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Having to go through a dealer shouldn’t be a thing in the first place.
'They Want To Be The Gatekeepers': Car Dealers Are Stopping Customers From Buying EVs
Submitted 11 months ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to globalnews@lemmy.zip
https://jalopnik.com/car-dealers-are-stopping-customers-from-buying-evs-1851017999
Comments
JiveTurkey@lemmy.world 11 months ago
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 11 months ago
It sort of made sense back when there were ACTUAL customization options you could have.
These days, just buying from one of three canned models? Yeah, fuck dealer middle men.
jawa21@lemmy.sdf.org 11 months ago
The one thing that dealers provide which is still of value is the test drive. Customizing on a web site is all well and good, but trying before you buy is crucial with such a major purchase. I would rather not be stuck in a car that I find uncomfortable for any reason.
RojoSanIchiban@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Not just that, all configuration options are available on a website and can be as complicated as the manufacturer likes without the need of the dealer.
You miss a fair bit of context not being able to see the options personally, of course, but certainly isn’t necessary.
zaph@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
I love that one of the dealers main complaints is that customers take longer because they want to know more about the vehicle yet the dealers don’t know shit about them. Maybe it wouldn’t take customers so long to pick one if the dealer could answer the questions?
Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Understand your cars and your customers.
We went to try a Volt back in 2018 for my mother and the director just sent us on a road test, never explaining the regenerative braking and after we were done he said “I forgot to show you the engine!” and proceeded to show my mother, a lady who doesn’t know how to change an air filter, the engine bay as if she cared about it.
Went to Mercedes to try the small 250 models, went for a drive in the B250 and GLA250, salesman never even mentioned the power or any of the specs, just talked about the comfort and safety and how practical AWD would be with her living pretty far out of town.
She ended up with a GLA even though from a financial perspective the Volt would have been much more logical (she now has an EV for this reason).
winterayars@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
The Volt is a great car. Could’ve been even better, but still great.
Hyperreality@kbin.social 11 months ago
TBF it's normal that dealers know less about particular models than customers. The internet exists. When you're thinking of buying a car, you're likely to do a lot of research about the particular make and model you like. You're a specialist on that model, while the dealer is a generalist for the make.
They just work there. For you it's likely the most important financial decision you'll make that year.
EssentialCoffee@midwest.social 11 months ago
I disagree. If you work at a dealership, you should know everything there is to know about the cars your dealership stocks. I’ll give leeway to trade-ins from other car makers, but if you work at a Chevy dealer and you can’t tell me about Chevys, you’re a bad salesman and you’re not going to make commissions.
norbert@kbin.social 11 months ago
Nah, I work in IT and I'm expected to learn new software all the time. To become the subject matter expert in a few months at most.
I recommend these sales people learn about the products they're selling, you'd think if it's how they feed themselves they'd be up on all the current models and trends.
rebelsimile@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
I sold cars for a major automaker for a few months. We had sales reps come in from corporate to train us on new models (including a new EV that was coming out, first of its line for the make). I had managers tell me that I needed to walk the lot and study the inventory every day.
The simple truth is that 95% of the salespeople I met before during and since are just complete fuckups and borderline carnies. There’s an incredible amount of down time in car sales, and there is an incredibly limited number of models to need to learn about. It’s less dynamic than learning a restaurant menu. They just don’t want to.
zaph@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Thanks for adding more fuel to my dealership hate.
winterayars@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Dealers hate and resent EVs anyway so no way are they gonna learn more about them.
TomSelleck@lemm.ee 11 months ago
This is just another reason why the independent dealership model needs to end. They only make the purchasing experience worse, at this point.
JJROKCZ@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Last time I went looking for an EV the dealerships tried talking me out of it, they even said hybrids are a fad… ridiculous that we’re forced to go through these business full of grade-school intelligence douches to get a car we need. Hopefully all the companies take the route of Tesla and Ford and allow direct buy from the company soon
soljin@lemm.ee 11 months ago
My friend went into a Ford dealership in Sacramento to try and buy an F 150 lightning. The dealers completely talked him out of it. They make bigger commissions off of ice vehicles
Sarmyth@lemmy.blahaj.zone 11 months ago
When I bought my EV, the dealer helped me talk shit about EVs the whole time. The job attracts bros who like muscle cars. EVs are still small PP cars to them. I got a great deal, though, so I couldn’t complain.
sadreality@kbin.social 11 months ago
Imagine being a paying customer then being talked down as if you are a brain dead idiot to be milked.
aev@lemmy.sdf.org 11 months ago
The Post? Really? Half of that article is an ad for the Post itself!
Blackout@kbin.social 11 months ago
jalopnik ≠ the post
aev@lemmy.sdf.org 11 months ago
Right! I totally missed that! Why is Jalopnik advertising for the Post?
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.
Dkarma@lemmy.world 11 months ago
You can now. Tesla sued over this