> Pick a car you like, and Drive lets you configure options, set up a financing plan, and pay the dealer right there. Then all you do is drop by the lot and pick up your new car. Drive brings the Tesla buying experience to every other car brand.
Not at all. Perhaps the biggest benefit of all to the Tesla approach is not having to deal with a dealership at all. This is still going to incur all of the traditional slimy dealer markups.
I wish them the best of luck but dealerships are pretty entrenched in their ways.
Just went through the car buying experience recently and the best way by far was to blast emails to all dealers with the specific trim+options we wanted and then use their written quotes to leverage against each other. I explicitly didn't do anything over the phone for this exact reason.
One thing I found fascinating was that the local Subaru dealers was totally cool with this approach while trying to talk to Mazda dealers was like pulling teeth to get a window sheet or quote. Subaru took us ~2 days to nail down while Mazda was ~1.5 week of back and forth.
The Tesla experience still beats all of them hands-down(we'd rather own a second Telsa if it was feasible) so I hope they can mix up things in some manner.
A number of OEMs are pursuing internal initiatives to simplify the buying process so you only have to go to the dealership to sign the paperwork and pick up your car. However, most of those are a good year out and I'm sure the dealerships will still try to extract additional money from customers however they can since that's how their business model works.
It's nice to see that the market isn't waiting around and is building legitimate alternatives to the traditional process.
I want to go to the dealership. A new car is something I am going to live with for many years. I don't throw away working machines easily. So I want to look at the real object prior to purchase. I want to see the materials in the interior. I want to see how many screws are between me and the parts I will one day replace. I want to look at the jacking procedure (ie do you have to climb under the car or not). I want to see how the colour will look in actual sunlight (ie not on a screen). None of that can be done properly through a website. We might hate them, but visiting a dealer to look at physical object has its place.
One big thing that isn't ever in the reviews: How many buttons do you have to push to get in/out of the thing? Getting me and my dog out of the new BMWs takes like 10 different steps.
And one more: I want to see multiple cars of the same basic model to look for consistent build quality. A reliable car will be from a factory where every product is identical (Honda) rather than hand-build shed cars (TVR and anything british).
Tesla showrooms are just smaller, less-equipped dealerships. I want the car and hopefully shall not be setting foot again in the showroom for many years. I couldn't care less about the business relationships of the person selling it. If buying more directly from Tesla means lower prices, then more power to Tesla. But as their product is rather unique in the market, and not cheap, that aspect of the business is totally irrelevant to the consumer.
That doesn't prevent using the dealership as a showroom.
In recent years, how we buy high end electronics has changed. People go to Best Buy to look and compare TVs then go back home to do some more research and read reviews and buy online.
I am sure when you go to a dealership, to look at the product, you come home to read the reviews and do more research before you buy and then go back to the dealership to make the purchase.
What this solves is the latter part. There's no need to go back to the dealership after you look at the car in person and read reviews online.
How is this different from what the Credit Unions have been doing for years? Thus, apply for a car loan online or in a branch without actually picking a car, once approved for an amount they send you a blank check. You go to a dealership and once you decide on a car, you just write them a check and drive off. Penfed CU, DCU, NASA CU etc. all do this and it actually gives the buyer an upper hand to negotiate and get a better deal on a car. The rates these companies offer are also more often better than the rates the dealership offers.
All that does is remove financing from the equation.
Last year, I paid cash for a new car at a dealership. I arranged the entire purchase via email, but it still took about 2-hours at the dealership doing paperwork, declining all the BS extras and getting my car "prepped" to drive out the door. Then I had to arrange for the single largest wire-transfer I've ever had leave my bank account.
Assuming Drive Motors takes away a good part of that hassle, it'll be a great asset to people like me who don't particularly relish the dealership process.
I suppose you are right. The last time a bought a car, it was out of state. Everything was done via email and the extra perk was they drove it down to me at no extra cost along with the paperwork to sign after final inspection. It will be nice if Drive Motors can offer the "Drive the car to you" at some point after purchase.
In a similar discussion a few months ago I learned that US car buyers have to buy pre-configured cars from lots, choosing from very few options. Meanwhile EU car buyers buy the same models having at least ten times the number of options, colors etc (which obviously makes it impossible for dealers to keep cars in stock, but also means delivery is several weeks to a few months). Recommend trying to configure a new Jetta on VW UK and VW US respectively if you are curious about the difference.
What I'd want as an American car buyer is not only configure and buy a car online but also have all the options available from the manufacturer (i.e. proper made to order cars).
I just purchased a 2016 Tacoma truck late last year. I placed the order probably 6-8 weeks before it was available. I didn't pay until I picked it up.
I was able to get the exact options I wanted without a hassle.
It is true that the dealership may order pre-configured cars or the manufacturer will allot certain builds, but if you have time and patience, you can usually get what you want.
That said, there are times where you can't get things "ala carte", which may be what you heard (or the fact that dealers have preconfigured allocations).
Just so you know, thats not an absolute truth. I live in Texas and I've owned 3 cars, only one was one from the lot (a Ford Mustang), because they had the exact combo I wanted. My Jeep came from a dealer a few hours away that my dealer swapped for so that I wouldn't have to wait for a factory build. My current car was built to order by the factory. My wife's super picky and her last two cars where built to order.
The difference between dealers here and say.. in Germany (where most of my family still ives) are that the dealers in the US just have waaay more inventory on the lot, so you don't necessarily have to wait 3 months for a build.
1. I suspect that Americans are much more impulsive. Most people I know aren't going to wait weeks or months for a car built to order, when they can have something 80% right and drive home today.
