> Why can't I go online and order the Jeep (or whatever else) I want and have it delivered or pick it up from a non-jackass?
True, you can't go to Amazon Cars or equivalent, but there are options. Have you tried the internet sales department? Edmund's called it "a valuable time- and money-saver."[1]
> I wish the car manufacturers would get with it.
It's not like they haven't tried to make the buying experience more pleasant. Saturn was doing no-haggle pricing as early as 1990[2]. Scion is doing it today[3]. Gut feel is that the buying experience just isn't that important to most people with durable goods. The car is what brings us into dealerships, not the sales staff.
> Screw going to amazon et al to buy anything that changes as constantly as a car. or a cellphone.
You've made it clear you're a person who requires extensive test-driving. Amazon's cell phone business doesn't seem to be hurting. I've ordered my last two cell phones online sight-unseen. Same for recent laptops and a Nook. I'll take the uncertainty of holding a modern device over the sales staff.
> I bet my right arm that you wouldn't ever buy a car from amazon if you couldn't test drive it at the local shoddy dealer.
The average car age in the US is now 11.4 years old[1]. My car will likely be 15 before I get another one. In VW's terms, that's at least three generations of progress. I'm buying a car for a decade, and none of the problems that come up in a decade will be revealed by a test drive.
Regardless, I merely agreed it wasn't currently an option and the parent may have a better experience with the internet sales department of his or her local dealerships.
What country are you in? In the US, you can see Kindle at any Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Staples, OfficeMax and several other national retailers that cover most of the country.
I've got a DX for reading technical books. It's great for that. If you intend on reading tech books on a Kindle, definitely get the DX or the big Fire HD! The little paper whites aren't going to cut it.
True, you can't go to Amazon Cars or equivalent, but there are options. Have you tried the internet sales department? Edmund's called it "a valuable time- and money-saver."[1]
> I wish the car manufacturers would get with it.
It's not like they haven't tried to make the buying experience more pleasant. Saturn was doing no-haggle pricing as early as 1990[2]. Scion is doing it today[3]. Gut feel is that the buying experience just isn't that important to most people with durable goods. The car is what brings us into dealerships, not the sales staff.
[1]: http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/how-to-get-an-internet-pri...
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_Corporation#1990.E2.80....
[3]: http://www.scion.com/buy/pure_price/