Why Tesla Will Be #1

[teknoprep]

I wanted to post an interesting experience I had today. For many of you it won’t be surprising, but for me it was enlightening!

I drove my Model 3 to a Chevy dealership to pickup a friend who was getting his car repaired. I’m from a Southern town of approx 30k, and have the only Tesla (that I’ve seen) in town. I figured that I would either be ignored, or maybe even scoffed at for driving this brand new competitor car into a dealership.

Well, the exact opposite happened! There were about 7-8 sales people sitting around, and they all came swarming. “Is that a Tesla? Can I sit inside it? How far does it go? What’s 0-60? Does it really drive itself”. I literally spent 20-30 minutes giving the whole tour of the vehicle while they all drooled. Even told one of the service guys about my Mobile Repair experience (amazing) and he just chuckled.

The best part was one person commented that the car was way better than anything they sold, even for $50k+. And several of the people said they wanted a Tesla as their next car - GM salespeople!! One even asked if I could trade it in so he could drive it!

I was surprised about how much they knew about some of the features - sentry mode, 0-60, etc. But still had some misinformation I had to correct, like price (doesn’t this thing cost $100k??).

So there’s my story. Of course I’m a believer in the vision, but this really opened my eyes.

 

[Rockster]

This is great. I had a very similar experience when I took my first Tesla to the local Nissan dealership for an inspection.

 

[Krazaak]

Ultimately, they're sales people and a good sales person isn't going to alienate a potential customer, even if you're not in the market for one of their cars today. There's also not some undying loyalty to their branded manufacturer, they'd likely be more excited to sell you a used BMW from their lot or a Tesla if they had one to sell.

Used Teslas are still a rare bird comparatively, but I have no doubt in my mind that in a few years you'll be hard pressed to find a dealership that doesn't have a Model 3 or two on the lot to increase foot traffic. Heck, they'll probably even throw in the first oil change for free.

 

[Uncle Paul]

If you want to have fun, pull into a competitors lot and raise your Falcon Wing doors. All eyes immediately will go to your car.

 

[Darren Donovan]

If you want to have fun, pull into a competitors lot and raise your Falcon Wing doors. All eyes immediately will go to your car.

And hopefully, both doors will rise up evenly. God forbids if one door goes up and gets stuck half way.