You continue to maintain that Tesla will somehow become like everybody else. I suppose that is because they have had such success being different. I think you’re delusional.
A Tesla showroom will never have bunches of inventory. Sure there will be places where they store cars prior to delivery, but there won’t be many more than they need for the next week of sales, and most of them will have been reserved before they even get there. Nor will customers ever go to these places, except perhaps to inspect and pick up their cars. There is no reason for them to be particularly close to Tesla showrooms.
The same goes for test drives. There is no reason for them to be provided anywhere near a showroom. It’s a completely separate function.
Tesla has always sold cars at their showrooms. They sell cars everywhere there is internet connectivity. You can buy a car at home if you like. If you aren’t comfortable doing that without help, there are computers at Tesla showrooms and somebody will walk you through ordering. It’s still done online in exactly the same way, but you’re in the showroom. Magic!
When I bought my first Tesla in 2014 I went to a showroom for a test drive. Twice. I ordered from home. I picked up the car at the factory a couple of months later.
The second time I waited a long time in a line near the factory to reserve at Model 3 in 2016, then finalized the purchase and picked up the car at a delivery center a few miles from the factory near the end of 2017.
The third time, I replaced my 2014 Model S with a newer model at the end of 2017. I went to a showroom and told them exactly what I wanted. They looked around at their inventory and found a showroom car. It had a few miles on it and they gave me a nice discount, so I bought it there and then at the showroom. Got it within a couple of days, at the same delivery center as I got the Model 3 the week before. I sold my old Model S to a friend a couple of months later.
The most recent time I reserved a Model Y online from home in 2019. What with the pandemic, I kept putting off taking delivery until the end of 2021. At that time I went to the Fremont factory and finalized the purchase and drove off with the car.
I never did a trade-in, so I can’t provide any experience with that.
I have done a couple of test drives at various times, always from showrooms. Meanwhile, a couple of hundred different people have test driven my Teslas, mostly at events meant to familiarize people with EVs.
-IGU-