Hours spent trying to get someone to buy a car they have no intention of buying are hours NOT spent making sales commissions.
You’re saying this like a day for me has no value
This is in comparison with protesting there for that time
Which is also a waste of time. Protesting in front of a car dealership is just dumb.
Destroying Elon’s wealth has value.
It’s a great idea actually. People buy vehicles for reasons other than practicality. No one is buying a cybertruck because they’re looking for a practical vehicle. It’s all vibes. If people see Tesla dealerships being picketed, they know that there will be a lot of people who judge them harshly for buying a Tesla. And aside from some right wing asshats, no one really wants that kind of heat on them just for buying a damn car. People buy expensive cars because they want to be seen as cool. Protests serve to make Teslas as uncool as possible.
And that’s why you didn’t hear about it happening
Except it isn’t because Tesla dealers don’t work like traditional dealers.
They’ll leave you to drive one unattended and then tell you to reserve online if you want to buy.
They don’t earn commission. They have no incentive to let you waste their time.
You underestimate the power of social norms. If you start talking and ignore their social cues, they’re not very likely to kick you out or cut you off.
If only we had a small army of awkward people who really wanted to talk about their specific hobby. But where could we find those?
Bingo. Just go test drive a vehicle. I test drove a Cybertruck, it was awful, but it costs Tesla the most for a test drive. Maybe slap an inflammatory bumper sticker on it to help others hate Elon as much as you already do.
Tesla used to famously not have commissioned sales. It’s one of the reasons the buying process was so much better than a dealership honestly, no pressure to buy, and they had absolutely no control of the pricing or need to inflate a sale.
At one point they received general bonuses based on overall deliveries, but not on a per-vehicle basis that they interacted with.
Before I bought my Model 3, the “sales” person literally just took me on a test drive, then showed me the standard Tesla.com website to configure what I was looking for. And based on my experience in retail sales myself at the time, they clearly were there to advise and had no ball in the court when it came to whether I bought it through them, or even if I bought one at all.
Not sure if that changed in the last 5 years or so, but I doubt it switched to that type of system since that would mean Tesla having to implement an entire process to handle commissioned sales when they clearly would prefer people just buy them online.
Tesla doesn’t have traditional sales staff. They’re more like showroom managers. All you’d be doing is giving them foot traffic that makes them more attractive to passerbys.
Not really. Most Teslas are sold online.
Pretend you have no concept of electric cars.
“Diesel or gas? Where do you fill it up? Yeah I know how electric cars work, don’t treat me like an idiot. I’m asking where does the fuel go?”
Channel your inner grandpa when being shown the touchscreen. Firmly stab and hold your finger on the screen when pushing buttons. I’m told they don’t have parking brakes, so insist to be shown where the park brake is.
Ask how many miles to the gallon. Haggle endlessly. Make them show you the engine.
Better yet. Return it with the trunk filled with gasoline.
“Don’t worry, I went ahead and topped off the tank for you.”
Or
“Damn it! I pressed too hard and the touch screen broke!”
Or if driving a cybertruck:
“I wanted to be a good neighbor, so I went ahead and ran it through the car wash. ‘Car wash mode?’ What the hell is that?”
No.
Doug Stanhope has a great bit from his special
He’s a great crass alcoholic comedian. You know he’s great in that he’s both cancelable and not really on the joe Rogan radar.
Another recent fun bit so you kinda get who he is if you’re unfamiliar.
Fox news picked him up as maybe some ally. Yeah. No.
And if you’re smitten, well Idngive you the gold but it’s off YouTube.
It’s been scrubbed from the internet but if you put in your pirate cap, find ‘before turning the gun on hinself’, because the last 20-30 minutes is masterful.
Unfortunately they don’t have traditional salespeople. They don’t make commission and probably wouldn’t mind talking to someone.
