[Porsche-O-Phile]

Dealerships (particularly private) still cling tenaciously to the archaic model of luring people into their lot, holding them hostage and subjecting them to all kinds of head games / sales tactics. That nonsense pisses me off to no end. Ads that don't post a price and instead just say "call" get skipped automatically. I want salespeople out of the process to the maximum extent possible. I never have and never will trust one and I don't see what value they bring to my experience as a buyer or why I ought to pay for it. What exactly is the "value add" to me? Simply put there is none. It's pure overhead expense that can be cut out and possibly result in my getting a better car (my same dollars go further). I'd rather see a few hundred extra bucks go towards a better model than into some schlocker's pocket for doing / contributing nothing.

I would absolutely buy a car online - I've done it a few times already actually (two on eBay, three on CL and another from CarMax) and it's always ended up working out okay. If I forget to ask a specific question then it's on me for not being thorough; obviously that's different from someone deliberately not disclosing a known / obvious problem or lying / evasively responding to a question about something.

I like Tesla's model too (which this also is similar to in some respects) - heavily online-based, NOT sales focused, straight-to-home delivery, fixed pricing, etc. the fact that the mafioso dealership consortium pitched such a snit about it (particularly in places like NJ) tells me what I already knew - they're pissed off that their gravy train model of robbing people blind is starting to come to an end. they remind me of Blockbuster Video, the MPAA or RIAA - clinging to their outdated old models of raping other people to line their own pockets, contributing little or no value, then feigning indignation when reality catches up to them as customers start leaving them in droves, enabled by new technologies.

I can't wait for this sort of reality to start happening with housing/real estate sales as well (and insurance, which it already has to some extent - agents are going the way of the dodo in many states that don't require them by law). It bothers me that governments have succumbed to lobbying efforts by various industries like these over the year to create these protected enclaves of outdated institutions. Our tax money props up entire populations of people who really contribute very little to society and yet feel entitled to huge commissions which end up costing buyers a lot of money. As an architect I'm lucky to get an 8% commission on the design of a new house. For that I assume responsibility (and liability) for safety, compliance with codes, civil rights statutes / ADA, etc. My education and training is very expensive and specialized and I need to understand everything from engineering principles to history to art to psychology to hydrology and apply it successfully on a daily basis. it can take many hours of my time to get a design finalized and executed. Why should someone with no special skills are training be entitled to almost the same fee for doing absolutely nothing other then walking perspective buyers through the thing when it's done?