Its drives me crazy that ford employees dont know their product

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Jan 26, 2014 | 08:48 PM

#21

Tony Alonso

Legacy TMS Member

Joined: February 8, 2004

Posts: 3,399

Likes: 7

From: Cincinnati, OH

Quote:

Originally Posted by zwede

I think that will be the model going forward. I'm sure GM, Ford, Honda, etc will soon sell direct also.

Franchise laws being what they are, I don't think it would be "soon". And as many lawsuits as there are going on regarding Tesla's sales models, I think there will be a lot of wait and see.

Jan 26, 2014 | 11:56 PM

#22

mattlqx

GT Member

Joined: June 24, 2012

Posts: 148

Likes: 0

From: Chandler, AZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by zwede

I think that will be the model going forward. I'm sure GM, Ford, Honda, etc will soon sell direct also.

Not going to happen anytime soon. Direct works great for Tesla because they have no inventory. Every car they build is sold. Demand outstrips supply and they are still small volume. Down the road when they scale up further and they start to have a surplus, you'll probably actually see them potentially come around to the other side.

Joe Non-car-guy doesn't want to wait a month for his car to be built. He wants to buy something off the lot that is mostly what he wants. That's not to say they can't own lots themselves with inventory, but that's an awful lot of burden for a manufacturer.

Jan 27, 2014 | 03:50 AM

#23

laserred38

Legacy TMS Member

Joined: January 6, 2006

Posts: 14,053

Likes: 166

From: Bay Area, CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by zwede

I just bought a Tesla. They refuse to sell through dealerships and sell directly instead. Compared to a dealership, buying from Tesla is like night and day. No sending offers to the "sales manager" that you're not allowed to see. No hour with the "finance guy" trying to sell you scotch guarded seats and extended warranties. The Tesla people I dealt with knew their cars inside and out. Every question I had they knew the answer. It was also obvious they had a real interest and enthusiasm for the cars. I think that will be the model going forward. I'm sure GM, Ford, Honda, etc will soon sell direct also.

The employees knowing the car is new. The turnover rate there is very high, so there is always a lot of new people. You lucked out getting some of the veterans. Shoot me a PM with your sales person, I'm curious to know who you talked to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattlqx

Not going to happen anytime soon. Direct works great for Tesla because they have no inventory. Every car they build is sold. Demand outstrips supply and they are still small volume. Down the road when they scale up further and they start to have a surplus, you'll probably actually see them potentially come around to the other side. Joe Non-car-guy doesn't want to wait a month for his car to be built. He wants to buy something off the lot that is mostly what he wants. That's not to say they can't own lots themselves with inventory, but that's an awful lot of burden for a manufacturer.

You'd be surprised. So many people wanted to walk in and buy one. The service loaner program turned into their "inventory."

Jan 27, 2014 | 06:59 AM

#24

zwede

GT Member

Joined: October 9, 2011

Posts: 121

Likes: 0

From: Plano, TX

That's actually what I did, I bought one of their inventory cars. They discount them heavily once they have a few miles on them. Still a bit of a wait as this particular car was up in Seattle, takes 2 weeks to delivery prep it and ship it down to Dallas.

Laserred38: Test drive was with Mason Hays. Now working with Denton Holt out of CO due to the screwed up TX franchise laws (not legally allowed to buy the car from Mason). Both of them know their stuff.