My car has dropped $6500 invalue 6 months

[Macaw]

A fully option '09 cabrio with destination charge is $18,990 and I doubt there were $2,444 of available factory options in '08. So that said if there was a sticker on the car showing 21,434.00 it was probably not the one that came from the factory. Honda dealers around here in the '80's used to do this all the time to jack up the "sticker" price of the car. If it's not a on single piece of paper WITH the EPA mileage info it was not a factory sticker. When it comes time for trade in if it's not on the original factory sticker it usually does not add any value as most people want a factory stock car not a customized one.
Also at least in Illinois whatever the trade-in amount is you do not pay tax on that amount when buy a new car.

Just remember the poor folks who bought a Chrysler or GM product last year...they really took a bath!

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by Chad W

If this dealer did take me for that much I will take it down like a ton of rocks, Yes I am a sore loser and I don't like being taken advantage of.

Sorry, I can't see your problem.

Did you buy the car with the intention of reselling it and making a ton of money? If so, sorry for your loss. It's called 'speculation' for a reason. If you don't have the resources to absorb losses now and then, you really shouldn't be playing the game. In case you hadn't noticed, the economy is IN THE TANK!

So now it sounds to me like you have attempted to trade your smart and are seriously UPSIDE DOWN because of a lot of extras you paid for that you didn't really need. By their contact with smartUSA, smart Centers are forbidden to sell a smart for more than 'sticker' BUT they are allowed to add accessories to increase their margin of profit. If you bought a smart 'loaded' with several of these additional accessories, then you only have yourself to blame. No one held a gun to your head and made you sign the papers.

Sounds to me that someone forgot the saying "Buyer Beware"! No one's going to look out for you but YOURSELF, so ultimately YOU are responsible for your purchase, not your smart Center.

[SmartieParts]

Let's give the guy a break. There's been countless times on this forum and others where someone hasn't fully researched their purchase, found out some quirk or whatever they didn't realize, and then went on a mission to save others from the same "fate" (or just to moan and whine - call it how you see it).

Examples:

My car only gets X MPG (because I like to drive it like a Ferrari)
My car doesn't drive like a Ferarri
I found out (OMG!) that my smart doesn't have a spare tire
WARNING: My smart didn't come with a charger!

Or whatever. Point is, people buy the car for different reasons. Most of us on forums like these are buying it for the culture (whether we see it like that or not) while others buy it because its a cheap car and others have different reasons still.


Personally, I hope he comes to enjoy his smart for what it is and not worry about what it isn't. As someone pointed out previously... it has only depreciated if you sell it. So don't sell it.

[rfernatt]

This thread made me think of a news article from our neighbor to the north:

SMART : Best Kept Value | BenzInsider.com - A Mercedes-Benz Fan Blog

"The smart fortwo recently received the Canadian Black Book award for “Best Retained Value”. Designed to identify specific models that outperform their competitors, the awards are based on real performance and measure actual value retained after a four year period."

The depreciation noted here is likely on par with other small cars, but perhaps in time, the US smart market will be like the Canadian market. Who knows...

[SmartieParts]

The Canadians had the diesel smart for the first two years ('05 and '06) and switched to the identical-to-USA gas smart in late '07. As diesel VW owners can attest... diesel cars retain their value better than gas models. Why? They last longer, would be the biggest reason. But also lower total cost of ownership is appealing (better fuel economy) etc etc. In Canada, as well... they are regarded as a bit of a collector's car now too because they were only available for two years. And remember that those that bought cdi smarts in Canada waited as long as 2 years to take delivery. That breeds a whole lot of "from my cold dead fingers" mentality!

- Steven

[rfernatt]

Originally Posted by SmartieParts

The Canadians had the diesel smart for the first two years ('05 and '06) and switched to the identical-to-USA gas smart in late '07. As diesel VW owners can attest... diesel cars retain their value better than gas models. Why? They last longer, would be the biggest reason. But also lower total cost of ownership is appealing (better fuel economy) etc etc. In Canada, as well... they are regarded as a bit of a collector's car now too because they were only available for two years. And remember that those that bought cdi smarts in Canada waited as long as 2 years to take delivery. That breeds a whole lot of "from my cold dead fingers" mentality!

Good points! I wish the diesel option were available here.

[Macaw]

Now, if I had only bought that used Ferrari 246GT Dino back in the '80's, I mean the guy only wanted $20K for but Nooooo, I thought that was too much money for a 6cyl car so I wisely bought a used Jaguar XJ12 instead.....lost my shirt on that deal! Also had a chance to buy a Ghibli and a XK150, if only foresight was as accurate as hindsight....Anyway with a few exceptions cars depreciate dramatically during the first year of ownership....

[Chad W]

Originally Posted by SmartieParts

Let's give the guy a break. There's been countless times on this forum and others where someone hasn't fully researched their purchase, found out some quirk or whatever they didn't realize, and then went on a mission to save others from the same "fate" (or just to moan and whine - call it how you see it).

Examples:

My car only gets X MPG (because I like to drive it like a Ferrari)
My car doesn't drive like a Ferarri
I found out (OMG!) that my smart doesn't have a spare tire
WARNING: My smart didn't come with a charger!

Or whatever. Point is, people buy the car for different reasons. Most of us on forums like these are buying it for the culture (whether we see it like that or not) while others buy it because its a cheap car and others have different reasons still.


Personally, I hope he comes to enjoy his smart for what it is and not worry about what it isn't. As someone pointed out previously... it has only depreciated if you sell it. So don't sell it.

Didn't mean to sound like a baby, I do like my car its a blast to drive I should have done my home work I was just really excited when the lot I went to had one for sale and I drove off the lot 2 hrs later.I didn't know I just found out about the tire a week ago because my low tire pressure light came on.

[John_H]

Originally Posted by SmartieParts

Let's give the guy a break. There's been countless times on this forum and others where someone hasn't fully researched their purchase, found out some quirk or whatever they didn't realize, and then went on a mission to save others from the same "fate" (or just to moan and whine - call it how you see it).

I tend to prefer tolerance and patience above leaping to judgment which should have proved useful in this thread. What I heard, however, were loud cries of "Blame! Blame! Blame!" when the only one to blame was himself which is where that leap to judgment rubs the wrong way.

If one doesn't know the basic economics of car purchasing, one should learn before dedicating so much money toward the purchase. I would caution those looking to buy gold, invest in stocks, or flip houses with the same: know what you're getting into.

If it were an issue where the car isn't performing like anticipated or there were some Smart specific quirk that was a problem, I could understand. I wouldn't care for yelling about it on the forum, but I could understand. But the basic fundamentals of car purchasing weren't understood. At least that's what was obvious to this distant observer.

There's no sense complaining your soda is flat if you left it out unopened overnight. It happens.

[Chad W]

For All I'm sorry to have upset so many pepole on this site.
Thanks for the advice I will just leave it at that and I hope you all have a great day and have many happy miles ahead of you. VROOM VROOM!!