09-19-2014, 08:49 AM
(09-19-2014, 05:38 AM)The Spaceman_imp Wrote: I guess I'm jaded because I never believe anything a car, bike, or boat dealer advertises. I have to laugh when I see TeeVee ads claiming you can "lease an S-Class Mercedes for only $499 a month," or "get on the water on a 38' twin engine center console for $235 a month." It's utter bullcrap, and anyone with half a gram of sense should know that before they get in the car and head out to the dealer. They've got so many caveats built into that "offer" that Jesus Christ couldn't qualify for it if God co-signed.
Do I think it should be that way? Of course not. But for some reason, we've managed to make buying cars, bikes, and a few other things a humiliating experience for the buyer AND the seller. I have no idea why we do that; we don't haggle over the price of corn down at the grocer like they do in the souks in Saudi Arabia. I hope Tesla and Musk get their way and are allowed to open their "car stores;" bypassing all the dealership crap. Maybe if they do and start eating Bob Dunce Dodge's lunch every day, the dealership "sales model" will change. Nobody ever thought Detroit would eat sushi...
I've been hoping dealerships would go away for many decades. Unfortunately, almost every state has laws protecting automobile dealerships and it's not changing any time soon. The guy that started carsdirect.com almost lost his mind trying to make it so people could buy a new car online, without a dealership (which is why he started truecar.com -- he figured if he couldn't make it so people could buy the car directly, maybe they should be able to get a fair deal via participating dealers).