I grappled with the idea of buying from a dealer who wasn't local, after visiting my local dealer to make a purchase, and the salesman seemed he didn't know much about the equipment he sold, was pretty much an "order taker" and wasn't that interested in finding answers to my questions.
About 40 years ago I was a commissioned audio salesman and it used to really bother me when I'd spend time working with a customer who would then go to a discount store and buy cheaper stuff. Every now and then, when they'd have problems, some of them would actually have the audacity to ask me to help them with problems they had with the equipment they bought from that discount store.
But in the case of making a purchase from my local dealer, the owner had an investment that I benefited from, and though my salesman wasn't the best, I didn't think it was right to buy the items somewhere else, when the local dealer "added value" by having the units available on display at their showroom.