[14Ringer]

A feud between Volvo dealers and Polestar could be the reason why you won't be able to service your Polestar with Volvo.

Some Volvo dealers are unhappy with Polestar's sales plan of using select Volvo dealers to sell the Polestar 1 and 2. I guess they don't want Polestar undercutting their business.

From Automotive News:

"The Volvo dealerships Levin represents filed a protest in August with the Illinois Motor Vehicle Review Board against Volvo Car USA and Polestar Automotive USA. They are seeking to have the companies' actions deemed unlawful and to be compensated for their legal fees.

Volvo and Polestar last month filed motions to dismiss the protest. Volvo, in filings, said it notified the dealerships more than a year ago that it wouldn't supply new Polestar-branded vehicles under their Volvo retailer agreements."

 

[JRRF]

Dealerships in general are in trouble on all fronts because their business model is slowly deteriorating around them. They are desperately trying to hold onto their peice of the pie, and it's ultimately a losing battle. More cars are being (and will be) sold through non-commissioned channels, and EVs require a fraction of the service that always padded dealer profits.

 

[Ken]

And when I told people that the typical Volvo dealerships weren't servicing Polestars, I was attacked as being not credible. Hell, I had called Sweden to be sure of this since I wasn't intending to go through with the purchase after putting down a deposit if it was time to buy and I still didn't know where the car would be serviced. Thus I backed out.

 

[baldyloxx]

The only 'service' I had to do on my 2017 i3 Rex was to take it in to get the oil changed on the Range Extender... And every visit it came back with scratches in the paint or curb rash on the wheels.. I never understood this.

I understand the concern about 'having a service center nearby'... but I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise.

 

[JRRF]

The only 'service' I had to do on my 2017 i3 Rex was to take it in to get the oil changed on the Range Extender... And every visit it came back with scratches in the paint or curb rash on the wheels.. I never understood this.

I understand the concern about 'having a service center nearby'... but I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise.

Same for my Volt. If there wasn't any oil I'd never have seen the dealer.

The only issue might be for some initial warranty item, e.g. some piece of trim falling off.

 

[baldyloxx]

I had one of those too.. 2011.

Similar experience. More trips to service because I used the 'engine' slightly more because of the limited range on the battery.. But yes, in general, not many service trips required.

 

[Ken]

The only 'service' I had to do on my 2017 i3 Rex was to take it in to get the oil changed on the Range Extender... And every visit it came back with scratches in the paint or curb rash on the wheels.. I never understood this.

I understand the concern about 'having a service center nearby'... but I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise.

For a brand new car we know nothing about, I would never make the assumption that service won't be needed or would be rarely needed. It's one thing if the car is sold through a traditional dealer network, but not this car. We know so little even at this late date.

 

[JRRF]

For a brand new car we know nothing about, I would never make the assumption that service won't be needed or would be rarely needed. It's one thing if the car is sold through a traditional dealer network, but not this car. We know so little even at this late date.

I agree that we know little about the car. But there's a reason Tesla was able to so easily punch above it's weight in a industry that otherwise has a huge price for entry. That reason is that EVs have very few moving parts (i.e. few things to break), and virtually no maintenance. I'd be a lot more reluctant to purchase an unknown ICE car.

 

[Ken]

I agree that we know little about the car. But there's a reason Tesla was able to so easily punch above it's weight in a industry that otherwise has a huge price for entry. That reason is that EVs have very few moving parts (i.e. few things to break), and virtually no maintenance. I'd be a lot more reluctant to purchase an unknown ICE car.

Oh, but as a former owner of a Model S, I can tell you that regardless of how simple you think these cars are, Tesla were and are known to have numerous issues...far more than recent ICE cars I'd owned. You should read the Tesla forums. You should read Consumer Reports. Tons and tons of issues regardless of the simplicity.

So don't think that because a car is electric it means you won't have issues.

 

[JRRF]

Oh, but as a former owner of a Model S, I can tell you that regardless of how simple you think these cars are, Tesla were and are known to have numerous issues...far more than recent ICE cars I'd owned. You should read the Tesla forums. You should read Consumer Reports. Tons and tons of issues regardless of the simplicity.

So don't think that because a car is electric it means you won't have issues.

Oh I know. I definitely wouldn't buy a Tesla -- despite the urging of many -- that's why I'm waiting for a Polestar. Many of the issues Tesla had, particularly early on, were related to their inexperience in car manufacturing. Volvo's been making cars for almost 100 years. I would never say nothing can go wrong. But the risk profile is much lower.

 

[14Ringer]

It would be remarkable if Polestar has the same quality issues as Tesla, Polestar would have to go out of their way to recreate some of those issues Tesla had.

 

[JRRF]

Polestar would have to go out of their way to recreate some of those issues Tesla had.

🤣🤣🤣

 

[polerad]

Dealerships in general are in trouble on all fronts because their business model is slowly deteriorating around them. They are desperately trying to hold onto their peice of the pie, and it's ultimately a losing battle. More cars are being (and will be) sold through non-commissioned channels, and EVs require a fraction of the service that always padded dealer profits.

It seems the Volvo dealers aren't going down without a fight here and are holding the servicing arrangements hostage in their negotiations with Polestar. I hope Polestar will be able to keep it together so their Spaces in the USA don't become dealers by a different name, with markups and shady financing.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. If the final financing/lease offers that come out have a lot of unexplained fees (like the current confirmation page has...), we'll see that the Spaces are just dealerships by a different name, regardless of what Polestar HQ claims. If the info is more straight up and as advertised on the configurator page, then there's hope after all.

 

[MajesticMachine1]

I hope Polestar will be able to keep it together so their Spaces in the USA don't become dealers by a different name, with markups and shady financing.

Yes I'm curious about that too. The Spaces in the USA are legally structured as dealers, ie locally and independently owned. These dealers are going to want to show a profit, so it's going to be interesting to see what lengths they'll go to do that. Their profit margin from giving test drives and doing the minimal maintenance these cars need won't be enough to keep them happy for long.

 

[JRRF]

Yes I'm curious about that too. The Spaces in the USA are legally structured as dealers, ie locally and independently owned. These dealers are going to want to show a profit, so it's going to be interesting to see what lengths they'll go to do that. Their profit margin from giving test drives and doing the minimal maintenance these cars need won't be enough to keep them happy for long.

Agreed, particularly since maintenance is a large part of dealer profits, while selling cars is not. But the new model can easily work. Polestar builds enough into the set price of a car for the dealer to make money. They then also establish that the cars can't be sold at a discount (not unlike many high-end goods). So if you are a "Space" you make a profit dependant on how many cars you sell, and how efficiently you run your business.