There is some part of me that felt as if the launch of the Scout brand was Volkswagen essentially trying to start over in America after far too many years failing to offer products that Americans actually want. This rebirth would start with a brand that has a rich American heritage; a Detroit headquarters near talent and a strong supply base; U.S. planners making product decisions with an early focus on SUV and trucks (the U.S.’s favorite segments); a plant in the less-unionized South; and a sales and service model that cuts out dealerships. This article is about that last part; let’s take a deep dive into how Scout plans to sell and service the Traveler, Terra, and whatever else is coming next.
Last week’s Scout announcement pretty much vaporized the internet as folks went gaga over two beautifully styled off-roaders with a unique powertrain that could be perfect for the 2024 market. But as amazing as the two products are, it was the sales/service presentation that really surprised me.
Volkswag — aherm, Scout — said during its presentation last week: “If an OEM could start over again, what would they do?” One answer apparently involves selling cars directly to consumers using an app as well as brick-and-mortar locations spread around the country. These locations will not be dealerships, but rather studios and workshops, meant to display vehicles and allow for service. The actual purchase of the vehicle is to be done entirely digitally and is meant to be as easy as “ordering a T-Shirt on Amazon.”
Let’s jump into the presentation, which begins with a Table of Contents showing six main sections of Scout’s sales and service plan: Direct Customer Relationships, Transparent Pricing, National Network, Speed in Purchasing and Servicing, Seamless Digital Integration, and Long-Term Customer Commitment:
Scout Thinks Interacting With Customers Will Give Them Helpful Data
The first few slides basically discussed how Volks — I keep doing that, sorry, how Scout — cutting out dealerships is going to yield benefits for the company. Scout’s VP of Growth, Cody Thacker, mentioned that eschewing dealers and instead “Selling Scouts to Scout owners at Scout-owned Sales Locations” allows the company to interact directly with the customer. The benefits of this, per Thacker, is unified marking and branding, as well as a “360-degree view of the customer.”
Basically, Scout believes that having a dealership between it and a customer limits the insights the company can gain about the consumer. That’s one thing that Scout emphasized: It wants customer data so it can gain deep insights to make smart decisions. (Note that CEO Scott Keogh said earlier in the day, in the really well-done speech that impressed many journalists, that “Our customers will never become our products,” so Scout apparently isn’t planning on selling customer data).
As you can see, Scout anticipates higher returns for its company (and also promises lower prices for the consumer, though I’d be surprised) by going direct-to-consumer; it says this setup allows for more nimbleness compared to a dealer model — the ability to scale back or crank up volume more quickly in certain markets.
What’s more, Scout says a model in which it is interacting directly with consumers — and not through dealers — lets the company more easily launch targeted incentive programs based on where vehicle sales are succeeding and where they are falling short. Plus, Scout says it can understand the vehicle weaknesses better in different markets, it no longer has to worry about vehicles being offered with options that consumers don’t want, and what’s more, Scout says it expects a reduction in warranty expenses. (I later asked about how this model could reduce warrant expenses, and the answer, as I understood is, is that it comes down to having more granular data; you can know things like the training level of techs in certain regions, you can make sure parts are located near where they’re most needed, etc.)
You’ll see on this slide that Scout mentions a 50% reduced cost of retail operations as a result of this direct-sales model:
Scout Says Dealers Aren’t Enthusiastic Enough About EVs
This next slide is an interesting one. Scout said that, when it comes to launching a new brand and network, you need full engagement and enthusiasm. Apparently, there’s not enough of that going around, because — per this slide below — 81 percent of dealers don’t have EVs for sale and 50 percent of those said “they wouldn’t sell EVs regardless of inventory availability.”
Scout says its model will ensure that customer-facing representatives are all on the same company page.
This next slide is about transparent pricing. Scout mentioned how “Auto Buying is slow and cumbersome,” noting that it typically takes 13 hours and 31 minutes to buy a car these days. I’ve seen similar figures from Cox Automotive, though the number appears to include shopping. Scout’s point, I suppose, is that you won’t have to shop around, since you’ll have one simple price without hidden fees/markups, and you’ll just buy online, quickly and easily.
