[themerone]

I absolutely hate the franchise dealership model, but it does provide some level of checks and balances.

Dealers can exert far more pressure on a manufacture to fix things than an individual owner.

Owners with a bad dealership experience can go to a competitor within the same brand.

Manufacturers hate stepping in between dealer and customer disputes, but it is a possibility.

I think direct sales can be superior, but Tesla is proof that it is not inherently better.

[frankfrank13]

I'm always surprised at myself for buying into "disruption". When Tesla did ~DTC I thought it was absolutely the future, and everyone should do it. Boy how wrong I was.

I had a brand new car break down after about a month, I was in the shop getting essentially a tear down in about 48 hours, the dealer covered my repair and rental, and I was back in my car in about a week.

Are direct sales still superior? I think you're right, we need someone to go to, after-sales is too critical for the consumer, and I think Tesla treats it like SaaS, which... maybe it really is lol