Editorial: The fight for direct-to-consumer automobile sales

By now, you have probably heard about Tesla's latest defeat at the hands of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. The new legislation put in place will halt all sales of Tesla cars by April 1, meaning that those interested in getting a Tesla Model S will need to move quickly or be forced to travel to one of the neighboring states to be able to get their car. This ongoing battle between Tesla and the dealership associations of various states seems to have become more than just an isolated battle about the desires of a single manufacturer to shake up the way in which the car selling business is done. In fact, it seems to have sparked a debate about the value of dealerships to the average consumer, including the value of a dealerships service department.

The New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers (NJCAR), a dealership lobby group, is trying to promote the argument that dealerships are good for consumers and are there to protect the consumer from the evil car manufacturers who are just out to rip them off. Of course, this argument completely overlooks all of the stories that seem to pop up regularly about unscrupulous salesmen taking advantage of an unsuspecting victim. While a few bad apples should affect our impressions of all dealerships, it is hard for them to take the high road when the negotiating process for a new car results in a hugely varied range of prices based on the negotiating skill of the individual consumer. This does not even begin to get into the service side of things, where dealerships have earned the rather unflattering moniker of "stealerships" for their less than forthcoming practices.