And that is still not legal. It is called an "arms length transaction" and does not pass what they call the "sniff test." Do some legal research on "related parties" and "arms length", perhaps one of our resident attorneys would like to comment.
I personally have lost a sale to an operation that does this, God Bless 'em they are welcome to it. I'm too pretty to go to prison!
And as for me sticking up for another dealer, yes if they are doing it right, I will. If they are boning customers or otherwise being bad actors, no way. I know for example that several dealers who post here do a great job of proper customer service and go beyond the expected to do the right thing, often at their own expense. Matters not what brand they sell, Backdraft, Shelby or whatever, if they are delivering what the promise they get my support.
The smart arse comment regarding Tesla was maybe a poor attempt at humor but understand that Tesla most likely is not paying the frieght for that repair. That will be forwarded to Lotus who actually build the chassis and is responsible for a structural issue. If it had been the powertrain then Tesla would pay the nut but in this case the bill will go to Lotus. To the customer there is no distinction, Tesla took care of it. My point was they took a
PR opportunity in a warranty repair. Do you see press releases when your local Toyota dealer replaces a leaking gasket? Just being a little jaded here........