Scout Says Dealerships Have Broken Trust, Aren’t The #1 Go-To For Service
The next point Scout made was that dealerships have broken consumers’ trust. “Only 8 percent of consumers say they have high or very high trust in car dealers,” Thacker said, pointing to tens of thousands of FTC complaints.
One thing Scout’s VP of Growth mentioned is that Scout thinks Americans find buying and servicing their cars frustrating, noting that 31 percent of people prefer to have their cars serviced at their dealer, with more preferring independent shops. Thacker doesn’t think this should be the case. The dealer, Scout believes, should be most people’s number 1 choice.
Not Dealerships, But Studios And Workshops
The next part of the presentation was called “National Presence,” and it was about Scout building studios and workshops around the country, with an emphasis on service at the workshops.
You’ll notice that Scout plans for a quarter of all service requests to be fulfilled by “Scout Mobile Service Units” that will actually drive to the customer instead of the other way around.
Here’s a look at Scout “rooftops” planned between 2027 and 2032. Scout also says it expects 85 percent of Scout owners to be within 200 miles of one of these rooftops:
Scout then went on to show us what the actual physical Scout locations will look like.
Scout Studios
First, there’s the Scout Studio. It includes product displays and allows customers to make reservations on-site. Scout has already built a pilot studio, which focuses on the history of the Scout brand:
In the future, Scout Studios will display vehicles and accessories.
Scout Workshops
Then there are Scout Workshops. 80 percent of the workshop floor space will be work stalls for repair, with 20 percent being for customers, sales advisors, and service advisors.
Scout emphasized radical transparency, saying customers will be “located very close to [their] vehicle,” which is more appealing now that service for an electric vehicle is a fairly clean process compared with service for ICE-powered vehicles.
Scout Experience Center
The third physical Scout location is the “Scout Experience Center.” It’s not clear how many of these will exist, but there will at least be one at the factory in Blythewood, South Carolina.
The Scout Experience Center will offer sales and service support, with products displayed prominently. Scout plans to offer a factory delivery program, as well as an “off-road driving experience.”
The inside will be community-focused and comfortable, Scout said, showing this rendering:
How To Buy And Fix A Car Through Scout’s App
Scout says it’s sales and service model is “digital first,” so Stewart Dixon, Senior Director, Digital Product Management at Scout Motors, walked us through what Scout ownership should look like from the customer’s perspective.
Here’s a chart showing the interaction between the digital and physical. You’ll be able to configure the car online, but you can test drive it in person. You’ll go through an onboarding and checkout process (which goes through all the financing terms), and then you’ll take delivery in person. If you need service, you can make appointments via an app before bringing the car in (or having a mobile service unit arrive). You can also buy accessories online, make referrals (a la Tesla), while hanging out at Scout locations to make friends:
Dixon showed an example of how someone might schedule a service appointment via a digital assistant named Dean.
Notice how the digital assistant has already communicated with the vehicle to get some baseline information prior to talking with the owner:
The assistant gives the owner options to choose to attempt to diagnose the issue:
It even suggests a few solutions:
Here the digital assistant has diagnosed the issue as a window regulator failure:
And here the app gives the owner a repair estimate, an option for other overdue repairs, and the option to schedule a repair from a Mobile Service Workshop:
Here you can see when the mobile technician will arrive:
And here’s how payment happens after the repair has been completed:
How It All Comes Together
Here you can see how the Scout Digital Platform interacts with every element of Scout ownership:
And here Scout showed its service capacity, with a 136 percent compound annual growth rate between 2027 and 2032 (if I understand this right, that’s how much, on average, the service capacity is growing each year):
Bringing all this in-house, Scout says, will allow the company to share service information across all service centers. Scout thinks this could help it predict repairs, using a combination of the customer’s concern, a deep vehicle history, and a deep service history to determine what’s wrong.
