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.
Did exactly that. I also have a column for ‘do I fit’ since I’m quite tall. Every time I show the Excel spreadsheet at dealerships it changes the conversation. They realize it won’t be an immediate sale and relax a good bit.
The cheapest cars I found that fit me were the vw id4 and the Ioniq 5.
Also highly recommend asking people to negotiate over the phone and get term sheets before you get there.
That whole ‘do you want the extended warranty’ and ‘do you want financing’ and ‘I’m sorry I can’t take that charge off the bill’ BS is all done because it works.