About a decade ago, Tesla was granted a loophole in Georgia’s franchise laws that allows the EV-only manufacturer the ability to bypass traditional independent auto dealers and sell directly to the public.  The window that would have allowed other EV manufacturers to do the same has since closed.

Newer EV companies such as Rivian, Lucid, and Fisker sell directly to consumers. There are concerns among dealers that companies such as Volkswagen will be using new wholly owned startups like their Scout division to eliminate the role their dealerships play.

Auto dealers, directly and through their trade associations, consistently make the case that they are local employers.  In many rural communities they may have the largest local payroll and/or be among the largest contributors to the local tax base. 

A growing problem for them and this argument is that in metro areas – where more than half of the state’s population lives - ownership of these franchises are increasingly dominated by publicly traded companies.  Instead of customers feeling the dealer has a personal stake in their community, they see them as an impersonal and sometimes unpleasant middleman standing between them and their next ride.

If you’ve shopped for a car online recently you’ve likely seen promises of how easy it is to buy from any dealer from the comfort of your own home.  Like many other advertised promises “your results may vary”.  Mine certainly did.

It became clear during Thanksgiving week last year that my car was slowly but steadily experiencing a premature death. It was time to trade up

Inventories were still somewhat supply chain limited, so I wasn’t expecting a discount for the model I wanted. I required a specific model with a few options in various color combinations that could be delivered during the month of December.  That gave me almost a six-week window for a “German” car assembled in Mexico to either be available in-stock or nearing shipment to the dealer. 

An Atlanta area dealer showed one in stock and available on their website, so I started there.  Over the next 3 months I got more than a dozen emails from the salesman asking when I could come in and talk to them about… a different car than the one which I had inquired.  I responded to every one of his emails.  Not once did I get a reply to my questions, just a new email – seemingly on auto-pilot – trying to get me to come into the dealership. 

Over the next couple of days, I sent more emails or inquiries through the dealer’s websites.  The other Atlanta dealers (and most others) feature supposed sales people saying “I’m online right now! Do you have any questions?” 

it will become clear to you if you cross shop many dealers that the same pictures are used across dealer groups and brands.  Each insists they work for the dealership, but “I’m in a different building” and “I need some information to have someone from my team call you.”

Insisting on a call or asking to come in to get information is a very 1980’s sales practice, with chatbots giving it a 2020’s overlay.  These live folks or bots will not answer questions. They are only lead capture, where they want to get your info to have a salesperson to call you when convenient for that person. If I wanted to talk on the phone, I would have dialed the number on the same website where these bots pretend they’re part of the sales team and ready to answer questions, on my own timeframe.  

One dealer refused to email with me about my questions, but took my info and spammed me for months. Another called me three times in quick succession, and then texted twice – all within 2 minutes of each other.  When I made it clear to this person via text that I only would deal via email, she said she would pass that long to “her manager”.  Hours later, a sales rep from that dealer did the same thing.  No emails. No “buy online” promise kept. 

Later that week, I expanded my search.  During halftime of last year’s Georgia-Georgia Tech game, I sent an inquiry, got an email response with a couple of options, and before the game was over, had agreed to terms on an inbound car with a dealer in Orlando.  I didn’t actually talk to the dealership until the afternoon before I left to pick up the car.

I bring this up now because the car was ready for its first service this week.  I went online to my nearest dealer to make an appointment, and their web’s service appointment app locked up.  I used the assistant who said ‘great, I can help with that”.  After a few questions were answered, the reply was “Great! I’ll have someone from the service department call you!” and disconnected.

My car was already serviced before that dealership ever got around to calling me.  Their reliance on bad technology not only cost them the original sale, but on repeat business for their service department. 

I’ve long been skeptical of making such an expensive purchase from a company without local dealerships.  After the last year (and the increasing physical presence of local service centers for the online only EV manufacturers) my future business is very much up for grabs.