Dealers getting caught and fined. Anyone hear of this before?

[Vinman]

Yeah, same. Just saying they'll try to obfuscate their numbers any way they can.

I'm legit amazed at some of the people I talk to that really don't know what they just paid for a vehicle (or how much they received for a trade), other than the monthly loan payment amount due for an obscene term.

Car dealerships don’t sell vehicles, they sell loans.

And I agree 100% with you, I have buddies that bought new vehicles and have no idea how much they paid or got for their trade-in. The only number they know or care about is how much a month.
I have a buddy that recently discovered he had a balloon payment due after making loan payments for 4 years. Boy, was he pissed when he found out.

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[AFD]

Dealerships can transition to manufacturer service depot.

Lose the sales side, but enough people will bring their vehicles in for service at $150+/hour (as they do now) to keep that side of the business afloat.

Think I'd prefer this outcome as well (while not necessarily barring any dealerships that would still like to remain in sales, since competition, even with the manufacturer, can still be good for consumers).

This would give dealerships a chance to really focus on providing excellent service, maintenance, repair and warranty work above-and-beyond what they are capable of now (one of the biggest dealer complaints is sub-par to downright shitty service on the mechanical side). Manufacturers can still 'incentivize' the dealers and customers with promos (like Jeep's Wave program) and provide other perks based on customer satisfaction (whether by honest surveys or volume by satisfied customers).

Direct-to-consumer sales will always be dependent upon a dealer network for service, and this is definitely one area that always needs improved, both for the benefit of the dealer and the manufacturer. Jmo, of course.

 

[Cyndi]

Someone in here called us the "Old Guard", the one's who like to go to the dealership and kick the tires... Silly me, I like to sit my butt down in a vehicle, see how it fits. Some of you may know what I mean. Same as I don't buy pants or Bras online, they gotta fit. Plus, how many times did you order something online and it came wrong or damaged, easier to say ,"fix it" from a dealer instead of a delivery person or vending machine. Just my opinion.

 

[Cyndi]

Car dealerships don’t sell vehicles, they sell loans.

And I agree 100% with you, I have buddies that bought new vehicles and have no idea how much they paid or got for their trade-in. The only number they know or care about is how much a month.
I have a buddy that recently discovered he had a balloon payment due after making loan payments for 4 years. Boy, was he pissed when he found out.

Sorry for your friend, but if you don't pay attention, shame on you. The contract is in front of you, look at it.

 

[Vinman]

Sorry for your friend, but if you don't pay attention, shame on you. The contract is in front of you, look at it.

Exactly.
The customer has all the paperwork right there in front of them but fail to read it. There are no “surprises” that aren’t on contract they signed.

 

[GtX]

If you’re out of a job...

You get a different one.

 

[rayvonp]

I feel like the title to this post is misleading

 

[Av8Chuck]

Dealerships can transition to manufacturer service depot.

Lose the sales side, but enough people will bring their vehicles in for service at $150+/hour (as they do now) to keep that side of the business afloat.

Also, of note is that Porsche does not provide free maintenance; from time to time they've paid for the first, but that was a promotion.

We purchased a 2016 diesel Cayenne-S with bumper to bumper warranty and no maintenance for three years (accept we had to pay for the blue diesel additive).

 

[SHO jeep]

Direct to consumer sales of automobiles is not something I see happening anytime soon nationwide. Why not? Quite simply because to own a dealership you have to be really rich. To own a chain of dealerships, you have to be filthy rich. If there’s one thing that rich people are willing to spend lots of their money on, it’s protecting their ability to remain filthy rich and get even richer.

Enter lobbyists. They are paid obscene amounts of money by filthy rich dealership owners to distribute to more rich (usually) people to make and enforce legislation to protect their ability to be the only means of selling automobiles to consumers. Some, like Tesla for example, come around every so often challenging the status quo attempting to sell directly to customers. In most cases like that attorneys general like Ken Paxton in Texas (who coincidentally just happens to be facing a stack of federal corruption and bribery chargers) slap it down. They are getting a piece of the same pie the dealership owners baked for the lobbyists, politicians, and judges.

