Planet Money had a good article on this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/19/172402376/why-buying-a-car-never-changes http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013

Planet Money had a good article on this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/19/172402376/why-buying-a-car-never-changes http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/02/19/172402376/why-buyi... Basically dealers have codified protections via the franchise laws(even in places like Texas, North Carolina, etc), and this hinders the direct sale of autos. Not just from Tesla, but also CarsDirect, Costco, etc.