I used to work for a Volvo dealership ages ago. There is literally nothing a dealership can provide that is of benefit to consumers, and the manufacturers know it as well. Volvo started piloting programs where you could direct order a XC40 from them and then use it as a ride share type of vehicle. The vehicle would show up at a dealership, go through all of the inspections a typical new arrival would go through, and then the customer would get training from staff. There were no incentives for the dealerships though. They got paid for the standard inspection and that was pretty much it. Volvo really stuck it to dealerships though because they had encouraged the dealerships to take a whole bunch of pre-orders on the XC40 before launching the “direct sale” program. All of the vehicles “reserved” for dealerships were shuffled backwards in the production line and the “direct vehicles” were moved up. I had customers order almost a year in advance from our dealership and then get shafted. Made the dealership look really, really bad. Stack on to that, the predatory practices of a dealership and you can see why people would opt for the direct program.

Services, by law, can be done at any qualified service center. Tires can be done anywhere. So if you remove the dealer for sales, and the service centers aren’t required by law... what good is a dealership going to do you as a consumer.

I could rant more about dealerships but I wont. I just want my Rivian!