The decision process as to why I cancelled my SmartCar reservations
First.... I absolutely love the smart car and thought long and hard before cancelling.
I guess the main reason was frustration.... I could never get any kind of a definitive answer as to when mine would be available. No help from SmartCar themselves, and our local dealership is pretty arrogant (unfortunately they're the ONLY local dealership that I have to deal with).
I had a chance at an orphan, and even though it was "close" to what I wanted, it didn't have air, and living in St. Louis, you HAVE to have air in the summertime here.
Yes, I know that the Prius and SmartCar are apples vs oranges, but the main thing I'm looking at is gas savings. Both cars will give me that. I've had Toyota in the past, and have had extremely good customer service, as well as quality.
Don't be cross with me just because I jumped ship. If at least I could have gotten some sort of a solid date, I might have hung in there. There were people who had placed their reservations weeks before mine, and they all had been given expected delivery dates. I tried getting information from SmartCar as well as my local dealership as to why there seemed to be the discrepancy, based on your geographical location, and never heard back from anyone.
The Prius will serve me well....
Last edited by sammiam; 06-05-2008 at 01:00 PM.
Reason: spelling error corrections
I guess the main reason was frustration.... I could never get any kind of a definitive answer as to when mine would be available. No help from SmartCar themselves, and our local dealership is pretty arrogant (unfortunately they're the ONLY local dealership that I have to deal with)..
In that case, we all would could stake a claim in canceling!
Have you configured, Do you have a DDE date? That's really all the info you need! ...along with this site - why bother with getting info from smartusa? ;)
Too bad you couldn't hang in there, there is lots of support and assistance in determining your projected delivery date here on the forum. Out of curiosity, when did you reserve and what was your reservation number? I totaly agree with the AC issue, although it is 58 deg and raining here (NOW), my family lives in Sacramento and when I visit, I didn't want to do it without AC. What did the smartUSA DDE show as a delivery date for your smart? I take it you had not been contacted by smartUSA to configure either! Good luck with the Pirus, as you say;"It will serve you well."
The main problem/frustration was that everyone else who had done their reservation weeks before mine, had already gotten their DDE date. I had done the initial config when you make the reservations, but not a final one because I was never contacted by Smart or local dealership.
Can't remember my number at the moment, I reserved back in end of Feb of '08. Other's who had reservations weeks earlier had gotten their DDE. I was never contacted by anyone, even though I contacted SmartCar on multiple occaisions (phoned and talked to rep), as well as tried getting my local dealer to help. All the local dealership said was that based on my reservation number, that it looked like it would be 18 months. The DDE estimator continued to state the my DDE could not be determined. From what I deducted, it appeared that based on your geographical location, you seemed to get a quicker DDE. Even the local dealership here stated this.
Last edited by sammiam; 06-05-2008 at 01:18 PM.
Reason: correct spelling
The main problem/frustration was that everyone else who had done their reservation weeks before mine, had already gotten their DDE date. I had done the initial config when you make the reservations, but not a final one because I was never contacted by Smart or local dealership.
Congrats on the Prius. You will undoubtedly like it. Try the greenhybrid.com forum for excellent information and support. I can't wait to see the next-gen Prius, as well as the new Honda hybrid products... should be a giant technological leap forward. All these companies should be commended for hitting the nail on the head, in their own ways.
Sounds like the system, such as it is; left you in limbo!! Sorry for that! Make sure you drive the Prius into the dealership (Plaza Motors in Creve Couer Missouri) and show them the nice car you got because the have forgotten what customer service is.
Yes, I know that the Prius and SmartCar are apples vs oranges, but the main thing I'm looking at is gas savings.
Based on that criteria, the Prius is the best choice. You get a decent sized car with superior gas savings. Though, if you consider the total cost of the vehicle along with cost of gas, you do realize that you need to drive over 100,000 miles using $15/gallon gas to beat a smart, right? ;-)
Seriously, I love the Prius and debated getting one and just convinced my father to get one. So you are doing very good. The day my smart has a service issue on its 24,001 mile I will mumble to myself "should have gotten a Prius". But until that day, I want my smart. ;-)
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