[sliverstorm]

If what the dealerships do is valuable enough to the customer, they would exist even without the ban on direct sales.

Can you really make that assumption? Customers act selfishly, and game theory applies here.

For example, you try a shoe on in the store and then buy it online for less. The store provided something valuable to you, but you still bought the shoe online. Eventually the store will go out of business if many people do this, and we lose a valuable service because we each act in our own self interest.

It's not hard for me to imagine that protections could be good in some cases.

[xacaxulu]

Then other companies will realize that this is valuable and will let you try on multiple shoes and mail back the ones you don't like (Zappos/Amazon). This competition ends up being a net positive for the consumer.

[nether]

"I sure wish I could have bought my Tesla from a dealer" - no one ever.

[tsotha]

To be fair, most Teslas are being bought by enthusiasts. When they start selling the model 3 to people who just want a reliable car, there may in fact be some demand for the services typically offered by a dealership.

[SilasX]

That dynamic actually explains why all big-ticket retailers -- not just car dealers -- need to change business models to something like, "You pay for self-service showroom access to a variety of products, then make your actual purchase from [a level near] the OEM with minimal margin."

The only reason I tolerate(d) any interaction with car salesmen at all is the intangibles you get from a test drive. I would much rather just have some kind of option where I can try out car models at some place that doesn't have financial incentive to make me buy one of them.