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Well the problem, of course, is that they would test drive the cars in the dealership and then buy online.

Well, the Tesla model might be more appropriate in this day and age. They have small showrooms just to meet the demand of people wanting to test-drive, and then everything else about the sales process is done online.

This is obviously a more efficient process than large showrooms, large local inventory, and a large amount of pushy car salespeople whose only job is to get you to overpay for your vehicle to cover the costs of said showrooms and inventory.

They can still test drive at one dealership and buy at another.

But the difference is that all dealerships have artificially inflated prices, so if you live in a state with no direct to consumer sales you have no choice but to overpay which means there's no incentive to test drive at one dealership and buy at another, you're getting fucked either way. If direct sale is allowed the cars will be cheaper when bought from the manufacturer which is what creates the incentive to test drive at one place and buy at another.

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