You can see above that Scout anticipates that 80 percent of all repair types will be able to be done by a mobile service unit.
Here’s a breakdown of Scout warranty coverage, in case you’re interested:
And here’s Scout’s final slide on its sales/service model:
Here’s the short of the presentation:
- Scout says a direct-sales model allows it to offer a more unified brand and marketing experience marked by a “universal, consistent, high-quality customer experience.” In addition, this allows Scout “full visibility into demand tunnel.”
- The customer gets a “fast, easy, predictable buying experience” with price transparency, but still the option for local demos and product consultation.
- Scout’s locations will employ people who are excited about the product, with “full focus, enthusiasm, and expertise.” Those locations will be “right-sized [and]…highly flexible.”
- Scout says offering sales and service in-house offers cost efficiency
- Servicing will be scheduled quickly utilizing AI and OTA updates
- A single app will connect sales/service/other elements of the customer experience.
- There will be various studios for sales/demos, workshops for repairs, and availability for mobile service.
The best way to summarize it all is probably this quote by CEO Scott Keogh, as noted by Reuters:
“I think it’s critical moving into the future in unstable environments to control your customer, control your margin, control your operational excellence,” Keogh said, referring to the direct sales plan.”
There’s obviously a lot more to learn about how all this will work, especially given restrictions in certain states that ban direct-sales. Plus there’s that crazy TZEV warranty that CARB states require — is Scout ready to commit to 15 years, 150,000 miles? VW dealers aren’t thrilled to see any of this, so we’ll see how it plays out.
Top graphic images: Scout Motors; Used Cars via YouTube
VW dealers have an awful rep, no way should they be given another brand to trash. Factory owned dealers won’t work for a vehicle that purports to be “go anywhere”. But why not let International Truck dealers sell and service Scouts? International’s biggest asset for decades has even the breadth and quality of their dealer network, and they tend to be honest dealers who know better than to cheat a customer and lose them for life. They’re also well situated in rural areas and their service departments open early and stay open late- A real advantage in vehicles intended to go “out there’ day and night!
My parents experience owning an International Scout was far from an honest, valued, quality experience. More a horror story of the usual car dealer variety. This was 45 or so years back and a change if ownership so maybe they’ve upped their game. I wouldn’t be willing to take the risk due to the association with VW and car dealers in general.
Ah, car dealers. They also sold them build to order at tractor dealers and heavy truck dealers.
I was shocked when I moved to the eastern United States and discovered that people used Scouts like cars, Where I grew up they mostly were sold with PTO shaft and were used like tiny unimogs with insecticide sprayers, mowers, or welding machines attached. Or snowploughs, but not in the Central Valley.
My mother worked for IH in Winnipeg when she was younger. That was the motivator for them to buy the thing. I don’t recall ever seeing one on a farm in Sask. That was all big three 1/2 and 3/4 tons and dedicated equipment. That Scout Traveller was okay for what it was. It was a huge rustmonster and rotted out all four fenders in about 5 years.
Yes, all the ones in upstate NY got repurposed as snowplows after they rusted out. California only has dairy farm acid fog rust.
Dad donated it to one of the local reservations where it was used it as a training subject for the rez kids to learn bodywork and car repair. It was ultimately repurposed as a hunting truck. Dad was friends with most of the leadership of the local reservations around Regina and was always working some kind of deals for them
There’ 8%?
I kinda hope more adopt the selling model they’re talking about. I generally handle as much of a sale over email in advance, and even that can be a PITA. Buying a Tesla was the easiest buying experience of a car I’ve ever had. The process is really well thought out, and I really want my next buying experience to be exactly like that (I just don’t want it to be a Tesla).
Seems like a pretty detailed plan, but planning is easy and execution is hard.
I was sort of hoping that they would just delegate servicing to the trunk monkey.
Or optionally send you or your mechanic the parts and instructions to DIY.
Or just use Torch to chainsaw the batteries!
