Comment on 'They Want To Be The Gatekeepers': Car Dealers Are Stopping Customers From Buying EVs
Heikki@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Went to the dealership the other weekend to test drive an EV with my wife. She knew the exact model she wanted, and the dealer ship wouldn’t let her test drive it. They kept trying to get her into the model lower that didn’t have all the bells and wistles.
It only after we got frustrated that they tried to let us drive the model she’d been asking for. We just left. Dealships are pretty pointless
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The history of dealerships is pretty fucked up.
Through lobbying they’ve made themselves a required middle man, and the owners make a shit ton of money. You can pick your dealer, but you can’t pick to not use a dealer.
AmbroisindeMontaigu@kbin.social 11 months ago
Which applies to far more than just car dealerships, a lot of "economy" is just people installing themselves as middlemen, siphoning off money from others' work and using it to protect their position.
Semi-Hemi-Demigod@kbin.social 11 months ago
Economists call this "rent-seeking." They add no value and take a cut.
And the reason they're so powerful, at least in some states, is that they're a major source of sales tax.
gramie@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
And who are (by far) the largest advertisers in the print media? Car dealers and real estate agents. Is it any surprise that you don’t find any articles about these parasites?
Dkarma@lemmy.world 11 months ago
You can now. Tesla sued over this
IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Rivian is another EV that’s skipping the dealership model.
Cort@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Good luck getting parts for one when you need them though.
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 11 months ago
They have some weird loophole so that they also get the dealers cut…
But I’m pretty sure for every other brand, you still need a dealer.