Buying a new car should be a fun, life-changing decision, but the experience can often be ruined by annoying dealerships tricks. Sitting at the dealership for hours can be painful, which is why companies like Mitsubishi are trying out new online services that allow you to skip the dealership entirely.

Ford UK is the most recent company to implement a new online car buying process. All models are available through its website, which can be accessed from anywhere and pairs nicely with the newly-opened Digital FordStore, which houses a few models along with interactive displays.

Ford's new online sales service will allow UK customers to buy any model using a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) finance, which is the most popular method of car buying in the country. If the service is successful in the UK, Ford may extend the program throughout Europe. We love the idea of being able to purchase a car online and have it delivered right to our doorstep. Ford will even work with an auction company to handle trade-ins, while test drives can be arranged through local dealers.

The company has attempted to launch an online car buying service twice before in 1999 and 2010, but a car was deemed to too big an item to buy online. Now in 2018, Ford believes we have reached a point in our society where buying a car online is possible.

This really does sound like an excellent idea, one that could change the future of car buying. Unfortunately, there is little chance a service like this could be made available in the United States due to our complicated dealership franchise laws.

US dealerships already feel threatened by new subscription plans and Tesla's direct-to-consumer sales model, so there's no way they would allow consumers to bypass them using an online service. Dealerships simply have too much power in the US.