Car dealerships are not beneficial to the consumer

Author: Lair77

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New cars should be direct-to-consumer.  And used cars, just use a private seller.

The two main flaws of dealerships:
  • Significantly higher markup compared to private sellers.  Expect to pay 30% more, which doesn't sound like a lot.  But essentially, if you spend $15k on a car at a dealership, you get a car you could've gotten for $5k at a dealership.
  • Dishonesty and ethical concerns.  Pedophiles, murderers and rapists are the only thing preventing car salesmen from being on the lowest-rung of the moral totem pole.
Also, the benefits of car dealerships aren't actually benefits:
  • "They provide customer service".  They waste hours of your time: chatting with you, making you wait in the waiting room while they talk to their manager, negotiating prices that they set artificially high, knowing they'll waste your time.  You're paying money to waste 3-5 hours of your time.  They don't help you get a product; they're just a barrier in the way of getting a product
  • "They can provide knowledge and help you compare cars".   You can find this information online, and get more detailed information (stats, features, reviews, etc).  And there's less potential conflict of interest when learning from an independent party compared to learning from people who are trying to sell you their product.
  • "They inspect their cars, unlike private sellers".  But there's a chance their inspection wasn't thorough enough.  You always assume that risk.  Either way, you get an independent mechanic to look at the car.   Them inspecting it doesn't change your decision whatsoever.

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@Lair77
New cars should be direct-to-consumer.  And used cars, just use a private seller.

The two main flaws of dealerships:
  • Significantly higher markup compared to private sellers.  Expect to pay 30% more, which doesn't sound like a lot.  But essentially, if you spend $15k on a car at a dealership, you get a car you could've gotten for $5k at a dealership.
  • Dishonesty and ethical concerns.  Pedophiles, murderers and rapists are the only thing preventing car salesmen from being on the lowest-rung of the moral totem pole.
Also, the benefits of car dealerships aren't actually benefits:
  • "They provide customer service".  They waste hours of your time: chatting with you, making you wait in the waiting room while they talk to their manager, negotiating prices that they set artificially high, knowing they'll waste your time.  You're paying money to waste 3-5 hours of your time.  They don't help you get a product; they're just a barrier in the way of getting a product
  • "They can provide knowledge and help you compare cars".   You can find this information online, and get more detailed information (stats, features, reviews, etc).  And there's less potential conflict of interest when learning from an independent party compared to learning from people who are trying to sell you their product.
  • "They inspect their cars, unlike private sellers".  But there's a chance their inspection wasn't thorough enough.  You always assume that risk.  Either way, you get an independent mechanic to look at the car.   Them inspecting it doesn't change your decision whatsoever.
The fact there are so many dealerships and consumers rely on them should be proof they serve consumers well.
Private sales are a risk both to the seller and buyer. They are both open to scams, threats and violence.

Lair77
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@Shila
The fact there are so many dealerships and consumers rely on them should be proof they serve consumers well.
No, it's because there is no alternative.  There are laws that prevent companies from selling directly to consumer.  

Because car dealerships lobbied.  They felt that it was unfair that manufacturers could offer a better price to the consumer than third-party dealerships.  Being able to get the same product for a lower price helps the consumer.  This law does not help the consumer.
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agree
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@Lair77
-> @Shila
The fact there are so many dealerships and consumers rely on them should be proof they serve consumers well.
No, it's because there is no alternative.  There are laws that prevent companies from selling directly to consumer.  

Because car dealerships lobbied.  They felt that it was unfair that manufacturers could offer a better price to the consumer than third-party dealerships.  Being able to get the same product for a lower price helps the consumer.  This law does not help the consumer.
So you are agreeing even the laws support dealerships. So what the dealerships are doing is lawful. Case closed!
Lair77
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@Shila
No.  Case not closed.
  1. Just because a practice is legal doesn't mean it's ethical.
  2. Just because something is a law doesn't mean its a good law.
  3. You still haven't proven why a direct-to-consumer model would be worse for consumers than a dealership.

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@Lair77
  • "They inspect their cars, unlike private sellers".  But there's a chance their inspection wasn't thorough enough.  You always assume that risk.  Either way, you get an independent mechanic to look at the car.   Them inspecting it doesn't change your decision whatsoever.
This is where you went completely wrong. This is actually the key to why dealerships are indeed beneficial, they shoulder all blame for faults and problems with your car as far as the contract lays out and have reputations to uphold and risk if they give you a shit one even if they screw you over, you could go to the media about it etc.

A manufacturer may implicitly be assumed to want to give good quality cars but they also may be very willing to go 'let's risk it'. Manufacturers don't tend to have a lot of reviews and the reputation they 'uphold' is maybe a counterargument but ultimately the point is that a car dealership rigorously tests their products even often letting you test-drive.
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@Lair77
  • Dishonesty and ethical concerns.  Pedophiles, murderers and rapists are the only thing preventing car salesmen from being on the lowest-rung of the moral totem pole.
What on Earth are you even suggesting or talking about?

Stop being so vulgar and talking in hyperbole for no reason whatsoever. It's not a deceitful living unless miles-travelled etc are tweaked on their second-hand cars.
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@Lair77
  • "They can provide knowledge and help you compare cars".   You can find this information online, and get more detailed information (stats, features, reviews, etc).  And there's less potential conflict of interest when learning from an independent party compared to learning from people who are trying to sell you their product.
Newsflash, not everybody wants to do that... So do they hire a 'car expert for hire'? Is there such a thing?