I'm not sure where to post this, so I'm putting it here. I believe it is relevant in reference to the discussions on "illegal" Tesla stores, the grievances of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) against factory direct auto sales and against Tesla in particular, and NADA's claim of protecting the consumer.
Four years back my parents decided to gift their 1990 BMW525 (100,000 km) to my son as a high school graduation present. The car had low miles and had run perfectly for many years. Being the caring grandparents they are, they took an extra step and took the vehicle to the local BMW dealer to be serviced so it would run perfectly for their grandson.
A few days later my son received his car. He was overjoyed! Well, only a few days went by and the engine overheated severely. I got phone call and drove to the site of the engine seizure. I had the car towed to the dealership to see what was going on and after inspecting it, they told me that the cylinder head and head gasket had warped from massive heat damage, that there was no chance of a repair and that they would do me a favor and take the car away and dispose of it for free.
Well I looked at this car in the dealership parking lot. It was 18 years old, and yes I was tempted to just get rid of it and get my son something new. The dealership sales people were eager to help. However, I had a second thought and called a tow truck and had the car towed cross town to an independent repair shop.
The repair shop has a sole proprietor, a very experienced Scott. He did his analysis and the results were quickly in. The dealer had never tightened the cylinder head bolts properly and the oil and coolant were mixing. He did the repair in a couple days and the Beamer purred like a baby once more. He told me to come back once a week for four weeks to flush the oil out. I did that, and the car has been running beautifully ever since. It now has 160,000 km, which is nothing for a Beamer.
So this is my story about how the Victoria B.C. BMW Dealership protected me. I know very few people who have had good experiences with dealers. I can say that after this gross violation, I hope Tesla will fight with everything it has for the right to serve its customers directly. In my opinion car dealerships are local monopolies protected by political grease that add no value to the automobile supply chain. If they disappear completely, I will shed no tear.
Four years back my parents decided to gift their 1990 BMW525 (100,000 km) to my son as a high school graduation present. The car had low miles and had run perfectly for many years. Being the caring grandparents they are, they took an extra step and took the vehicle to the local BMW dealer to be serviced so it would run perfectly for their grandson.
A few days later my son received his car. He was overjoyed! Well, only a few days went by and the engine overheated severely. I got phone call and drove to the site of the engine seizure. I had the car towed to the dealership to see what was going on and after inspecting it, they told me that the cylinder head and head gasket had warped from massive heat damage, that there was no chance of a repair and that they would do me a favor and take the car away and dispose of it for free.
Well I looked at this car in the dealership parking lot. It was 18 years old, and yes I was tempted to just get rid of it and get my son something new. The dealership sales people were eager to help. However, I had a second thought and called a tow truck and had the car towed cross town to an independent repair shop.
The repair shop has a sole proprietor, a very experienced Scott. He did his analysis and the results were quickly in. The dealer had never tightened the cylinder head bolts properly and the oil and coolant were mixing. He did the repair in a couple days and the Beamer purred like a baby once more. He told me to come back once a week for four weeks to flush the oil out. I did that, and the car has been running beautifully ever since. It now has 160,000 km, which is nothing for a Beamer.
So this is my story about how the Victoria B.C. BMW Dealership protected me. I know very few people who have had good experiences with dealers. I can say that after this gross violation, I hope Tesla will fight with everything it has for the right to serve its customers directly. In my opinion car dealerships are local monopolies protected by political grease that add no value to the automobile supply chain. If they disappear completely, I will shed no tear.
