Big Box? Nissan Note the First-Ever Car You Can 'Buy' On Amazon

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Big Box? Nissan Note the First-Ever Car You Can 'Buy' On Amazon

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 26, 2013 @04:53AM from the ok-but-put-the-other-packages-in-there-too dept.

cartechboy writes "You knew the day was coming when they started selling diapers. Amazon is now dipping its toe into car sales by selling a single car: the 2014 Nissan Versa Note. Amazon users hit a real live Versa Note product page, but instead of "Add to cart" you provide your ZIP code so Amazon can connect you with a nearby Nissan dealer. The first 100 Versa Note customers whose car purchases are initiated through Amazon receive $1,000 Amazon gift cards. Best part: Customers who end up actually buying the Note *will* receive them via boxed home delivery. Now, that's a big box." (The linked article says that "some" customers will get their Versa boxed; maybe this is only if you specify gift wrapping.)

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That's nice and all, but... by ButchDeLoria · 2013-09-26 04:54 · Score: 5, Funny

How long until we can download that car?
1. Re:That's nice and all, but... by norriefc · 2013-09-26 05:10 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You wouldn't download a car
2. Re:That's nice and all, but... by fredrated · 2013-09-26 05:13 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Why not download the specs for use in my 3D printer?
3. Re:That's nice and all, but... by TheSpoom · 2013-09-26 05:32 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Every time I saw that ad, I thought to myself, "Nope, I'd totally download a car. Why wouldn't you?"
  
  --
  It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
  - E. Debs
4. Re:That's nice and all, but... by Anubis+IV · 2013-09-26 05:36 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Why not download the specs for use in my 3D printer?
  Whooosh.
  Though I was thinking the same thing. >_>
5. Re:That's nice and all, but... by CanHasDIY · 2013-09-26 06:14 · Score: 2
  
  Every time I saw that ad, I thought to myself, "Nope, I'd totally download a car. Why wouldn't you?"
  Masochism.
  Seriously, it seems evident that whoever came up with that idiotic bumper sticker has never actually bought a car, if they can't understand why anyone would want to avoid the process.
  
  --
  An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:Free shipping? by ButchDeLoria · 2013-09-26 04:56 · Score: 2

I wonder if it's eligible for Amazon Prime 2-day shipping, too.
No a real Amazon item by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-26 04:58 · Score: 2, Informative

This just links you to buy it at the dealer. Amazon is not the seller just the contact broker. It does not even have an ASIN assigned.
1. Re:No a real Amazon item by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · 2013-09-26 05:04 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Exactly. We can't let just anyone sell new cars. Otherwise, how would car dealers get their cut? Harumph! Harumph!
2. Re:No a real Amazon item by triffid_98 · 2013-09-26 08:09 · Score: 2
  
  That's right, and it drove all the Saturn dealers out of business! My point exactly!
  
  Yes, because heaven forbid that dealers sell cars for something like actual MSRP without a 45 minute song and dance involving options, extended warranties and the alleged mood of the salesperson's immediate supervisor.
  
  If dealers can't survive on that model, they were perfectly free to sell something other than Saturns.
Warehouse Deals by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-26 05:00 · Score: 2, Funny

Let me know when it's available through Warehouse Deals. I'm ok with "Used - Like New" with a few scratches.
I wish this was real by h4rr4r · 2013-09-26 05:00 · Score: 5, Interesting

It just sends you to a dealer. I wish you could buy cars like everything else. No instead you have to fuck around with dealers who try to add fees, refuse to special order cars, try to convince you to take what they have in stock, or try to show you crap you are not interested in.
Car dealers please go out of business.
1. Re:I wish this was real by omnilord · 2013-09-26 05:06 · Score: 2
  
