Perhaps I am of a generation that expects a little more customer service.
I, too, appreciate good customer service. Except when I'm buying something, I don't really need customer service. Perhaps if there's something I don't understand. Usually what I've received at car dealerships isn't really customer service, it's salesmanship.
Talking with a salesman for 5 hours or more over several days isn't my idea of a good time, and no other product I purchase requires that type of song and dance... even buying a house seems more pleasant than the typical car dealership experience.
So for me, Tesla's purchase experience is far superior than any other... and comes with a lower cost of doing business, that's a win-win scenario.
But I'm glad their new way of doing business, completely impersonal, is satisfying to some
What do you mean by "impersonal"? You want someone to buddy-buddy you and pretend to be your friend? That kind of "personal attention"? I'm just not sure I understand. Perhaps you had real questions about what you were buying and had a hard time getting answers directly from Tesla.
If that's the case, this is likely just generational. People these days tend to just search the web for those answers. They post on forums like this, or just read without creating an account... or they find their answers on Tesla's website, or ask a friend that already has one.
While it's reasonable to expect that someone at Tesla might be available to answer all of your questions, you're right that it's not exactly how they operate.
At a dealership, the salesman pretends to know everything because it positions them as the authority... but those people are acting in their own best financial interests, so they will often tell you what sounds good to your ears, even if it's intentionally false.