This is the reason it will be hard for Ford to compete with Tesla

[llinthicum1]

It would require legislation to change state franchise laws that largely prohibit direct sales by auto manufacturers.

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[mark360]

I have been reading this thread since it was started and feel that some people here are missing the point and/or being unreasonable or inaccurate. First off, there MAY be a dishonest dealer but based upon my 64 years of being on this Earth, that dealer will not be operating long. There may be an incompetent dealer but, once again, that incompetent dealer will not be a dealer long. I question both definitions being used for "dishonest" and "incompetent".
When I first ordered my MME on the evening of the commercial back in November, 2019, I remember the voice over specifically saying the MME would be produced for sale sometime in "late" 2020. Of course, that was before anyone here ever heard of a COVID virus striking not only America but the world. I applaud Ford and its employees for getting the MME to market as quickly as they have!
How can we get mad really at dealers who did not "communicate"? Heck, those dealers did not actually know any more than we did. Are you going to tell me that those dealers know where all the suppliers are located who provided parts for the MME, that they knew or should have known of the various delays that various suppliers would encounter in their efforts to get their supplies to Ford? Come on now!
Frankly, I am sure that Ford and its suppliers were worrying about how to keep their staff safe, trying to follow the ever changing guidelines, trying to earn a buck so that they could pay that employee. (You can tell, I am an employer as well!)
Let's get real here people and stop complaining. To those of you who do not yet have your car, hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later. I know that I was elated when I got my MME three weeks ago! I love it and I hope that each of you will be driving the roads right with me soon.
I do not believe one iota in the Tesla dealer experience. I have not had an issue buying a car from my dealer at all (Rusty Eck, Wichita, Ks). They have always treated me honestly, professionally and ethically. I also had realistic expectations about communications while waiting for my MME, i.e. I expected they would talk to me when they had something to say.
I do not believe you can really separate the dealership from the service department nor the dealership from the body shop. I have read the Tesla forums where innocent drivers struck a deer or were hit by another car and had to wait absolutely months for parts and until then, had to be without a car, pay for car rental, etc. That is absolutely no way to conduct a business!
The cost of living at different locations in this country are different. Dealers should be able to price their services based upon their market. I do not want to pay in Kansas for that oil change in New York City dollars. That is silly.
So many people in this county just need to shop at that old restaurant that advertised "have it your way" because so many want something their way only and want it now. That does not work in normal circumstances and certainly not where there has been such a disruption of basic business and the deaths of millions world-wide. These are no ordinary times and to act like somehow one is entitled to special treatment is so unbecoming to us.
There really are no "special" people, just people who think they are.

Great post, I think it's sad that so many people forget what value a dealership truly adds to the consumer. Ya know what they say, you don't know what you have till it's gone!

 

[kdukart]

I will go on record saying that I don't think dealerships are generally dishonest or incompetent and agree that those that are will fail. It's that they operate in a system that is not efficient and leads to fits of dishonesty and incompetence. People can only do so much within a flawed system. Their value add is not worth the cost from my perspective and experience. I think there is a better way mainly due to advancements in how we disseminate knowledge and collect data through the internet. I may be completely wrong. In fact, wouldn't be surprised if I were completely wrong, but they are being unnecessarily protected by state laws. If they do indeed add value, then there is no reason for such laws. They will be able to stand on their own.

 

[Dmcerm]