  Car Dealers won't go out of business, online sales of cars will be made illegal. It's already being made illegal in some states as seen with Tesla.
2. Re:I wish this was real by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-26 05:15 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I typically use TrueCar to get a quote from dealers for the car I want, who are nearby, but not the closest 3. I then take the best quote, go to a my nearest dealer and they always match the price of the quote. From there, it's a haggle. My innate indecisiveness and shyness works well for me, because I sit there for a few minutes contemplating the deal they're offering, and I easily outlast even the most patient dealer. They always offer me better deal because they get impatient. This happens a few times, until I feel that I've gotten a good deal, or I can tell they don't want to sell me a car. I have no problem walking out and going to the next closest dealership. By the time I have the deal I want, it's usually about 15-20% below MSRP.
3. Re:I wish this was real by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · 2013-09-26 05:49 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Sounds like my experience in buying vehicles. For some reason wanting a vehicle with a manual transmission that isn't a civic or real sports car causes sales people at dealerships to look at you like you are retarded, especially if it is a truck or SUV. The last time I bought a vehicle there were a grand total of 6 that I could afford and met my requirements in a 100 mile radius. I also hate only being able to get certain equipment as part of a package that includes a bunch of crap I don't want or need. Why should I have to get the premium audio upgrade + leather trimmed steering wheel + heated seats if I all I want is the uprated locking front and rear axles.
  
  --
  Time to offend someone
4. Re:I wish this was real by firex726 · 2013-09-26 05:52 · Score: 2
  
  Salesmen can be annoying, and customers tend not to like annoying things.
  Same reason people started to buy stuff online, even with stores price matching; when I visit a store I'll have sales people walking around pestering me, and at check out getting a hard sell to sign up for their extended warranty, their mailing list, their rewards program, and best of all their news letter.
  Compared to most online retailers where I have opt into those services, and can proceed with but one click of the mouse.
  > Specialists and middlemen exist for a reason, I pay them to make my life easier.
  If you trust a salesmen, any salesmen to tell you the truth 100% then you're a rube and deserve to get taken advantage of; when buying a car you should always do research and know at least as much as the salesmen.
5. Re:I wish this was real by h4rr4r · 2013-09-26 06:22 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Grow up, jackass. I have no problem telling them off. What I have a limited amount of is patience and time.
  I want to be able to order the car I want, like it appears you can do with the design your ford website thing or whatever. I do not want to check to see what numbskull ordered what options for their lot.
  Car salesmen are not specialists, most know less about the cars than I do. They are not on your side and are not worth paying.
6. Re:I wish this was real by pla · 2013-09-26 06:23 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Or stop being a prima donna and blaming the world for your social dysfunction or because you don't have the backbone to deal with salesmen.
  
  Not a matter of backbone, but rather, of the pointlessness of it all. I don't make it a habit of intentionally dealing with wolves, either, even though a modern firearm will make short work of them. I simply have no interest in the whole negotiating game. For my last car, I found what I wanted, went to the nearest dealer, took it for a ride, came back and told the salesperson what I would pay for it (a fair price, not the most profitable customer of the day but not a loss, either). As soon as she started to play the "I'll need to talk with my manager" bullshit, I headed for the door (and would have left) when she backpedaled faster than Lance Armstrong on Oprah. I drove it home half an hour later after filling out the annoying ream of paper (getting rid of that wouldn't suck, either, but I realize most of it doesn't have anything to do with the actual dealer).
  
  Specialists and middlemen exist for a reason, I pay them to make my life easier.
  
  No, they don't. You haven't bought a car in a while, have you?
  
  You don't get to customize them anymore. You pick one of a small number (half a dozen or so) of equally ugly colors with stupid names you don't even recognize, you pick one of a small number (less than three, usually) of standard trims, and you might have one or two options you can select (like alloy vs steel wheels); in most cases, upgrading to option-X requires upgrading the entire trim (or buying it after-market). Oh, make no mistake, I have no doubt you could get it with whatever you want. But whether they say it or not, you will pay for trim-package-B when they "throw in for free" the 17" rims.
  
  But the best part about all that? You could just as easily choose all those options via the dropdown size/color/etc boxes Amazon already has. So no, I don't have any use whatsoever for salesmen; and those particular middlemen haven't counted as "specialists" in a good 20 years (if they ever did, which I somewhat doubt).
  
