Craig its got to do with Tesla not region. No Ford vehicle (check FordOnline history) can be sold online anywhere in the country. I believe (wish it wasn't true) that is the case for the vast majority of brands.
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What ways could dealers be more transparent, IDEAS anyone?
- Thread starter Jeff Kershner
- Start date
Define selling cars online. Tesla isn't selling the Model S out of a shopping cart.
Why is everyone so anxious to suddenly change the system that has worked well for decades? That system has always evolved. It has always adapted. Systems are in place. The FTC and DOJ have rules that govern it. Why the compulsion to try to sell cars like Apple sells gadgets? I don't get it. Why wouldn't a dealer want to come up with a process he/she thinks is better than his/her competitors? Why try to change the world? Why try to sell cars the way consumers answer surveys? What's the point? If you have a better mousetrap, use it. Why would you want everyone else to figure it out? If One Price, or something else, works for you, why not keep it a secret? Why try to sell it to the world unless you aren't making enough money selling cars on One Price and are looking for other revenue streams. Once one does that, their "research" no longer has credibility.
The fact is, the current perception of high dissatisfaction is primarily driven by vendors trying to sell stuff. Does anyone really think Scott Painter is trying to save the world from evil car dealers? What are Edmunds and the rest trying to do? Answer: They are trying to make a buck by stoking consumer dissatisfaction. They demonize dealers to attract traffic. They then sell those leads back to the sucker dealers. What's wrong with this equation? We have seen the enemy and they are us.
Why is everyone so anxious to suddenly change the system that has worked well for decades? That system has always evolved. It has always adapted. Systems are in place. The FTC and DOJ have rules that govern it. Why the compulsion to try to sell cars like Apple sells gadgets? I don't get it. Why wouldn't a dealer want to come up with a process he/she thinks is better than his/her competitors? Why try to change the world? Why try to sell cars the way consumers answer surveys? What's the point? If you have a better mousetrap, use it. Why would you want everyone else to figure it out? If One Price, or something else, works for you, why not keep it a secret? Why try to sell it to the world unless you aren't making enough money selling cars on One Price and are looking for other revenue streams. Once one does that, their "research" no longer has credibility.
The fact is, the current perception of high dissatisfaction is primarily driven by vendors trying to sell stuff. Does anyone really think Scott Painter is trying to save the world from evil car dealers? What are Edmunds and the rest trying to do? Answer: They are trying to make a buck by stoking consumer dissatisfaction. They demonize dealers to attract traffic. They then sell those leads back to the sucker dealers. What's wrong with this equation? We have seen the enemy and they are us.
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- Apr 7, 2009
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- Joe
Yup, there it is. We (as an industry) don't even know our websites suck.
- Apr 7, 2009
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News to me Steven, I think you're mistaken. Post your source here. The following players would be interested in your source too.
eBayMotors
GM's Shop-Click-Drive
Dealer.com's Reserve It Now
Carvana
Cox's MakeMyDeal.com
etc...
Joe, those are all lead generating sites (don't be fooled by their names). A consumer cannot buy the car directly from any of them. You configure the vehicle, then go to your local dealer to sign the paperwork.
Do you really think a GM dealer would allow GM to bypass them and sell the vehicle direct?
Do you really think a GM dealer would allow GM to bypass them and sell the vehicle direct?
- May 1, 2006
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- Alex
Here's the future...
Car manufacturers will continue to push to create a fully franchised brand image upon the dealer body (think of McDonalds). Eventually they're going to push harder on complying with a special sales and service process. In the meantime, this will help create a better scalable/predictable business model that investors can utilize to buy more dealerships. In time there will only be a few thousand franchised dealer groups instead of the 12,000ish that exist currently. We think of mega dealer groups as 100 store groups, but tomorrow's 100 store groups could be the average.
Vendors are fighting over who can make a product that scales with the way the industry changes. If more transparency is what makes that happen, then that's the goal. If purchasing a car online is the flavor of the day, then that's the focus. Occasionally something disruptive may come along shifting gears a bit.