Even the richest man in the world lost this fight because there’s only one of him and thousands of dealership owners and conglomerates against him. Remember, rich people tend to only be willing to spend lots of money to stay rich or get richer, not to benefit the filthy unwashed consumer.

Because capitalism.

Funny, you sound racist.

 

[av8or]

This thread is getting a little convoluted so this may be a last point or clarification. It seems like a lot of people don’t understand the Tesla model and how well it actually works. First EVs in general need little maintenance/service. No fluids to regularly change, no spark plugs or timing belts to change, no engine air filter to change, little or no brake wear because of regenerative braking, etc. so besides tire rotation and cabin air filter there’s little to do. Tesla has the ability do warranty and service work without a dealership network. Tesla takes trade ins. So why do people think that other car manufacturers won’t be able to do the same?

I don’t think dealerships are needed but I do think a place to get your vehicle repaired if something does go wrong is still necessary. What I don’t think is necessary is what we've had in the past, which is sprawling 50 acre plus lots filled with cars to look over and a bunch of vultures smoking cigs waiting to try and use our emotions to try and fleece us.

The shortage of cars will take a few years to sort out, so we have giant lots now but they’re mostly used cars. What’s needed now is more like what Ford is going to be doing with the model e program. The new ”dealership” or maybe delivery center will be a place that you can go where there will be models to test drive so you can see if you like it enough to buy it. But that’s where it ends the delivery center won’t be setting the price of the vehicle, that will be transparent and online. I would assume that the delivery center, service centers, used car sales will be combined at a location. if we really want to make it more transparent and stop the fuckery, laws should be made so that only out the door pricing can be displayed or advertised On used vehicles too. Trying to screw the naive isn’t OK and shouldn’t be tolerated, and unfortunately the dealerships have no interest policing this themselves.

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

I would love to see manufacturer service stations that are mostly maintenance bays with a small office and waiting room. I think removing the sales people and all the bloat associated would bring a lot of credibility back to the auto industry. More maintenance bays means those sales and finance people can find new jobs as mechanics and bankers Maybe have a few models available to offer limited test drives.

 

[av8or]

https://carbuzz.com/news/ford-dealers-must-prepare-for-big-changes

 

[MallBrawler]

None of this is new. I’ve been buying vehicles for almost 30 years and this has been going on for at least that long, if not longer. Fyi, if you finance through a dealership, nearly all of them mark up the interest rate unless you know you qualify for the current promotional financing. They use your highest credit score to get you approved & your lower score to get the rate. If you don’t know your credit scores and qualified rates before going to a dealership, well…

All of this has existed forever but if you're a typical buyer who purchases cars once every 4-6 years you won't know how to protect yourself.

The shady dealers will advertise vehicles for thousands below invoice, say its the "no haggle price" best prices around, and when you walk in, you start filling out the credit applications, etc.

After they "congratulate" you for the deal they'll print a 4ft long contract that bakes in thousands of dollars of these "add on's" and if you don't notice it and just sign, you're just hosed.

I called out the dealer for pushing all these add on's, took hours to take them off. The only thing they wouldn't budge on, was they said I need to take the "marked up" financing otherwise the deal is done. Didn't matter to me because I refi'd the loan to my credit union after a few weeks.

But yeah, its kind of dumb. I buy/sell 2-3 cars a year and most of the time I purchase thru friends/trusted contacts, but when a certain dealership has a certain car that nobody else has... well....

 

[COBill]

This thread is getting a little convoluted so this may be a last point or clarification. It seems like a lot of people don’t understand the Tesla model and how well it actually works. First EVs in general need little maintenance/service. No fluids to regularly change, no spark plugs or timing belts to change, no engine air filter to change, little or no brake wear because of regenerative braking, etc. so besides tire rotation and cabin air filter there’s little to do.

For the Model 3:

Model 3 Maintenance Schedule

In general:

Tesla Maintenance Schedule

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