What vehicle do you drive?

ronne

Nǐ hǎo, yǒu jīn zi ma?
8,725
9,123
I know some of you fucks are in CA still

Go buy this thing immediately: Facebook

1776113731023.png
 

Sheriff Cad

scientia potentia est
<Nazi Janitors>
32,874
78,629
I love cars but absolutely hate franchises dealers. Want to pay MSRP? Nope, sorry, we’re adding $100k on top because fuck you.
Let me just say I have represented Clay Cooley on a couple of matters and I wouldn't let that dude or anybody who works for him come in my house for any reason.
 
  • 2Worf
  • 1Solidarity
Reactions: 2 users

Kirun

Buzzfeed Editor
21,511
18,739
As soon as a good and viable method for selling a car online happened that was, IMHO, the last nail in the coffin for dealers. Now the only dealer in DFW I can think of that seems to really be holding on well is Sewell maybe, and they're going full tilt on "You pay more but you get the Sewell kit glove pampering experience" bougie angle. But honestly their service isn't that great now and the premium paid for that is kinda ridiculous.
I think some people here are assuming that because the purchase interface can be digitized, the entire distribution model becomes obsolete. That's not really true. All it means is that the model evolves. In fact, a lot of what we're seeing isn't the disappearance of dealerships, but a transformation of them into delivery/service hubs rather than traditional sales floors.

The whole "it's all just shameless protectionism!!" point isn't totally wrong but it's a bit overstated. Some of it absolutely is protectionism. But some of it is also about controlling how a very regulated, safety-critical product gets sold and supported across thousands of local markets. You can argue those rules are outdated (and many probably are), but lumping it all into corruption ignores that there are still structural challenges unique to the auto industry.
 

Haus

I am Big Balls!
<Gold Donor>
19,548
79,949
I think some people here are assuming that because the purchase interface can be digitized, the entire distribution model becomes obsolete. That's not really true. All it means is that the model evolves. In fact, a lot of what we're seeing isn't the disappearance of dealerships, but a transformation of them into delivery/service hubs rather than traditional sales floors.

The whole "it's all just shameless protectionism!!" point isn't totally wrong but it's a bit overstated. Some of it absolutely is protectionism. But some of it is also about controlling how a very regulated, safety-critical product gets sold and supported across thousands of local markets. You can argue those rules are outdated (and many probably are), but lumping it all into corruption ignores that there are still structural challenges unique to the auto industry.
Yes, but if it's just a logistics and delivery (and possibly service, but that's another story) thing I think Tesla has pretty effectively shown you don't need the middle man.

Between online sales of goods, and advances in services I think we're kinda entering the end times for "middle men".