Smart car search begins...

[Smart007]

Hello all-

I've been an avid car enthusiast since before I was able to drive and have had well over 100 cars so far.

I was really intrigued by the Smart car when it was first to come here to the states and once they finally started getting here, I took a gander over to the local Smart car dealer here in Northern Illinois (Lake Bluff).

Thing was, that was back in the day when dealers first off didn't have any for sale and you had to wait to see if the people that actually ordered them were going to pick them up. Then on top of that there was another waiting list that you had to wade through to see if those people were still interested and so on. Then of course, some of the dealers were marking them up price wise, and I've never been one to pay MSRP, much less MSRP + an 'Additional Dealer Market Adjustment' or whatever they want to call it these days...

So... here we are today... Just started looking at them again now and think I've decided on a loaded Convertible, possibly Blue with Black, but I like some of the other colors as well.

Price wise, the loaded ones I was looking at yesterday were in about the $18000 - $18900 range.

I'm of course new here (Smart Forum) and plan to take a look around and check everything out. One of my primary search items is of course going to be price. There are about 3 or 4 Smart dealers in the surrounding area here, some of which I tried to look at inventory on line, and was actually surprised to see that some of the dealers (at least one in Lincolnwood IL) looked like they were adding about $4000 to the MSRP!!!

Any insight on what I should be paying for this car would be great. I was actually quite shocked (with the economy in it's current state) to see that a dealer was adding $4000 to the MSRP of these, and they had like 60 of them on their lot! Just for the record, I didn't get a 'final' price on any of the ones at the Lake Bluff dealer, but the sales guy did indicate that they would 'discount' them 'some'.

Anyhoo... I'm off to do some research here. Currently, I have the following cars today:

2009 Corvette Convertible
2008 Toyota Prius
2008 TrailBlazer SS AWD

-Sean

[JPaul]

Welcome Sean,
Still many potential customers are ordering their own "made-to-order" smart through the $99 reservation program. Lots of Dealers have "orphans" and do sell them at the MSRP. Some have added – or are adding – costly options to bring the price up, as you have found out. Good luck in your search, and enjoy looking around!

[forestacademy]

If they havent added anthing like Lo-Jac or Window etching, then you should be paying MSRP. (window Sticker)

THe mark up on these is very low and you cant realy expect discouts yet. It cirtainly isn't fair to folks who put in their $99 and waited to be paying more than those that walk up and take whats on the lot.

I know some parts of the country have plenty of Orphans, But at least up in Milwaukee with about 40 cars on the lot, only 6 were up for adoption, the rest were going home with mom or dad.

[jimvw57]

I would guess the one with the $4000 add on was probably a Brabus. Work with a dealer and let them know what you are looking for and they could keep an eye out for an orphan to fit your needs.

[John_H]

The markups aren't just added dealer profit, but cars preconfigured with various options in order to get a little added boost to their bottom line through those higher margin items.

Smart dealers currently don't make a boatload of cash on each sale because of how the pre-order system is set up. Asking a dealer to sell the car for under MSRP is asking them to not sell the car to someone else at MSRP (perhaps with additional options) and effectively hand you some cash out of their own pockets.

We don't have Smart dealers with 100s of cars on their lots concerned about moving a previous model year's inventory. Because this car is new and in limited production (they haven't started a third shift in Hambach France to overproduce and generate unneeded surplus) the experience with buying this car new will be unlike almost any of your previous cars.

It's MSRP.

But you might be able to talk them down from the price for an over-optioned vehicle so you can get the feeling that you "paid less." But you won't pay under MSRP for new. Try used, perhaps?

[smark]

Smart007, take a short 8 hour drive to KC. Smart Center Merriam has a lot of cars. No add ons!!!! Brabus models too!!!!!! Ask for Melinda, or Amanda: 913.677.9100 / 913.677.3300

[Smart007]

Thanks for all the responses. Some great information.

Actually though, and I'm obviously not sure how it works throughout the rest of the country, but there are 3 dealers in my local area (all within 20 miles) that have tons of these on the lots.

One dealer has 25 of them for immediate sale, the next has I think around 60 for immediate sale and the last has around 90 for immediate sale.

Trust me when I say I know they aren't going to discount these tremendously, but when the dealer states right from the get go that they will discount the car some, I'd have to imagine that they might not be selling as well in this area as they may in others, either that or the novelty has worn off some on these.

I have seen a couple of the Brabus models, and these were in the $22k range, but some of the others were 'regular' cars without any add on's that appeared to be marked up a good deal.

As I am totally new to the Smart car world, I was just hoping to see what was fair price wise on these.

Also, in all honesty, having had so many different types of cars over the years, I'm really trying to get my head around how a car this small that only seats 2 is priced at upwards of $20k.

I mean this with absolutely no offense, but if someone is looking for an 'economy' car, there are allot of options, such as a Toyota Yaris that seats 5 and can be had pretty fully loaded for around $15k.

Again, I like the car and intend on buying one, it's just I'm trying to do my homework so to speak and figure out how these are priced where they are.

Thanks,
Sean

[dagwodzz]

Smart dealers currently don't make a boatload of cash on each sale.

Is $2700 a boat load? That was the profit on my Passion. How do I know this you ask?

Well I always use capital one auto finance as my lender. you apply on line and if you qualify they over night you a check for 100% of loan. This makes you a cash buyer giving you some leverage on your purchase. Not the case in a smart purchase as they are all sold at the same price. Anyway I took my check with me when the time came to pick my car. Filled out the check for the amount of the sale and went home. 3 days later I get a call from Capital One telling me the program has changed and that they now only 100% of the dealer cost. (economy) When I asked the dealer how they knew the dealer cost, she said they had to fax Cap. One their invoice for the car. I had to come up with the dif. $2700. A boat load? You decide.

DAG

[forestacademy]

Originally Posted by Smart007

Also, in all honesty, having had so many different types of cars over the years, I'm really trying to get my head around how a car this small that only seats 2 is priced at upwards of $20k.

I mean this with absolutely no offense, but if someone is looking for an 'economy' car, there are allot of options, such as a Toyota Yaris that seats 5 and can be had pretty fully loaded for around $15k.

You said you wanted a loaded convertable

You cant get a Yaris Convertable.

If you want a cheep car. you can start at $14K
If you want a base loaded car you can get in for around $16
If you want the Cabrio it's more and when you step up to the Brabus model then your adding $$ to be a poser.

You should be paying MSRP

[jwight]

Well, I don't agree. The smart is just a car; if dealers in Sean's area have 30 - 60 sitting on the lot they are paying a lot of monthly finance charges and should be willing to deal. If we think their margin is around $2K+ on a Passion (we know it's 9% from 2008 smart documents) then there's your negotiating room. I wouldn't worry about being "fair" to other buyers - they bought what they ordered and paid MSRP. If you have the opportunity to pick up an orphan for under MSRP go for it. Your car will lose at least 20% when you drive it away so the dealer is doing you no favors. Ask for $1K off and offer to close the deal on the spot - or walk.