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Comment by sliverstorm | Hacker News Reader

If car dealers are so important to people, surely they can continue to operate

Car dealers are important for the same reason a shoe store is important. You've got to go in and try on the shoe first to see if it fits. But much like with shoes, consumers can figure out what fits and then go home and order from someone else.

The only difference is (in my eyes) it would be even worse with cars, because it's easier to spend an extra $5-10 supporting your local shoe store than it is to spend an extra couple thousand supporting the dealer.

Dealers are also a portal for interacting with the manufacturer for things like service, recalls, and TSBs. I'm not sure what, if anything, would step in to fill that void if they disappear.

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I don't think showrooming would be catastrophic to the industry. If test drives are important to selling cars, manufacturers could pay dealerships to keep their cars around on lots for that purpose, or come up with a meaningful incentive structure to reward them if the test drive leads to a sale (you can incentivize the customer to help with the tracking, too; just give them a big enough coupon). And alternative manufacturers could sell through the Internet or at their own dealerships, at their discretion.

And certainly used-car dealerships aren't going to evaporate under this scenario either.

> "Car dealers are important for the same reason a shoe store is important."

Interesting comparison. Are there any laws preventing sneaker companies from selling directly to the consumer in Texas? Do shoe dealers have their own special little protectionist laws?

Or could Nike open their own corporate owned and operated store to sell Nike brand merchandise, if they were so inclined?

It would appear that Nike has plenty of stores in Texas. Indeed they can operate in this manner as they are inclined.

http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/sl/find-a-store/

That sounds like a premium experience that customers should pay extra for.

I don't know that it's worth as much as a few grand to drive a few miles with the dealer sitting next to me in the car. For a few hundred bucks I could rent a car for several days and base my impression on that experience.

There you go: "problem" solved! It turns out BFE doesn't need its own car dealer.

There are plenty of repair shops. Going to a dealer for service almost guarantees that you will pay above market price for both parts and labor.

That depends strongly on the dealer and region, in my experience. When I lived near my dealer I always took my vehicle there, because routine maintenance and even new tires were either less expensive than or approximately the same in cost as prices at local mechanics I researched.

The only reason I don't use a dealer now is because I found a fantastic actually-small-business mechanic who is closer to me, and who didn't try to pull the wool over my eyes and whose prices are reasonable.

Depending on the repair, I may be more than willing to pay extra. New tires for my '84 pickup? Sure, I can go anywhere. Overhauling the engine on a turbocharged BMW? Yeah, I'm going to want expertise & factory parts.

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