this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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Okay so nothing new here. Yet another front end for interaction with local dealerships. The NADA continues to get their pound of flesh.
Couldn’t they just buy it and resell it as a used car?
They should do what Volvo is doing. Let people purchase a “subscription” online for the sticker price. Volvo has been able to get around a lot of US dealers bullshit that way.
I got a car through an early iteration of that plan. The “subscription” was basically a shorter lease with insurance bundled in and some more flexibility to cancel. No haggling. You pay the manufacturer direct, and when the subscription is done, you can buy the car used with no BS dealer markup.
A lot of dealers fought, and it’s disappeared and come back a few times. I don’t know all of the legal BS behind it, but they seem to have found some loopholes to sell direct.
Sounds like a bunch of dealers trying to stay relevant .
Two problems with that. First, lots of warranties and manufacturer sales incentives are not eligible on used cars. Second, for them to sell it to you used...they themselves would have to be a dealer.
I’m not sure about that last part. I’ve purchased a vehicle from a company before. A used work truck.
Either way… I’m not buying a car from Amazon.
In at least some states, to sell more than XX cars per year, you must have a dealer license.
A company vehicle is really no different than a personal vehicle, at least not in this context. They own a truck (titled to them), they can sell a truck via private sale. They don't get any sort of dealer perks (such as not being listed in the history as an owner), they are just selling their property.
Why can't they just copy Tesla's model? Or does Amazon operating a storefront on behalf of the manufacturer preclude that?
The "on behalf of the manufacturer" is the definition of a dealership.
If Amazon manufactured cars themselves, and they never sold them through a dealership ever, then they could avoid much of the dealership rules in many states, just like Tesla is. Even then, there would be some states that don't allow non-dealership sales or service centers. Again Tesla has gotten around this in a few times by setting up showrooms (not dealerships) and service centers on Tribal lands.
For Amazon to follow Tesla's model, they'll need to be a car manufacturer that never sells through dealerships.