Glad to see the practice of totally ripping customers off by charging 4x what an air filter is worth will outlive the dealership model!
Hey, Rube…
Since I’m 6’6″ tall, ordering a T-shirt on Amazon isn’t all that easy, since so many are going to be belly shirts on me. So I guess the statement still holds, sort of, and for basically the same reason, only it would be more accurate to say “Just as treacherous as ordering a T-shirt on Amazon”.
You short people can order whatever you want, and maybe get a stiff pillow to sit on if you can’t see over the steering wheel. For me, I have to make sure my head’s not pressed against the ceiling when the seat can’t go lower. Online ordering won’t work for me unless they also have the same return policy. Can I just drop it off at the UPS store and show my barcode?
I fit into this demographic and wholeheartedly agree. We live in a mis-sized world.
My issues are smaller.
And lest anyone think that this vehicle is large enough it won’t matter, I have recently discovered just how bad the ergonomics of my old truck were for a tall person. The new one is so much more comfortable. Just because the vehicle is big it doesn’t mean the passenger space is.
I am pretty sure this experience will be worse in every way. Apparently 2 shops per state by 2030. What are they building charging stations. Orders of options customer doesn’t want? I’m pretty sure it was manufacturers who started the option package and then forced crap noone wanted. Where do you think cable TV got the idea. Mobile repair is an idea I am interested in but unless you have an idea on how to setup a mobile vehicle lift on the streets of Manhattan or other city how will that work? I don’t see why you can’t contract with a few national auto repair chain to honor warranty claims in exchange for official repair shop for Scout. But who am I? Just the guy with all the answers. Lol
Sounds ambitious. I hope they don’t need to become profitable anytime soon.
For those of us poor souls who live in WA, the “experience” will consist in being told “oh you can absolutely try a Scout, in either California or British Columbia, shall we help you book an appointment?” … and it’s not VW’s fault obviously but won’t help breaking into the market (see: Lucid).
Not to be pedantic but if you’re in western WA, there will probably be a center within an hour of Seattle. Prime market here. Lucid opened one of their first stores not far from where I live.
You are right, I am sure they will have a showroom in Seattle, but only to show the car, no test-drive or buy it. That is what the Lucid Studio in Seattle is. You can sit in the car, that’s it. Same with Rivian. Tesla got grandfathered in, but right now sales have to go through a dealership, can’t be direct. (Not blaming VW here, the State legislature did this).
Sounds like me trying to rent a U-Haul car trailer. “We don’t have one at the location you reserved at [which is already half an hour away], but we have ONE each at these two other places [which are over an hour away] and we can’t hold them for you anyway.”
I wish there was a better option. I’m tempted to buy my own trailer, but I currently don’t have a place to store it part of the year.
I’m really surprised they aren’t leveraging the VW connection to just use those dealerships, at least for repairs. Yeah this pie in the sky is nice, but people also like being able to get their stuff fixed locally without hassle.
With VWs poor reputation who really thinks the connection would be positive?
I’m reminded of the story of the small town where doctors had to hang a bloody flag whenever they lost a patient, one clinic had notably less flags than the others, so people were flocking to it, upon meeting the doctor he exclaims “not sure why I’m so popular, I just started out.”
This sounds like the automotive equivalent to Star Citizen! Good thing the $100 is refundable.
I love it. If they can simply not be as stupid as Ineos has been, they’ll be in pretty good shape. Because Ineos has been beyond stupid with their Gren roll out.
So the consumer experience could go from:
Go to dealership, talk to a sales guy who has near zero knowledge and just talks about wanting to quit his job, go on a short test drive, have the dealership promise they will find the car you want if you give them a deposit, a couple weeks later have them try to sell you a car that is missing a key option, such as heated seats in an EV, then have the sales manager cuss you out for “cheating” on them by setting foot in a different dealership and refuse to give the deposit back, and finally after a month getting the car as promised. Then, any warranty work is a pain, as no dealerships want to deal with it, or their one trained technician quit, etc.
