Why Toyota is not selling electric cars

Is Elon going to drive one to my house so I can test drive it?

 

Doubtful.
However, Tesla has not yet decided which, or how many stores are closing. They have already stated heavier trafficked stores will stay open.
Service centers may be used as test drive locations (many already are).

It is possible your assumption is correct, but highly unlikely. This is the problem with this announcement. It has too few details and thus lets people make assumptions which are not accurate.

 

You can buy one with a no hassle ten day 1,000 mile return policy.

That’s way better than a test drive offered by any other manufacturer

 

They aren't closing all their stores.

Then they extended to no hassle/full refund period for a new purchase to one that is better than a local used dealer's.

 

Good luck on a quick refund. There will probably be a reservation line for refunds.

Uh ... because Musk said so. No test drives.

 

No, but I bet some Model 3 owners in your area wouldn't mind. You can probably rent one on turo.com too.

 

I made a mistake in trying to post an article.

 

Link??

 

I can’t get the link to work and I hit delete. It just turns into an enormous amount of unreadable text. What am I doing wrong.

 

Here you go.

Also, no link to test drive a Tesla anywhere on the web.

 

I personally doubt if very many would return them. They are waaaay too much fun to drive, and if they buy one, they presumably figured out that they can afford it. My main question would be if they just can’t deal with the screen, but I have many colleagues who drive them, and they all say anywhere from “you get used to it” to “I love the screen.”

 

That's not the point. Car Stealerships know that 80% or more of people who test drive a car buy it. That's why they want to get you into the seat. Without a test drive, a great majority of people will not purchase a particular model. Without test drives Tesla will not be competitive once the fanboys have their cars.

 

Thanks for the link. However, no where in there is it stated people can't have a test drive. It does state Tesla's policy is that to take a test drive someone must be 21 years of age or older.
It also talks about how people who buy without test driving get longer to return the car than those that do. Seems fair to me?

 

I don't believe your 80% statistic is correct, got a source?

As for the number of people comfortable buying a car without a test drive, I found some statistics on that while trying to confirm your 80% statistic:

The above is from 25 Amazing Statistics on How Consumers Shop for Cars | V12

 

My source = me. Over 20 years in sales. First hand experience. For me, 100% of my vehicle purchases fit the model.

Your article is not statistics. it is a mashup of survey responses. Statistics require data that is gathered using unbiased methods.

 

I'll put a lot more weight behind surveys than the anecdotal evidence from a single person.
If you like, I'll quote you 'statistics' more to your liking. Test drives lead to sales less than 30% of the time.

 

Please, in the next week contact Tesla and do a test drive in a Model 3. And report back.

Musk clearly stated that his "return" policy eliminated the need for test drives. No one will finance a $35,000 test drive not including taxes, licenses, fees and insurance. The fanboys think the strategy is fine. But they already ordered their cars without a test drive.

 

Happy to Might give me a chance to test drive a performance model

I agree completely, Musk has indicated that the Tesla vehicles don't "require" a test drive. That definitely isn't the same thing as saying "test drives aren't allowed".

Your next sentence seems to contradict your last sentence.
If : "No one will finance a $35,000 test drive not including taxes, licenses, fees and insurance." than the many people that have done exactly that, which you use the term "fanboys" for, obviously would not have done exactly that.

The survey you dismiss also seems to support the idea that many people do exactly that.

 

My wife and I have been giving "Ride and Drives" in our Volt for over 5 years. I think that owners have been giving many more test drives than the dealers have. It's powerful to get a ride in your friend or neighbor's car, and hear and see the EV experience first hand. As more EVs spread, that effect grows exponentially. We've been selling the cars for them, and that's a new paradigm.

 

Some might argue that it’s even easier to hook somebody from a website.