2. I also suspect that American car dealers developed in an environment where neither space nor capital was constrained, and so it was perfectly ok to hold 100+ cars in inventory at a time at every dealership. Factories love it too, because once the car goes to the dealership, it's off the manufacturer's books -- the dealer owns it.
3. Synergistically with 1 and 2, American car salesmen are strongly incentivized to sell you something off their lot, or at worst to sell you a car that they can borrow from the dealer one town over.
You don't have to but most do. I ordered my 2003 350z when it first came out and it took several months to arrive. However, you often have less room to negotiate and will probably pay sticker. It does give you the opportunity to remove the bogus "undercoating" and "fabric protection" which inevitably add another $1000 to the cost.
I've bought my last 2 cars without seeing or touching them.
Both were imported from Japan, inspected and purchased by professional buyers at Japanese auctions, with communications, importation, paperwork etc arranged by a professional broker. Selection of the vehicles was made based on photographs and inspection reports sent via email.
Ultimately a very simple and successful operation which I will almost certainly do again.
<<purchased by professional buyers at Japanese auctions>>
How did you find these buyers? Are these just auto brokers (e.g., these guys are popular in SV: http://www.hammerauto.com/) or is this something different?
The buyers conduct inspections, supply photos and place bids at the request of the broker. I pay the broker for their contact with professional buyers and their knowledge of the imports process (ie, paperwork, shipping contacts, etc).
I never had any contact with the buyers themselves - they may not actually speak english.
If I had to guess, I would say the buyers work for many different brokers.
Most dealers have a fleet or "internet" sales desk that will quote you a price over email and I've found them to generally be quite competitive, certainly better than the walk in and test drive approach.
Really want to save money on a car? Buy a 2-3 year old lease return...
I just compared 3-4 different cars and configurations with pricing on TrueCar.com and TrueCar was always cheaper. In one case TrueCar was cheaper by almost $4k.
It is a known fact now that you can go directly to a dealer and get a better deal than TrueCar these days so wonder if this service really adds any value!!??
25 comments
[ 5.1 ms ] story [ 71.2 ms ] threadNot at all. Perhaps the biggest benefit of all to the Tesla approach is not having to deal with a dealership at all. This is still going to incur all of the traditional slimy dealer markups.
Just went through the car buying experience recently and the best way by far was to blast emails to all dealers with the specific trim+options we wanted and then use their written quotes to leverage against each other. I explicitly didn't do anything over the phone for this exact reason.
One thing I found fascinating was that the local Subaru dealers was totally cool with this approach while trying to talk to Mazda dealers was like pulling teeth to get a window sheet or quote. Subaru took us ~2 days to nail down while Mazda was ~1.5 week of back and forth.
The Tesla experience still beats all of them hands-down(we'd rather own a second Telsa if it was feasible) so I hope they can mix up things in some manner.
It's nice to see that the market isn't waiting around and is building legitimate alternatives to the traditional process.
One big thing that isn't ever in the reviews: How many buttons do you have to push to get in/out of the thing? Getting me and my dog out of the new BMWs takes like 10 different steps.
And one more: I want to see multiple cars of the same basic model to look for consistent build quality. A reliable car will be from a factory where every product is identical (Honda) rather than hand-build shed cars (TVR and anything british).
I am sure when you go to a dealership, to look at the product, you come home to read the reviews and do more research before you buy and then go back to the dealership to make the purchase.
What this solves is the latter part. There's no need to go back to the dealership after you look at the car in person and read reviews online.
Last year, I paid cash for a new car at a dealership. I arranged the entire purchase via email, but it still took about 2-hours at the dealership doing paperwork, declining all the BS extras and getting my car "prepped" to drive out the door. Then I had to arrange for the single largest wire-transfer I've ever had leave my bank account.
Assuming Drive Motors takes away a good part of that hassle, it'll be a great asset to people like me who don't particularly relish the dealership process.
What I'd want as an American car buyer is not only configure and buy a car online but also have all the options available from the manufacturer (i.e. proper made to order cars).
I just purchased a 2016 Tacoma truck late last year. I placed the order probably 6-8 weeks before it was available. I didn't pay until I picked it up.
I was able to get the exact options I wanted without a hassle.
It is true that the dealership may order pre-configured cars or the manufacturer will allot certain builds, but if you have time and patience, you can usually get what you want.
That said, there are times where you can't get things "ala carte", which may be what you heard (or the fact that dealers have preconfigured allocations).
The difference between dealers here and say.. in Germany (where most of my family still ives) are that the dealers in the US just have waaay more inventory on the lot, so you don't necessarily have to wait 3 months for a build.
2. I also suspect that American car dealers developed in an environment where neither space nor capital was constrained, and so it was perfectly ok to hold 100+ cars in inventory at a time at every dealership. Factories love it too, because once the car goes to the dealership, it's off the manufacturer's books -- the dealer owns it.
3. Synergistically with 1 and 2, American car salesmen are strongly incentivized to sell you something off their lot, or at worst to sell you a car that they can borrow from the dealer one town over.
Both were imported from Japan, inspected and purchased by professional buyers at Japanese auctions, with communications, importation, paperwork etc arranged by a professional broker. Selection of the vehicles was made based on photographs and inspection reports sent via email.
Ultimately a very simple and successful operation which I will almost certainly do again.
How did you find these buyers? Are these just auto brokers (e.g., these guys are popular in SV: http://www.hammerauto.com/) or is this something different?
I never had any contact with the buyers themselves - they may not actually speak english.
If I had to guess, I would say the buyers work for many different brokers.
I can't help but think the only reason dealerships would buy into this is to make the guy who doesn't want to haggle pay more
Really want to save money on a car? Buy a 2-3 year old lease return...
It is a known fact now that you can go directly to a dealer and get a better deal than TrueCar these days so wonder if this service really adds any value!!??