I have been reading this thread since it was started and feel that some people here are missing the point and/or being unreasonable or inaccurate. First off, there MAY be a dishonest dealer but based upon my 64 years of being on this Earth, that dealer will not be operating long. There may be an incompetent dealer but, once again, that incompetent dealer will not be a dealer long. I question both definitions being used for "dishonest" and "incompetent".
When I first ordered my MME on the evening of the commercial back in November, 2019, I remember the voice over specifically saying the MME would be produced for sale sometime in "late" 2020. Of course, that was before anyone here ever heard of a COVID virus striking not only America but the world. I applaud Ford and its employees for getting the MME to market as quickly as they have!
How can we get mad really at dealers who did not "communicate"? Heck, those dealers did not actually know any more than we did. Are you going to tell me that those dealers know where all the suppliers are located who provided parts for the MME, that they knew or should have known of the various delays that various suppliers would encounter in their efforts to get their supplies to Ford? Come on now!
Frankly, I am sure that Ford and its suppliers were worrying about how to keep their staff safe, trying to follow the ever changing guidelines, trying to earn a buck so that they could pay that employee. (You can tell, I am an employer as well!)
Let's get real here people and stop complaining. To those of you who do not yet have your car, hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later. I know that I was elated when I got my MME three weeks ago! I love it and I hope that each of you will be driving the roads right with me soon.
I do not believe one iota in the Tesla dealer experience. I have not had an issue buying a car from my dealer at all (Rusty Eck, Wichita, Ks). They have always treated me honestly, professionally and ethically. I also had realistic expectations about communications while waiting for my MME, i.e. I expected they would talk to me when they had something to say.
I do not believe you can really separate the dealership from the service department nor the dealership from the body shop. I have read the Tesla forums where innocent drivers struck a deer or were hit by another car and had to wait absolutely months for parts and until then, had to be without a car, pay for car rental, etc. That is absolutely no way to conduct a business!
The cost of living at different locations in this country are different. Dealers should be able to price their services based upon their market. I do not want to pay in Kansas for that oil change in New York City dollars. That is silly.
So many people in this county just need to shop at that old restaurant that advertised "have it your way" because so many want something their way only and want it now. That does not work in normal circumstances and certainly not where there has been such a disruption of basic business and the deaths of millions world-wide. These are no ordinary times and to act like somehow one is entitled to special treatment is so unbecoming to us.
There really are no "special" people, just people who think they are.

I certainly don't want to wade too far into this one @NancyF because by now, that eloquent post has been dubbed by many on here (whether MME fans or Tesla Fan-Boy-Spies) as "a reply from a Ford Manchurian Candidate who trolls the forums to defend Ford" but I couldn't agree more with your sentiments. It is not perfect, but I am not sure the Tesla Model is either (naturally, nothing 'man' creates will be). I live in Central PA, and getting to a Tesla Service Center would be a "Day-Off-Of-Work-Affair", all to wonder when I get there, 'how long until the parts come in to do the repair'.

Ford's Dealer Model is not perfect, but as with other Market Economy things, you as the consumer have to shop around. As for it being a pain to 'shop around', well, with as many Ford Dealers as there are around, with in 50 miles of my location, I can find two dozen Ford Dealers, and out of those, one or more will fit your specs for what you don't want charged for... but you can't blame them for try to 'sell' you things. I mean, just based on a Tesla, so you get a 'Direct To Customer' sales model... but think of all the 'after market' items Tesla owners are famous for making videos on!
I am not saying this is bad... all I am saying, is for some, a Dealer is or can be, a one-stop-shop for some... service (usually with in 10 minutes or less of their home... multiple instances of locations really close in many cases), Purchase, Trades, Financing, Service, brand certified aftermarket parts and in most/many cases a friendly, in-person experience... quite literally, 'the way it should be' with "Your Friendly Neighborhood Ford Dealer". Again, dealerships have admittedly done a disservice to their industry with shady deals and shi**y 'car salesmen', but mostly, they are decent people and institutions... but you have to shop around and you also have to be your own advocate.

I have had some not so good experiences at ALL my dealers and some within my close distance, I have chosen to not return to... one of those is in my home town, 3 minutes from my house and I drive 12 minutes across the river to the other Ford Dealer just because they 'have for the most part' treated me well. So it isn't perfect, but someone way smarter than I, needs to come up with a chart of Excel sheet calculating 'time invested in waiting for parts, waiting on hold with Tesla, waiting/worrying how and when Mobile Service... all things that for many can be dealt with at on place, close to their house, with actual humans, like at a dealership.

Again, long winded and both models have flaws, but for me in 'hinterlands of PA' I have more dealers around than I can throw a stone at, as do most, and for many, it's a fine system.

 

[quitepossibly]

The problem with the franchise dealer model is that it is not a market economy. Franchise dealer laws restrict who can sell cars. Those restrictions make the market inefficient.

A perfect market economy assumes that everyone has access to perfect information. That doesn't exist.