To:
Go to studio, talk to someone who actually knows useful information, drive around an offroad track in the back, order the car you want, and have it delivered. And have the opportunity to directly give feedback to the OEM on what features you would like to see in the vehicle. And if any warranty work is needed, they might show up to your house and take care of it?
Seems like a lot of potential improvement to me. But I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath.
Don’t forget about when you place a factory order, the car is built, and then disappears at the dealer because they sold it out from under you.
Or when you thought you had agreed to a price when you ordered, only for them to hold it hostage for an extra markup when it comes time to hand over the keys.
But remember, the dealers are here to advocate for us with those evil OEMs. We need them in the middle!
Oh, easy to add more stuff, like yelling at you for using their EV charger without leaving the keys, since they had another customer who wanted to charge, but they “couldn’t unplug the vehicle without the keys”, just didn’t want the post to get too long…
And the manufacturer or studio manager won’t screw you for a $20k or two?
No they won’t. They have zero role in setting the price.
How are they going to try and hold me up for markup or TruCoat when I bought the car already?
God you believe all that? The number of studios after 5 years is 2 per state average. Drive to the studio hours or days away. Educated salesman? I don’t think any real smart sales person is going to base their livelihood on a boutique vehicle with no cache or history. I wouldn’t unless guaranteed pay no commission. If you are going to have a track to test drive behind that tank mahal studio figure in the middle of nowhere or $100 million per studio. After decades of car ownership it isn’t getting feedback from owners it is creating a way to give and listen to feedback. They only want the feedback that supports their preconceived notions.
“A 360 degree view of the customer?” Does that mean their site will let you see how you’d look in a Scout?
Oh, man, this Scout makes my ass looks fat!
Also, do they offer free returns if you’re dissatisfied with your purchase after delivery?
It would be nice if they offered a la carte options instead of bundling them into packages that might have X things I want and 2X things I do not want.
How about a way to order interior for male/ female or fat vs skinny or tall vs short.
It sounds to me like a well practiced PowerPoint with happy bullet points. I buy one of these and within 5 years, there will be a factory store within 200 miles. What could go wrong here?
I bought my International pickup from some guy on Craigslist ten years ago and if I ever get a Scout I imagine I’ll do it the same way. Probably not from the same guy, though, as he didn’t have a Scout.
You’ll notice that Scout plans for a quarter of all service requests to be fulfilled by “Scout Mobile Service Units” that will actually drive to the customer instead of the other way around.
Meh. How about instead of this and the bullshit of “on site customer experience” they just come ASAP after I call, put the thing on a flatbed, take it away somewhere out of sight to be serviced and have it back where it was before I need it or even realize it was gone?
I could do without the “on site customer experience” as well, but what’s the gripe with them showing up and doing mobile repairs?
Nothing except where are they going to work? My garage? My driveway? I don’t want to have to be home for them to work. The street? What if they find they need a part or tool they don’t have?
Bringing the car to a repair facility is safer and less prone to liability.
Maybe they’ll have a Spyhunter-style truck where they can carry lots of parts and upgrades and do the work in a controlled environment.
As fun as a real life F.L.A.G. Mobile Unit sounds I think it would piss off the neighbors to have a semi blocking the road all day (because where are you going to park it?).
OTOH such a mobile unit could do as I suggested, pick up the car and take it away to where their IS parking for a semi.
This is the way. If my personal vehicle is operable I expect to be able to drive onto/into it on the highway, as well.
Yes, yes, and yes. Mobile mechanics do that all the time and if you’re worried about liability it can be assumed Scout will have that covered. The point of showing off their app was that they can do remote diagnostics and have parts and tools ready when they arrive, hopefully with others in reserve just in case. If they still aren’t prepared enough then they could still probably take your vehicle to the service center anyway.
I’ve never used a mobile mechanic, only home repair guys and they run into problems all the time.
I imagine the remote diagnostics can only do so much diagnosis too. There will be unforeseen issues, probably involving corrosion because the cheapskate owner didn’t spring for the Trucoat.
