The Middleman Tax Nobody Voted For
Franchise dealer laws aren't consumer protection. They're a toll booth.
You're not paying for a car. You're paying for a car plus a legally required detour through someone else's business model.
Every state that mandates franchise dealerships is running the same play: automakers can't sell directly to you, even if they want to. The dealer gets a cut. The law says so. You have no choice.
What That Actually Costs
The number sits somewhere between four and five thousand dollars, baked in before you've said a word to anyone in a polo shirt. Before the extended warranty pitch. Before the financing dance. Before the floor mats you didn't ask for.
This isn't a negotiation problem. Negotiating against a structural mandate is like haggling with a toll booth.
Tesla fought these laws state by state and still can't sell directly in several markets. The franchise lobby is that entrenched. The argument used to justify it — consumer protection, local accountability, jobs — doesn't survive contact with the math.
Five thousand dollars isn't protection. It's a fee for access to a system you never agreed to.
The car you want exists. The price you'd pay in a direct market exists too. The gap between them has a name, and it's not a dealership — it's a law.