 

[Dmcerm]

That is correct, obviously the franchise laws in states that prohibit direct selling are clearly NOT market driven, or good 'ole fashioned Laissez faire... but you do have the choice to shop elsewhere in any state. Even if a person likes the car of a certain company, if the dealer model is that big of a deal and one has had such bad luck, then that should go into not buying a Ford or other Dealer Model Manufacturer.
But I agree, the protections of dealers in today's internet sales day and age should be updated... however, in a place like Michigan, I can see it holding on a lot longer than it has in other states where the dealer protection laws have been amended to allow direct sales.

 

[ab13]

The problem with the franchise dealer model is that it is not a market economy. Franchise dealer laws restrict who can sell cars. Those restrictions make the market inefficient.

A perfect market economy assumes that everyone has access to perfect information. That doesn't exist.

This exists for all kinds of markets, restaurants in particular are franchised. It is very rare, if ever, you will find the same brands next to each other, but you will find competing brands next door and across the street. If you consider cars as generic as fried chicken, then this make sense as far as economics. These would be equivalent to each other on a basic level.

 

[justlookingaround]

There are plenty of people who want/need a car NOW and something like a Tesla model where you order online and wait 3 months isn't going to work for people. So it makes sense for manufacturers to shove off stocking costs to a dealer, and makes sense for the dealer to try to recoup that cost.

In my experience, my dealers have been tireless advocates of getting warranty claims approved, whereas if the service center is corporate they might not be so generous. On the other hand, Apple is excellent at approving warranty replacements at company service centers, so maybe that's not a given.

The sales staff, however, could stand to get a little more training. Any one of you here would make a more knowledgeable salesperson than the purported Mach-E specialist at my dealer. He claimed that there's no fast charging support on the Select (probably confusing the 115/150kw difference, since I'm pointing at the CCS plug right there), and that you can't test the voice commands without having PaaK set up.

We will go back a third time when it's hot outside to see if the pano window is something we can deal with, but really wish they could just leave me alone and not have a ride-along.

 

[Kandiru]

One of the other main reasons is the supercharger Network. Well most non Tesla level 3 charging stations outside of very large urban areas have one bay, superchargers sport 6 to 30 units, I have arrived at the supercharger with half the units broken but still able to charge and leave within 30 minutes.

 

[RedStallion]

Tesla model basically means running dealerships themselves. And when it comes to service, unpredictable price changes, etc. it was a failure because there is no competitive market.
The only part of dealership model Ford and others need to get rid of is the financial side. That's where all the complaints are concentrated. If dealerships would allow ordering, financing, etc. from a web site in the comfort of your home, having ability to do comparison with other offers from other dealerships then all these problems will go away.
Free market will optimize the prices and offers and it's a lot better solution than manufacturer running a dealership.

 

[DamDoc]

I obviously had the exception in the purchase of my Mache here in Maine…. Back in June, 2022, I stopped in at the local Ford place about 4 miles from my house.. They had 3 or 4 Mache’s on the lot (all were accounted for and were said to be unavailable), and they offered to let me test one.. i was blown away by the ride and acceleration…. The dealer said i could signup for one coming in the next month.. another guy there said “hey, wait, I got a guy who has been dragging his feet on the car [the one i liked], let me call him”. He called while i was standing there, and the guy was willing to let it go if he could get his deposit back.. they said they would give the deposit back him, and i said.. “ok.. cash deal today”.. got the car at sticker price which included a $1000 destination fee.. they said they couldnt mark it up per orders of Ford when i asked what the markup was…. So i drove it home.. I was no way intending to buy a car that day! maine has an instant $2,000 incentive, and with the $7,500 ill get back in my federal income tax return, and a $4000 trade in on a 12 year old Honda Accord…. the total for the car was about $36,000 which i thought was a great deal (awd select)…. I had been considering a Tesla, but in maine, there are no tesla service centers (closest was in Peabody, Mass, just north of boston).. they said I would need to take delivery in NJ due to some state law, and drive it home.. didnt want to be EV baptized that way!.. and no close service center if something went wrong…. I guess it depends on the honesty of the Ford dealer..

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