1/14 “And I'd point out, I've had a root canal before, and I would agree, Elon. It was less painful than buying a car.” That’s how Adam Jonas described legacy car dealerships at the last $TSLA CC. Musk agreed.
Here’s my own recent buying experience.
Here’s my own recent buying experience.
2/14 A couple of weeks ago, my daughter found herself in need of a replacement car. Knowing this day would eventually come, we had tentatively planned that she would buy Mrs. Drive’s car. And Mrs. Drive would drive a new one.
3/14 Rules of the game: The list of standard features in cars these days is so encompassing that we decided to shop only base models. Mrs Drive was looking for a small SUV something in the size/utility of a Tesla Model Y. I set off to find the internet’s best deal on a small SUV.
4/14 As Jonas suggested, getting an online quote from Tesla was painless. You just click "Next" four or five times. White base model Y: $53k. That’s Tesla’s lowest price SUV.
For legacy makers, I searched dealer stock in a 60-mile radius.
For legacy makers, I searched dealer stock in a 60-mile radius.
5/14 Toyota RAV4: $26.5k. Half the price of the Y, but only selling with a $2250 discount. I expected more.
Ford Escape: $22,7k, $4200 discount. Now that’s more like it.
Honda CR-V: no sale pricing online; you have to contact the dealer. Next.
Ford Escape: $22,7k, $4200 discount. Now that’s more like it.
Honda CR-V: no sale pricing online; you have to contact the dealer. Next.
6/14 Next was Chevy Equinox: $20.5k, a whopping $7000 discount for a cash customer like myself. I saw that there were only 2 LS models out of some 100 Equinoxes in inventory. I did an online chat to verify availability and exchanged emails with a salesman the next day.
7/14 The salesman confirmed the price, discounts, tax, title, license, and doc fees. I told him I could commit to purchase sight unseen. We set up a time for delivery the next day. He did not ask for down payment, credit card, or anything else.
8/14 Delivery day: Things seemed strangely normal at the dealership. They had some new car customer traffic and some people in the service lobby. Our car was ready in the prep garage. Based on Tesla delivery checklists, I gave it a meticulous inspection.
9/14 Paint quality – check. Wheel scuffing – check. Panel gaps – check. Upholstery – check. Window/door seals – check. VIN number – check. Honestly, if there was anything that needed attention, I would have had it fixed before signing the check. The car was perfect.
10/14 I don’t know how Tesla does new car orientation in 10 min. It took about 30 min for the salesman to navigate us through every setup menu on the touch screen and show us all the features of the car. He was wonderfully knowledgeable and helpful.
11/14 He assured us that there were no safety-critical beta features that we had to agree to. Lane-keeping steering assist and emergency braking were fully validated on the car. Back inside to sign papers. I admit that I had my “no add-ons” speech ready.
12/14 Sure enough, the extended warranty paper was on top of the pile. But he simply said, “We offer this, are you interested?” “No, I’m really not”, I replied. He said, “Initial this to show that I’ve offered it.” Same with the optional paint protection.
13/14 All of the license/title/tax documents were prepared in advance. The sum total was identical to the number provided in the email 24hrs earlier. I wrote the check and we drove back into the sunset.
14/14 So despite the fear mongering of the venerable analyst, we suffered no pain. Online shopping was painless. Online dealer contact was painless. Online price confirmation was painless. No bait-and-switch. It was a perfect buying experience.