  Now, as for this listing on Amazon - Amazingly enough, I currently need a new car. And I have considered that exact car as an option. I went to that page fully intending to add it to my cart and order (you won't do much better than $1000 off a $14k car anywhere else, so paying MSRP really doesn't much matter here)... And sure, I understand that a "real" dealer would technically have sold it to me, but at least I wouldn't have needed to actually deal with them.
  
  And as one further perk, most dealers won't actually let you put a whole car on plastic (usually limiting it to something like $5k or 10% as a down-payment), but that woudln't present a problem on Amazon... Except... It did, and in fact, just cost them a sale. That page doesn't sell you a car, it amounts to nothing but an ad. You can't just buy it there and check out, "Purchase or lease must be completed at Nissan dealer within 30 days of submitting your contact request". You don't buy a car at that page, Nissan buys you as a sales lead.
  
  So fuck you, car dealers, and fuck you too, Amazon - Oh, and fuck you too, Slashvertisement on the FP. I can't wait for Tesla to come out with something under $30k; Once they do, I'll never go to a physical dealership again in my life.
7. Re:I wish this was real by s122604 · 2013-09-26 06:45 · Score: 2
  
  Car dealers have absolutely no qualms with using the good-ole-boy network and government lobbying to quash competition.
  
  Their existence is the worst kind of anachronism. Their overall value-add to society is zero, actually less than zero...
8. Re:I wish this was real by tlhIngan · 2013-09-26 07:53 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  You don't get to customize them anymore. You pick one of a small number (half a dozen or so) of equally ugly colors with stupid names you don't even recognize, you pick one of a small number (less than three, usually) of standard trims, and you might have one or two options you can select (like alloy vs steel wheels); in most cases, upgrading to option-X requires upgrading the entire trim (or buying it after-market). Oh, make no mistake, I have no doubt you could get it with whatever you want. But whether they say it or not, you will pay for trim-package-B when they "throw in for free" the 17" rims.
  There's a science behind it, and it turns out customers prefer the limited options overwhelmingly to having the ability to pick and choose every little thing. It also turns out to be surprisingly cheaper because you get to standardize parts.
  The trim package one is annoying, but sometimes it's essential because if you want say, leather seats, they come with a bum warmer (because most people buy them with bum warmers in the past, so it's easier to build one seat than two - one with and one without), which requires a button for your dashboard to control it. But that button also requires an extra fusebox relay and a interior control computer to manage it. Of course, the computer software isn't flexible so if you get it with that option, you get the onboard navigation system as well, which means you need the upgraded trim level just to get leather seats.
  Navigation systems generally cause this because to put in the screen requires electronics changes and the dash changes, which means again, upgraded trim level because you're changing so many things (navigation means you need a central screen, perhsps interaction buttons on the steering wheel, integration with the instrument cluster screen, etc. which changes everything.
  Do this more than a few times and the number of parts and assemblies required balloons immensely which just complicates the supply line, complicates the car computer software etc. etc. etc.
$1000 off? by MMC+Monster · 2013-09-26 05:01 · Score: 4, Interesting

Can I pay them an extra $1000 and buy directly from amazon? Why get a dealer involved?
(Not that I'm interested in a Nissan Versa. But my point is the same. Car dealers are the scum of the Earth.)

--
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
1. Re:$1000 off? by h4rr4r · 2013-09-26 05:05 · Score: 2
  
  I would absolutely give amazon an extra $1000 for a car, provided like all other products on their site I can pick exactly the one I want and I get some assurance that no standard car dealer was involved.
2. Re:$1000 off? by David_Hart · 2013-09-26 05:25 · Score: 2
  
