These guys aren't there for the long term. They are short term get rich quick scammers. Some of them go around the country as a team, taking over deaelrship management to pump up numbers so the owner can sell the dealership with inflated numbers.

 

Good idea! I will have to use one of those

 

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" says it all. People are far less loyal to businesses than they used to be and cars last longer and need less maintainance so repeat business doesn't have much value. Dealers want their money up front.

I'll bet the thing that really gives the dealers nightmares is the prospect of Wal-Mart making a deal with a Chinese auto manufacturer and selling the cars out of their stores at fixed prices. Wal-mart can dictate price and quality level and the prospect of not having to deal with conventional car salesmen would be great!

Saturn and Scion both tried the fixed price model. It worked OK on the Scion I bought, but they still tried to play games with fees.

 

Believe it or not, the worst dealer of them all, the one who lied every time he opened his mouth, called and wanted me to come in to make a deal...after being told that I had already bought one from an honest dealer. Jeez!!

 

That makes sense. For me it is less about loyalty to a good dealer and more about refusing to do business with liars. Call it peace of mind, or a moral highground, but I don't like the stress of not knowing if there will actually be a warranty, or if every little thing will have to be a negotiation.

I wouldn't buy a Chinese car from Wal-Mart (2013 Fit maybe), but if I lived in the USA I would already have an Elio on order. If I could afford it, a Tesla would be great too. It seems in this age an independent dealer really doesn't need to exist - order the car through an online form and pick it up at a manufacturer's service/distribution centre.

My first choice was a Mitsubishi Mirage and I went in fully expecting to buy one for the price quoted on the web-site. When the price went up due to added on fees, I left, and am now seriously considering the Fit (which is a minimum $4000 more for a base model and gets worse fuel efficiency). Still, I don't like dishonest sales practices.

 

Salesmen are typically required to make a certain number of followup calls as a normal part of their job. They are given a list of phone numbers and a script. They could care less about your relationship with the dealer or how you were previously treated. All they know is that they can convert a small percentage of calls into sales.

The only phone number I give dealers is one that goes directly to a machine. I would never give them my cell number!

Elio is a vaporware car and the company seems to be limping along on the deposit money given them by hopeful buyers. This bears a striking resemblance to the Dale:

1974 Twentieth Century Dale | Hemmings Motor News

You can currently buy a 3-wheel vehicle at the price of the Elio, but it's powered by a 250cc scooter engine, made in China, and has no creature comforts, let alone a "5-star safety rating!" There is no way that a new manufacturer can do what Elio is promising at the price they promise. Now, if they could get the backing of a billionaire who is willing to lose a few hundred million on the chance that the idea could take off...

 

I've heard that before, and it may be true, but I am one of the "hopeful". It just seems that for so many people (myself included), a high mpg/low cost basic car would be ideal. Made in USA and using readily available parts are great features too!

I would lay down a deposit on the chance it could work. Just like a run on the banks - if everyone agrees it will fail it cannot possibly succeed. If people support the company maybe it can?

I also wanted an Aptera, and they made the Urbee prototype in my Province (but that is a long way from being commercially available)

 

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see them succeed, but as an engineer I think that they cannot deliver what they are promising.

Elio is essentially taking a conventional car and eliminating one trailing wheel, two seats, and three passenger doors. Everything else is there, the drivetrain, the safety systems, the HVAC, electrical, etc.

A bare-bones conventional car with modern systems runs about $12K, and I don't see how the things eliminated from the Elio can save them $5K in costs to allow them to sell the car for $7K.

Looking at their financing, they currently claim to have $55 million from deposits plus $7.5 million from the land developer who is helping them develop their plant property for secondary tenants. This leaves them about $137.5 million short of the $200 million they claim to need to start production.

Once production starts, they have sold about 25,000 reservations. That means that the first 25,000 cars they build will already have their profit (and more) skimmed off the top. For a small startup this might mean two years of production without profits.

Having a lot of reservations will also stifle new buyer interest because any new non-reserved buyers would know that their car won't be produced until all reservations are satisfied.

It's a shaky house of cards, and everything has to go perfectly right for Elio to succeed. They've already slipped start of production until the second quarter of '15 and there is no sign of preparatory activity in the factory they are supposed to be using.

 

I have a 13 Fit Base that I bought used from Superstition Springs Honda in Jan of this year. I'm a vet and bought the car thru USAA. The salesman was a vet as well and he was pretty good. He did try to sell an alarm system and something else. I said no, and no argument. Felt I got a good deal. Long ride from my house to there, but worth it. I guess there are some good dealerships.

 

I'm sure there are. There are also some bad. It seems to be just being able to distinguish those who want to make a quick buck from those who are willing to be in it for the long haul. If I get a Honda, there is no doubt I will go to the dealership that gave my family consistently good service since 2001. Moreover, because of that good service, I will be much more inclined to buy a Honda than a Toyota or Mazda. It would take a lot (in this case $4000 and better mpg) to have me consider another brand. Currently I am truly on the fence between what I see as better value (Mirage) and what I see as a better car and better dealership (Honda), even if it does cost more.

As for the Elio - If I were betting big money, I wouldn't put it all down on the Elio, but I'd like to think that it is maybe even odds or better that they succeed. I don't know a lot about the car industry, but some motorcycles and atvs/snowmobiles sell that cheaply. The Nissan Micra is only $9998 currently, and the Tato Nano is mighty cheap. Maybe the price will go up a bit after the first reservations are filled, or they will find other ways to cut costs. Anyway, I'm rooting for them!

 

That's where community comes in: Honda Fit Dealer Reviews

Or they're taking a motorcycle and adding some body panels. Still not all that likely, especially at that price point.

 

It is listed as a motorcycle. I hope they make, it, but sure have doubts. Seen this thing too many times. I would buy one if they get it going.

 

No, that would be the Chinese vehicle I mentioned.

With the Elio they're adding body panels, a full door, seats, windows, lights, air bags, structure to support a "5-star" safety rating, a front wheel, car suspension in front, air conditioning, heating, a baggage compartment, etc. It's a lot more than tacking a few panels onto the structure.

The cheapest 800cc motorcycles sell for around $8000, more than the Elio, and don't have any of these things. To expect a startup to produce 800cc cars at a price point below this using US labor is stretching credibility quite far.

 

George L, it looks like you found the Flying Dutchman's gold!