I can tell you that your study was full of ****, because I know the numbers that are involved in car sales and their estimates are a mile off.

Not only that, but they clearly had a bias as they carefully failed to mention any of the downsides from turning idiot consumers loose on the Internet to order cars.

As for letting any Tom, Dick or Harry do warranty work for the manufacturers, that’ll never ****ing happen. They are very particular about who does the work, and they tended to examine every claim and every part that came off of a car when I was in the business. They don’t want to pay for warranty jobs, my job as a dealer was to act as an advocate for the customer and twist the manufacturer’s arm. Believe me, lots of people got warranty work performed that wouldn’t have happened if the manufacturer had been the only one involved.

But go ahead, read one ****ing article on the Internet and pretend that you know more now about the subject and someone that spent years in the business. You’re as full of **** as a Christmas goose…

People like you that are permanently attached to your personal electronic communication device and wish to only interact with the world by pushing a button, getting free shipping, and all the other happy horse****, are the ones ruining capitalism in this country.

somebodies got their panties in a twist.

middle men don't much like being cut out of the pie.

It’s not so much as that, we just have no tolerance for idiots.

aw, bo hoo. made all your money cause of an anti-market, anti-competitive law. must have been so hard for you.

Well, only one of us has to work for a living and that’s probably you.

Good luck with that.

That is the crucial statement here....The camel's nose in the tent.

Q: What happens when the vertical chain (i.e. vertical trust) becomes commonplace?
A: They will become brand monopolies.

Manufacturers will capture every element of ownership.
(do you really think those savings will be passed along to you?)
All legal emlements of a purchase will become leases of repair restriction clauses.

What will happen to small repair shops and aftermarket parts?
They will have to become "Certified".
And then mftrs will start demanding cuts of profit or other demands to remain so. The tentacles will spread.
Wrapped around their fat fingers and stretched thin.

Take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Automobile_Manufacturers and https://www.repair.org/stand-up/

TL;DR for this thread. Guy that used to own a dealership vehemently defends the dealership model.

Porsche tried it a few decades ago, they didn’t get very far.

Well, thanks for your important contribution to this thread.

TL;DR…. I had to look that up.

I don't have much to add, but..

Tesla tried to do direct to consumer...

They had "showrooms" in local malls, with one or two display cars... and areas , where you could look at interior trim options, etc..

And order your car.. for delivery at your convenience..

https://nypost.com/2014/03/14/ny-dealers-have-tesla-ban-in-sights/

I for one would love direct sales to consumers here in NY...

Dealers here seem to follow the Al Bundy school of sales

My bet is that as Tesla increases their sales, they will start allowing actual privately owned dealerships as they will need more service centres, the system as it is now was a way to get up and running.

So because you don't really want to learn about the issue you just ignore the input of someone that has been there and done that, walked the walk, talked the talk and honestly knows more about the issues than you or I. He is the one that you should first listen to.

If someone started talking total BS about the sign business and your dad said the other person is simply uninformed and ignorant of the issues who would you believe? Someone that read about it on an internet web page of someone that has succefully done it for a living?

Don’t want to learn about the issue? I was responding early on. I’m very aware of the forward March of progress on business, and I see what Tesla and some of the used car companies are doing and that buyers prefer that model. JR is responding with lots of answers that equate to, this will never work because of all these hurdles that were either put in place to solve old problems or, or that are legally required because someone lobbied to protect their bottom dollar. The fact of the matter is, like realtors, most people don’t like the traditional car dealership model. Look at the success Carvana has seen in the used space. Whether you like it or not, progress moves forward and the customers will eventually demand that changes be made. Will they cut out dealers totally? I doubt it. But I think we will see a day when direct to consumer becomes more popular. People are used to going online, looking at the reviews on an item and clicking order. People want easy, and focusing on the way we’ve always done things instead of focusing on what the customers want gets you left out in the dark. Just ask Sears how that turned out.

As far as you question about my dad? He’s been smart enough to see that technology changes his business too, he stays up and has shifted to keep up with current practices. He was one of the first in the area to move to computer controlled plotters back in 1990, the first sign shop in the area to sell digital displays, billboards, etc. most of what’s been said in this thread isn’t total BS, and is showing what the consumers feel about the car business. Just because it hasn’t been done that way in the past, doesn’t mean it can’t be done that way in the future.

Be careful what you ask for…

Someday you might wake up and find there’s nothing left in this country but needy little consumers that can no longer make a living.

You are stating to sound like Tabs.

Just because there’s a more efficient way to do business, you think the whole economy is going to collapse and no business will be there to provide goods and services?

You assume that your way is more efficient…

The same tasks that are done now will need to be done then, you think that having all of that centralized is going to be a good plan?

How does the federal government do, when it’s tasked with doing something that was formerly done by private industry?

You’re right, massive companies can’t find ways to centralize their business, own the supply chain from the beginning to the consumers doorstep at a global scale and do it more efficiently than having multiple intermediaries.


**** guess the place I work is all built on a farce. I better put in my notice now.

Like I said before, just because YOU can’t see a way to make it work, doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

My experience, working as a contractor for some of the biggest corporations in America, is that they are grossly inefficient. And they are getting far worse, with each passing decade. The stories I could tell…

What are you doing now? Who do you work for?

Process improvement at Amazon.

guaranteed minimum income for all.

Tax the owners of the robots, per robot, to pay the unemployed masses.

DL