No, I’m not Tesla unaware, though not familiar with all the details that you mention. And I know several very happy owners. I also have a nearby Tesla “store” at a local mall that I like to visit.
Your own experience would work fine for ME, though my wife may not go for it. Putting aside the fact that the cars are gorgeous, what excites a guy like me is the zero tailpipe emission nature of the car. But I’m not a normal consumer. I do think that there are many normal consumers who will want an EV. For some of those, it may be icing on the cake, and not the primary reason for the purchase. And for those normal consumers, for the first time ever, they have CHOICE! Even among the Tesla’s. Do I buy a Tesla 3? A Tesla S? A Chevy Bolt? A Toyota Mirai? So what do people do? They compare them first hand. Given your own state’s experience that prohibits the stores (and I wasn’t aware of it was done there), I wonder how sales in your state compares to one where there *are* stores. Again, like everyone else, I hope that I am wrong. If I am not, I think they will become a takeover target. - Mark Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone > On Mar 10, 2019, at 5:18 AM, Willie via EV <ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote: > > > >> On 3/9/19 2:12 PM, Mark Abramowitz via EV wrote: >> I think that Musk was smoking something. >> Personally, I would NEVER buy a car without driving it (or at least sit in) >> first. The only exception would be for brand new clean technology vehicles >> that I *knew* I wanted - think EV1, RAV-4 EV, Civic GX, Tesla Roadster, >> Toyota Mirai, Honda Clarity, etc. > > That sounds similar to Koch FUD. It is hard for me to believe that you are > not familiar with Tesla's path to success and their accomplishments. You know > no Tesla owners? > > You ignore several factors, including the bullet proof guarantee Peter > describes. Also, that Tesla has quite successfully already proven a dealer > network unnecessary. Many states, including mine, prohibit manufacturer > owned dealerships; in those states, all sales have been and continue to be > online. With that experience, Tesla is well aware of the value, or lack of > value, of dealers. As you should know, Tesla has recruited owners to serve > as a sales force. For the most part, owners are quite willing to serve > without compensation though in the past they have received some compensation. > > Personal experience: My first Tesla arrived in front of my house in 2013 on > a car transporter. I had never before SEEN a Tesla, much less driven one. I > was not disappointed. Indeed, I was thrilled and never regretted the > purchase. I believe we ordered our Leaf in 2010 and took delivery in 2011. > Sometime after the reservation, we we offered a pre-purchase test drive in a > demo but did not find the schedule convenient. Our first Leaf drive was in > our own. At the time we were not disappointed. Again, "thrilled" would be a > good descriptor. Coming from a 150+ mile conversion with an amp-hour > counter, I WAS disappointed in the sorry Leaf instrumentation. But, that was > not a deal breaker. It was two years before I discovered that Nissan had so > screwed Leaf buyers with a miserable short lived battery which they refused > to support. > > >> But I’m an air quality guy, and an early adopter of these technologies. > > Which adds to my surprise that you are so Tesla unaware. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
