to be clear, despite the common misconception and the misnomer, it is a purchase tax, owed by the buyer directly to the government, not a sales tax (which would be owed by the seller). Most sellers collect it from you and forward it to the government as a convenience, but if they did not do so that would in no way free you of your obligation to pay it. The point being, any such tax is not, in any way, "from Tesla".

Where I live, it is directly paid to the government (county tax office) by the purchaser. However, they still call it sales tax. I suspect no one outside of the legal profession refers to it in any other way

 

[tinm]

As a kind of tall person I always felt it was crucial to sit in the car and make sure the headroom was ok. Especially cars whose specs and dimensions indicated theoretically plenty of headroom, but then you get in the car and you keep banging your head on the area above the driver's door window when trying to sit in the car.

Or discovering when you go over bumps, that's when you bang your head.

I remember testing out a Porsche Boxster in 1999. Got in, banged head on ragtop roof. Considered that an instant showstopper-- was about to get out of the car, and sales guy saw me about to get out of car, and he said wait a sec, then he got out, came to my side of car, opened door, reached down, and pulled some sort of secret lever, that lowered seat another inch. I bought that Boxster.

Or discovering that you have no place to put your legs, and your knees are in hard contact with the dash, and the dash isn't cushioned, and hard plastic is gouging holes in your knees.

Or discovering there's no comfortable place to put one's right elbow while driving--too high, too low, not just right.

All of these considerations can lead to instant showstoppers for me. So a test drive is crucial. We loved the Model S test drive we took in 2013. Even my wife loved it. Made all the difference.

I struggle imagining going through the paperwork/financial hassle of buying another Tesla without a test drive. It helps running a large Tesla Owners Club with regular meetups, so I can sit in any model/configuration imaginable, and have, but not everyone has that luxury.

Also, I don't relish the idea of Tesla putting an additional burden on Tesla Owners Clubs having to serve as proxy Tesla salespeople -- for free -- in states with no stores or galleries.

So I am concerned about Tesla's new strategy.

 

[RDoc]

I completely agree that test drives are very significant, but I'd think that Tesla could set up a test drive system based on their service and/or delivery centers. Just having someone there who can deal with test drives in addition to other duties doesn't sound too onerous. The Tesla sales offices I've been in certainly weren't overwhelmed with test drives.

 

[ElectricLee]

1. Place 1 Top of the line Model 3 in most malls (kiosk style) in the world. NO Store front, easy leasing structure.
1.5 Bonus, add a mini kiosk 42 inch TV sideways with Tesla Solar and Tesla Powerwall info.
2. Hire one person with an LTE iPad Pro.
3. Families can sit and touch the car all day long.
4. The gallery staff can collect contact information, but NOT sell. So all States should allow this, I think...
5. The people are instructed on how to order online.

Cheap and simple.

 

[zer0cool]

Haha, so much for the new sales model; it appears many stores will be kept open as showrooms, with price rising to support, etc.

Elon needs to be a more thoughtful and stable.

 

[RogerHScott]

Elon needs to be a more ... stable.

Um, yeah. Right.

 

[googlepeakoil]

I don't go to a showroom to learn about the new cars I buy (I really dislike car dealerships). I go online to educate myself, like 90% of people do these days.

I can tell which car is going to be suitable and agreeable to me by looking at photos and videos, comparing specs, and reading others impressions as they compare them to similar cars. I've bought three new cars without a test drive. It would be 5 cars were it not for the insistence of the dealership salesman on two cars that I take it for a spin before closing the deal. I have no idea why a salesman would insist on this but twice they did. Probably they thought they could get my excitement level high enough that when they started tacking on extra costs during closing I would be too excited to raise objections. But by the time I drove the cars I had already done all the research and knew which car I wanted and how much I was willing to pay. So the test drive was completely superfluous. Consumers are more educated now than ever.

I think physical store presence is reassuring of the company existing - especially when you need to be servicing a car.
With the odd centre screen I think it's helpful for people to test the cars and sit in them. And they need test drives - the 1000 mile return guarantee is silly. How badly will Tesla have to discount used cars with 1000 miles on them! That's not showroom new! And yeah, as for people having to sell their other cars and arrange financing - not everyone can pay cash - not the $35k purchasers. It seems like it wasn't thought through.

 

[Dan Detweiler]

I think physical store presence is reassuring of the company existing - especially when you need to be servicing a car.
With the odd centre screen I think it's helpful for people to test the cars and sit in them. And they need test drives - the 1000 mile return guarantee is silly. How badly will Tesla have to discount used cars with 1000 miles on them! That's not showroom new! And yeah, as for people having to sell their other cars and arrange financing - not everyone can pay cash - not the $35k purchasers. It seems like it wasn't thought through.

For what it's worth, all financing, trade ins, paperwork is done online anyway. At least it was for me. I never saw the inside of a Tesla facility until I took delivery.

Dan

 

[StealthP3D]

I think physical store presence is reassuring of the company existing - especially when you need to be servicing a car.

You get service at a Sevice Center (not a Showroom). You can also have a Mobile Ranger come to your house or place of work to provide service.

 

[RogerHScott]

For what it's worth, all financing, trade ins, paperwork is done online anyway. At least it was for me. I never saw the inside of a Tesla facility until I took delivery.

Dan

I don't think that was the point. I think the point was if you have to do all of that work -- whether in-person, online, or through your local magician -- prior to making an uncertain (due to the lack of test drive) purchase then you're going to be really annoyed if you decide to return the car. But, of course, the real concern is not this (since who really cares if people are annoyed or not?) but rather that the anticipation of this annoyance will cause people to be less likely to make that uncertain purchase decision in the first place.