Yeah and I recognize I’m being very optimistic here but I think they’ve got the right idea at heart. Time will tell.
Rosy promises have never worked. Figure rich first buyers in cities like NYC. Where is the mobile unit going to work.
The answer might be where a moving truck would park. Which begs the question – how long will that mobile unit be there before getting yelled at by Officer Friendly for blocking the hydrant/driveway/curb/traffic?
Like Tesla? Works well for them right?
Does it? I don’t own a Tesla.
VAG tech bro #1: “Hey, we need to disrupt the service experience”
VAG tech bro #2: “OK, let’s take OBD data and add a chatbot layer”
VAG tech bro #1: “Will that disrupt?”
VAG tech bro #2: “I dunno, but we can monetize all the data because the app will be opt-in and we’ll have a hella long EULA that nobody will read.”
VAG tech bro #1: “So like DoorDash for parts?”
VAG tech bro #1: “Yeah and engagement”
VAG tech bro Manager: “ship it”
“I dunno, but we can monetize all the data because the app will be opt-in and we’ll have a hella long EULA that nobody will read.”
And that my friends is how we all end up as a HUMANCENTiPAD.
As if you needed another reminder in the article that Scout is owned by VW, the failed part in the example is a window regulator….
“Please select ‘YES’ if you’d like for us to revert your windows to hand crank.”
I applaud the realism.
It’s the most believable part of the presentation.
I don’t know how you can be happy about these cars after reading this. You are now a product of the service department on a whole new level. 100 locations by 32′ and I’ll eat my hat. This product won’t ever probably even happen.
Read- The other article right now about VW closing plants in Germany, something I think they vowed to never do? I am sure plugging billions into this endeavor will happen right on schedule.
In what way does this make customers “a product of the service department”?
What’s more, Scout says a model in which it is interacting directly with consumers — and not through dealers — lets the company more easily launch targeted incentive programs based on where vehicle sales are succeeding and where they are falling short. Plus, Scout says it can understand the vehicle weaknesses better in different markets, it no longer has to worry about vehicles being offered with options that consumers don’t want, and what’s more, Scout says it expects a reduction in warranty expenses. (I later asked about how this model could reduce warrant expenses, and the answer, as I understood is, is that it comes down to having more granular data; you can know things like the training level of techs in certain regions, you can make sure parts are located near where they’re most needed, etc.)
Where does that data come from? How are these new targeted ad’s delivered? I’m reading between the lines but this reads 100% beneficial to VW and not the driver in the long run. Maybe VW will surprise me with robust morals and safeguard everything, not sell a drop of data to insurance or 3rd parties and in no way mine your data while connected to the wifi.
edit: Yes there will be some benefit if they really do offer builds that people want and not ones that make them the most money. But having parts and stuff available and knowing training levels doesn’t need more information than is already available to anyone at the dealer.
The data comes from customers interacting with the app and the service center employees. Though it’s hard to trust CEOs these days, they have said they intend not to sell customer data, as mentioned in the article:
Username checks out.
Not sure I catch your drift
That is like 2 studios per state. Even if it happens it is like 10% of needed. It is charging stations all over again
Good luck. Dealership groups and the powers behind them are pretty powerful.
If it means not involving VWoA all the more, then that’s an improvement.
That said, Scout could take a leaf from their corporate overload/sugar daddy’s book, and offer their own take on #199 398 500A, but American. Maybe a line of sausages and other ready-to-cook/heat wares for campfires and the like with eco-friendly packaging?
Oscar Mayer edition!
It does take way too long to buy a car from a dealer. I have bought 2 from a dealer in the past year– one new, one used. Time on site at the dealer in both cases was more than 6 hours. Who has time for that?
i think my fastest ever was about 2 hours. longest was about 6..
it is pure nonsense that this hasnt been streamlined at all.
It is a feature (for them), not a bug (which it is, for us).
Besides the total lack of marketed cars that I’d be interested to drive (disclaimer: “fun” is high on my list, and most cars sold get people from A to B with as little fun as possible), Dealer Experience is high on the list.
