This is just a rant… maybe a discussion starter
Margins on 2nd hand and new electric cars are thin, gone are the days where you could get 25% off a new car, and thin margins mean lower commission.
Servicing costs are minimal so no kickbacks for selling the servicing plans.
People are wise to paint protection and alloy wheel cover that cost more than a refurb.
EV buyers tend to make better decisions and are more likely to be cash buyers or finance elsewhere, so no kickback for selling a finance plan.
Manufacturers still selling higher margin hybrid and ICE vehicles mean they are the real target for salespeople.
Manufacturers also want to shift their ICE inventories and new products so they are still pushing the FUD on electric, and myths like “EVs will be obsolete once Hydrogen cars come out, you may as well get an ICE car in the meantime.”
I’ve had a really bad customer experiences at Toyota, Honda and now Kia dealerships.
I know people will suggest the Tesla online sales model, but Musk is just ruining the brand to the point where I can’t buy or recommend one.
So now I’m going to do all my own research, find the exact car I want, and contact the dealer/seller directly while avoiding as much interaction as possible.
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I bought a new car a couple years ago and was really disappointed in my search to discover that I seemed to know more than the sales people at basically every dealership. The only person I talked to who seemed really knowledgeable was actually not a salesman but a manager at a Ford dealership.
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Service plans are too cheap for EVs so really low commission, plus people know they don’t need any real servicing, it’s a major selling point.
If people didn’t make good decisions they’d let the salesperson talk them into a nice commission rich hybrid.
The guy who told me about Hydrogen cars taking over soon sold my dad his car 25 years earlier, so a career salesman.
I’m calling ahead and telling them the car I’m coming to see and the price I want to pay, if it’s not there or the price changes I’m never coming back.
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Service plans for EVs are less than half the price of ICE equivalents. Half the price means probably half the commission.
Even at half the price they still offer very poor value for money, simply because EV’s don’t need as much maintenance.
Why would you think they could just jack the price up to keep their sales people happy?
My whole point here is that dealerships are going severely downhill as EVs are shifting their business model to the point where they don’t even want to help EV customers, so the customer has to do all the work of researching the right car and options, and finding it themselves.
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You could look it up yourself… Kia Sportage 5 year plan is £1500 EV6 5 year plan is £700 and only includes 2 services consisting of a brake fluid change and a cabin filter, and 3 inspections.
You’re getting a bit rude now so I’ll leave it there, but I’ve bought enough cars to know when a salesperson is totally disinterested in anything other than selling ICE or a finance package.