Borrowing equipment from dealers

I know several local dealerships in my area that allow customers to take home gear to audition.  I don't know if they allow anyone to borrow stuff, but, they certainly allow it for good regular customers.  I personally would not ask to do a home audition of delicate gear that is prone to being damaged, like turntables and large speaker systems.  I know a dealer who has allowed people to take home phono cartridges to audition, including some crazy expensive cartridges that I am afraid to even touch.

If you are a good customer, dealers will go to quite extreme measures to accommodate requests.  I once had an interest in a new linestage.  A local dealer carried three lines that I had an interest in, but, he had none of the flagship models of those lines.  On a handshake deal, he offered to buy all three flagship models if I promised to buy one of them.  I took home the first model he got in, liked it, and purchased it without having him get in the other two.  

I would love to see the manufacturers serve the function of providing the in home demo. I realize that PS Audio does some form of this, but they also ended their dealer network. I'm thinking of a hybrid model.  A consumer could request an in home demo of a preamp or streamer for example from a set of demo equipment the manufacturer maintains for consumer trials. The consumer would secure the equipment with a credit card and pay return shipping. The factory would not sell direct, so the consumer would have to buy from a dealer so the dealers do not get cut out of the purchase and/or trade in. I can't imagine being a designer/manufacturer and NOT having a way to get my gear listened to! Or maybe worse, have a dealer sell agaist my products because they have a better deal or incentive to reach with my competitor. 
I recently went through trying to hear a VTL 6.5 preamp, and it occurred to me during that process that at VTL you have this couple dedicating their professional lives to their designs and it was so hard for them to get their products heard! I can think of lots of "yeah buts" about this idea, but I think the brands that figure out an in home loaner program could  really accelerate. Especially as the prices of single components keep going up and up. 

I've seen many people audition equipment (not only audio, but virtually anything) in dealership/brickstore and then go for online shopping for bargain.
I would appreciate dealers lending their equipment, but I don't see such business practice would survive when people can easily find 10~20% lower price from online. 
However, very specialized high end audio dealers might be willing to lend their equipment assuming that the customer is a potential buyer, not a bargain hunter.

Getting discounts from local dealers is a simple matter.  In my experience, it only takes 4 words, "How much for cash?".

I never expect local dealers to match internet prices.  Dealers add value, and cultivating a good relationship with dealers is worth more than the couple of bucks I might save.

Exceptions of course for products not carried locally.

Some like dedicated audio in AZ will let you audition but if you send back it may cost you 15-20% on say $5k. Plus shipping 
that’s a big piece of change. I don’t know of Any that let you audition with no deduction of Monies , except Mojo Audio for their very good digital 60 days,, and Svs Subwoofers- speakers , full $$refund 
With Svs subwoofers, speakers 45 day audition ,they will even pay the freight back !!