You can’t really have fun on a test drive anyhow.
The last motorcycle I bought was done under an hour. The last car was around 3.
They all use the same paperwork. There’s no reason it should take that much longer.
My experience buying motorcycles from dealers is vastly superior to buying cars from dealers. None of my bike buys took longer than an hour, all my car buys were beyond awful.
You control your time at the dealership. Know your vehicle. State your lowest offer allow them to state their best offer if it is too high say thanks and stand up. Then you get their best offer. Say okay out the door if anyone mentions for a few more dollars a month I’m out of here looking at the name a dealership offer. Don’t be afraid to be an asshole to an asshole. By the time you are 60 you might enjoy it. It relieved stress and u can be nicer to other nice people.
better yet, show up for a test drive, make a contact and leave. after deciding on car and options, do all the haggling over email, making sure you agree on out the door price and VIN. Then show up, sign the papers, and take the car. my last 2 purchases were under 2 hours total in dealerships. If they try to change the deal (and they will), get up and leave. they’ll stop you at the door or call you the next day.
The past few years I had to buy two company trucks. Both were pre-negotiated over the phone/via e-mail with paperwork sent ahead of time and a pre-printed company check brought with for payment.
The first visit was almost an in and out visit, we dropped off the check, they gave us the keys, asked if we wanted a tour of the truck, and we were done. I don’t think we spent more then 15 minutes on the whole process.
The second one, at a different dealer but with the same correspondence and prep done ahead of time, took us well over an hour to get through after the internet sales person could be bothered to meet with us for our scheduled appointment. They had to go through the entire financing and extended warranty process (company policy was their statement) and we had to decline all offers, with digital signatures, before they would accept our check and give us the keys. Nevermind that we had already discussed this ahead of time and had the full “out the door” price provided ahead of time with a pre-printed check…
Good dealers exist, but many earn the reputation for good reason.
It helps if you are dealing with the fleet salesman over a salesman. They get measured on units not profit. They aren’t getting paid on commission.
With one exception – which admittedly was not the place I work at – it’s not yet taken me more than 45 minutes to buy a car from a dealership. If you add in test drives prior to purchase, then add half an hour or so. That’s as long as it should take.
The least amount of time? About 8 minutes.
My last purchase was a looong one. I get there, they have to find my salesperson, who then has to go pull the car around. I check it out, take it for a drive, then compare road noise with one other vehicle on a really brief drive.
After that, things got slow. There was lease cash available, so I wanted to lease. I knew what a money factor was and asked about a single pay lease, so there was only one finance person they could stick me with. They also offered less than CarMax for my trade, so there was a little negotiation there. And then came the add-ons. Pulsing CHMSL, door edge guards, windshield coverage, road hazard coverage for the tires, extended warranty, service agreement, ceramic coating, whatever the hell else. The three-year service agreement overlapped with ToyotaCare. The extended warranty was garbage. They gave me the pulsing CHMSL without charge, but they wouldn’t take the door edge guards off.
And every question I had somehow required a call to corporate. If I put down security deposits to lower the money factor, could I use them in the buyout? Who knows! (I was told by Toyota that I could several weeks later when I started the buyout, but the quote did not include them. 28 days after they received my check, and I still don’t know when the sale will go through and I’ll get my deposit and two lease payments made in the interim.)
I got to the dealership around 3 and didn’t leave until 10. And they somehow managed to miss a step in the sales process and needed to email me a couple more documents after.
You should know most of this going in. If the dealership is doing your homework and explaining it to you it takes hours because a customer with no knowledge is not good for the customer or the salesman
I knew enough going in that they struggled to get answers. I was aware of the existence of single-pay leases, but they could not or would not get me the numbers beforehand or even once I was there. I was aware of multiple security deposits and lowering the money factor, but they couldn’t get me the numbers without getting the finance guy who actually knew things. They wanted to just get me to sign whatever lease they wanted to offer, and I wanted the actual numbers on my options.
