Dude, some times I wonder why you write for an auto-blog site. “I mean almost any new car today will be... fine!” It isn’t like poeple ONLY go to a dealership make sure the car isn’t a shit-box.

This. Car dealers should be test-drive lots.

The dealer industry should all take a field trip to an Apple store.

Couldn’t agree more. I’d like to add, that we’re not talking about buying an hdmi cable on Amazon here. It’s literally the second most expensive thing most people will ever buy. Combine that with the fact that most people keep their cars for years, and it makes you an idiot if you don’t put your hands on it first.

While I would agree that the dealer system is flawed and ridiculous.

Oh look. A brand new blue Cooper S with a body-color roof! I’ll take it!

I’m pretty sure an untraceable slush fund for corporations would work just as well.

Imagine if the industry had spent the last decade developing a modern sales model that didn’t require hours of in-person up-selling and paperwork, instead of lobbying for legislation that required it. 

How many accidents are there when 90% of the population is sheltering-in-place at home? That statistic means nothing in the current reality.

4-door half-bed models

“Hey Bob! Can you believe this guy doesn’t want the virus protection?”

You know it’s coming.....”will you be taking the extra virus protection coating?  it only adds $13 a month!”

That call should have been made before they funded any of it then.  IMO this guy was on a better path to profitability than startups promising “mobility solutions” - trucking is an industry that can show actual monetary value in having trucks that do not require drivers.  Cutting funding to the guy trying to be…

I can see the argument for keeping the service departments open as being at least plausible. Keeping the sales floor open so they can take advantage of panicked buyers is a lot less so. 

Except VC’s don’t see it as protecting them, they see what he was doing as screwing them. The VC’s wanted to see a minimally viable product developed so they could sell out at a big profit. They don’t give a shit about whether the product will actually work in the long term, it is all about short term gain.

Bingo! This is what I’ve been saying. The computers are good enough to keep the truck on the road, to follow directions, to miss most of the obvious obstacles.

That’s a lot of undercoating 

Don’t let get the facts ruin a good story with a nice clickbait title ;)

The problem is the 20% or so of the infected that need hospitalization are overwhelming the medical systems.

I live in the epicenter of the outbreak in Northern California. This is week No.1 of a mandated shelter in place order. The order was to stay at home only going out for essential things like food. Yes, we can go outside but keep a 6 foot distance between one another. Well guess what? Apparently that order meant jack…