I post this to help align some of the thinking in this thread around things that are in the works. There isn't some evil force to point a finger at like a green pea sales rookie would do when he has a bad month. This is all natural business evolution spinning in a world that has been catapulting beyond any level of human imagination since 1900. To think the status quo will remain is wishful thinking, and I feel sorry for anyone who has a fantasy like that. Let's evolve; let's do more!
Car manufacturers will continue to push to create a fully franchised brand image upon the dealer body (think of McDonalds). Eventually they're going to push harder on complying with a special sales and service process. In the meantime, this will help create a better scalable/predictable business model that investors can utilize to buy more dealerships. In time there will only be a few thousand franchised dealer groups instead of the 12,000ish that exist currently. We think of mega dealer groups as 100 store groups, but tomorrow's 100 store groups could be the average.
Vendors are fighting over who can make a product that scales with the way the industry changes. If more transparency is what makes that happen, then that's the goal. If purchasing a car online is the flavor of the day, then that's the focus. Occasionally something disruptive may come along shifting gears a bit.
I post this to help align some of the thinking in this thread around things that are in the works. There isn't some evil force to point a finger at like a green pea sales rookie would do when he has a bad month. This is all natural business evolution spinning in a world that has been catapulting beyond any level of human imagination since 1900. To think the status quo will remain is wishful thinking, and I feel sorry for anyone who has a fantasy like that. Let's evolve; let's do more!
GM's Shop-Click-Drive
Dealer.com's Reserve It Now
Cox's MakeMyDeal.com
All work in conjunction with the dealer's online presence. I have seen dealers sell new cars through eBay as well. Carvana is a very innovative used car dealership - not a "listing site".
@MotorWidget - you started by saying the dealers can't sell online because it's illegal, I think you are mistaken. I've worked with dealerships, for years, where they would deliver the car to the customers home or office and collect signatures there
Dealer.com's Reserve It Now
Cox's MakeMyDeal.com
All work in conjunction with the dealer's online presence. I have seen dealers sell new cars through eBay as well. Carvana is a very innovative used car dealership - not a "listing site".
@MotorWidget - you started by saying the dealers can't sell online because it's illegal, I think you are mistaken. I've worked with dealerships, for years, where they would deliver the car to the customers home or office and collect signatures there
No @ruggles, it is been driven by the mega dealer groups - the AutoNations, the Sonics, etc. and the manufacturers like Toyota and GM. The vendors are just scrambling to provide solutions to the smaller dealerships who don't want get left behind.
@JoePistell - I don't have near the experience what most on this site have. For what it is worth, I agree with this quote.
I don't feel that my customers want to eliminate the dealership experience, I feel that they want to streamline the shopping process and educate themselves. This education ranges from product availability, product selection, pricing, equipment, vehicle reputation, dealership reputation, financing options......all of it!
Anytime that I have a customer traveling a great distance to purchase a vehicle, we explain to them that the vehicle is still on the market and the only way to keep it from being sold while they are in route is to buy it over the phone. They won't. They want to come to the dealership. They want to look at the vehicle. They want to drive it before they buy it. "Buy It Now" is just not a viable business model for me AT THIS POINT. Will that be normal everyday business in the future? Perhaps. Today it is not.
I have been following this site for about a year, and during that time have seen multiple people make similar references. During this same time period, we have launched a completely new website. I believe that it sucks LESS than the old one. My current site averages 3:59 per visit, 16% Bounce Rate, and 4.8 Actions per visit. I am not an expert, but I can tell you these numbers are a whole lot better than they were on my old site.
What is it about the websites in our industry that "suck"? What (in your opinion) do we need to do in order to fix this? We are a small Independent store, and we are not afraid to try new things. If I know and understand what to change, I will do it without hesitation.
I don't feel that transparency is the answer (for what it is worth).
✨ AI Highlights
Dealers debate whether transparency about profit margins can address consumer misconceptions—surveys show 50% of consumers believe dealers make over $2,000 net profit per used car, when the actual average is 2.2%. The consensus that emerges is that transparency about dealer profits is both ineffective and unnecessary; instead, dealers should focus on establishing *credibility* through market-based proof and fair negotiation rather than educating consumers about thin margins, since buyers fundamentally don't care about dealer profitability and won't believe claims of transparency anyway.
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