If they had just run the numbers for me via email, as I had repeatedly requested, I would have already known which lease I wanted to go with. I just needed the numbers for single-pay, normal 36 month, and maximum deposit/down payment. Went with maximum down on a 36-month, because that worked out the best for a rapid buyout, but I wanted to know if the fees on a single pay would make it better to hang onto my money and pay the buyout in three years.
And, still, the longest bit was convincing them not to tack on all the crap I didn’t want.
Admittedly, the question about using the security deposit for an early buyout was something I didn’t need to ask…but I really didn’t ask. I just said that it wouldn’t hurt to have money down for the buyout and the guy wanted to see if I could use it or if I’d be waiting for a check after…I told him it didn’t matter, but I think he wanted to have answers because the lack of information regarding terms on a single-pay lease embarrassed him.
I bought one in February 60 minutes including test drive. Don’t put up with no BS there won’t be no BS. BUT I do love strapping my nuts on and going head to head. In fact bought the used Toyota advertised for $4k for $3k out the door or $2,300.
Sure, if you’re buying a sub-$10k car it’s pretty quick. Every time I’ve gone in and paid cash for one of the cheaper cars on the lot has been fast. They aren’t going to give you the full court press on financing or try to sell you a bunch of extended warranties and crap, so it’s smooth sailing.
Even going in with financing worked out through a credit union results in them insisting that their financing is going to be a better deal (because they get kickbacks, they want to sell you on it). And they definitely want to sell you all the warranties and such on a new car they don’t expect will cause you to use them.
an app chat bot to get my car fixed, yea..not a fun idea.
I am an old. So I think that I am more nervous about buying something for $50K on an app vs a $10 t-shirt from amazon. They are not the same to me.
Yeah those apps will also be trying to sell you other unnecessary services. They will require you to look at everything they offer. You will not be able to contact a human and you can’t tell them anything specific because of predetermined questions narrow you to the conclusion they want. If you think VW that is projected to go bankrupt in two years can work their way back and launch a brand new program well I want those drugs.
Hopefully they can pull it off.
The process of buying a Tesla is incredibly easy as long as all the steps work correctly. Once something goes wrong, it ends up extremely frustrating trying to get it right.
Can we just skip trying to copy Tesla on the service side? International probably has a better system for servicing Scouts in 2024 than Tesla does at servicing anything.
I’ve owned 2 Tesla cars. I’ve been happier with their service than any other brand I’ve owned (Chevy, Ford, Chrysler, VW, Toyota). The mobile service calls have worked out great. I don’t miss having to drive to a dealer and wasting all that time. Also, my experience has been that the cars have been very reliable.
$60 in labor to replace a window regulator?
$2 to replace a cabin air filter?
The juxtaposition of 2020s phone screenshots with 1980s pricing is jarring.
Still, all this investment in reparability seems wise given the VW underpinnings.
Yeah, I saw that too. Actual likely bill:
Dispatch fee: $100
On site diagnosis: $150
Window regulator: $638.72
Labor: 1.5h @ $170: $255
Programming fee: $50
Environmental fee: $10
Total: $1153.72
Rolling all the profit into markup on the part is essential if you’re planning on screwing your technicians on book time.
Love the vehicle, can totally see buying or preordering one.
The sales and experience centers are compelling. Tesla and Lucid already use this model, and there is something to the idea of keeping customers in the walled garden.
The digital-first “service”? That’s a tech-bro fever dream that will not happen. As with any value chain, the devil is in the details and breaks at the weakest link, which will be the subcontracted (or sub-sub-contracted) hourly worker actually rolling the truck. Or the offshore call center. Or all the non-“app-able” reason you take a car in for service like NVH complaints or cosmetic issues. Especially on a 1st gen vehicle. Or any of the other dozen realities that stand between a “disruptive” pitch deck and actual service.
Also, that’s a chat bot. When was the last time you said, “I just love [insert company] because of their amazing chat bot experience!”