Still waiting on 'getting the word' on when to expect delivery so sent off an email . . . response from Lincolnwood below:
"We have delivered about 75 so far. As far as anything else goes, I am not sure how many to expect. We are only notified once the car(s) are being shipped. Which is 30-60 days from the time they arrive at our dealership.
Thank you,
Colin Lane
smart center Lincolnwood
Loeber Motors"
As of today, it is 349 days since my initial on-line reservation (4/3/07), looks like it will definitely go beyond a year! not good news for others in metro Chicago (unless of course you go the orphan route)
i went on 'autotrader.com' today and did a search for 2007-8 Smarts. a dealer in Illinois (Loeber Motors) came up saying they had SEVENTEEN AVAILABLE!!!!
how can that be? i wanted to call but i think i just my email them instead. i know some dealers have 'orhpans', but 17???
I shot another email to my contact, ties into the process of 'orphan' handling but if as the dealer's say, if they don't have access to the upcoming resv holders info they can't contact them unless they are on an orphan list in addition to the pre-order resv list. By the way 17/92 is about an 18% fallout rate (but of course we don't know how many 'orphans' they've sold) which is low but I would think they would have far fewer cars lying around unsold uless of course they get 'packed' with unwanted stuff as with some other dealers. I also did notice that they indicated VIN's on on vehicles listed. Hopefully others (Dr. J) sees this and takes action as well (I'm send him a PM)
I shot another email to my contact, ties into the process of 'orphan' handling but if as the dealer's say, if they don't have access to the upcoming resv holders info they can't contact them unless they are on an orphan list in addition to the pre-order resv list. By the way 17/92 is about an 18% fallout rate (but of course we don't know how many 'orphans' they've sold) which is low but I would think they would have far fewer cars lying around unsold uless of course they get 'packed' with unwanted stuff as with some other dealers. I also did notice that they indicated VIN's on on vehicles listed. Hopefully others (Dr. J) sees this and takes action as well (I'm send him a PM)
I've said it before - they should have asked for a $500 deposit at configuration to weed out the tire-kickers. MINI did it right. I just wish smart usa would engage in some good will damage control rather than take the early adopters for granted.
I've said it before - they should have asked for a $500 deposit at configuration to weed out the tire-kickers.
i agree......that would take care of soooooo many orphans and put the cars in the hands of those who REALLY are anxious to get them. you know, like ME!
I was in the Linconwood dealership last Friday to get the engine light looked at (it was a bad fuel valve). Salesperson said they "have a lot of orphans". Any locals interested should give them a call. When I got my orphan, I kept my original reservation.... husband is interested in having one, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by paul c
For some dealers, every car that arrives on their lot is automatically uploaded to the Autotrader web site. If you were to check with them, I'm sure you'd find they weren't for sale.
(email response below - Lincolnwood smart center)
Unfortunately autotrader automatically updates the website with our inventory. These are not available cars. They are all for reservation holders.
I will let you know as soon as your car is shipped.
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