  Can I pay them an extra $1000 and buy directly from amazon? Why get a dealer involved?
  (Not that I'm interested in a Nissan Versa. But my point is the same. Car dealers are the scum of the Earth.)
  There are laws that prohibit this. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/02/why-you-cant-buy-new-car-online
  Until the law changes, Amazon, or anyone else for that matter, cannot directly sell cars online.
  I too would love to be able to buy a car from Amazon. I had to buy a new car this year and it reminded my why I hate the process. The sales and manager guys were fine and kept it light while we played the negotiation game, but the finance guy was a tad slimey. He tried to get me into a higher interest rate than what I qualified for and acted like I was killing him when I didn't want the extended warranty.
3. Re:$1000 off? by guttentag · 2013-09-26 07:38 · Score: 2
  Can I pay them an extra $1000 and buy directly from amazon? Why get a dealer involved?
  A dealer gets involved so they can get that $1000 back from you. Familiarize yourself with the Four Square Worksheet. You probably won't see the physical sheet, but they're using it. It's a shell game where they get you to pull the trigger on the purchase by giving you a deal in one area but they get that money back, and then some, in another area. Half the reason the salesperson keeps going to visit his boss is so the boss can ensure the salesperson got the money back somewhere else on the four square. The other half is to make you sweat it out so you'll give in and pay more. Eat a good lunch before going but act like you didn't... bringing your lunch only tips them off that you're ready to wait out their nonsense and they don't want to business if they think they can't fleece you. They will offer you coffee to make you edgy... accept it and pretend to drink occasionally, but don't swallow it or anything else they give/tell you. Argue for a fair price, but once they agree on it in writing and you have your own written copy, let them think your guard is down... then absolutely refuse to let them add anything in any square.
  
  I've negotiated prices on five car purchases for myself and others. When going into a dealership you need to remind yourself that you're not dealing with a human being. You're dealing with a Ferengi. You might want to bookmark the Rules of Acquisition on your phone to read while you're waiting for their latest offer so you see things through their eyes:
  
  Anything worth selling is worth selling twice
  
  Anything stolen is pure profit
  
  A deal is a deal ... until a better one comes along
  
  A bargain usually isn't
  
  Acting stupid is often smart
  
  When the customer is sweating, turn up the heat
  
  Only negotiate when you are certain to profit
  
  Never trust a man wearing a better suit than you own
  
  et al
Finally by Dachannien · 2013-09-26 05:05 · Score: 4, Funny

Finally, a package that the delivery guy will really, really regret drop-kicking off the back of the truck.
1. Re:Finally by femtobyte · 2013-09-26 05:22 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  The trick to proper delivery by forklift is to find a long approach path, so you can get up to full rolling speed in advance. Then, coordinate tipping down the forklift blades with slamming on the brakes, and you should be able to toss the package over the recipient's fence with ease. Bonus points for lifting the package by skewering the forklift blades through it, instead of coming from underneath.
Bug your state legislators by tepples · 2013-09-26 05:11 · Score: 4, Insightful

If the Tesla Motors saga is to be believed, this failure of local dealers to serve their respective markets is something that you should mention to your state legislators.
1. Re:Bug your state legislators by h4rr4r · 2013-09-26 05:14 · Score: 2
  
  Should I also mention the sky is blue and water is wet?
  If you are so disconnected with reality that you think car dealers serve their market the way any other retail outlet would you should be kept in a padded cell not elected to public office.
Illegal in Texas by MickyTheIdiot · 2013-09-26 05:17 · Score: 2

If this were real and not just a link, wouldn't it run into the same problems as Tesla and be illegal in Texas?
Re:Buying without driving? by pixelpusher220 · 2013-09-26 05:59 · Score: 4, Insightful

Because I drove my friends/parents/rental car and liked it?

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People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people :-D
Re:Buying without driving? by unkiereamus · 2013-09-26 07:33 · Score: 2

Really, there's very little that matters that you can learn from a test drive.
I rather disagree.

First, I'm 6'8, I can find out whether I fit in the car. Second, I can find out whether the build quality meets MY definitions of acceptable. Finally, I can find out if I like to drive it, for some people a half second turbolag is no big deal, for some it's a huge deal, and still others they have no idea, since they've never driven a car with a turbolag.

There are some things that are very specific to people. True story: I once went out to test drive a truck, turns out the exhaust note was smack dab on the resonant frequency of my sinuses. Despite it not being that loud in any sort of absolute sense, driving for 5 minutes gave me a splitting headache. And yet the vast majority of people had absolutely no problem with it.

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Enthusiast to 3D-print full-scale Aston Martin DB4 by intermodal · 2013-09-26 07:36 · Score: 2

You bet your sweet ass I would.

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