Is Buying a smart really smart or really dumb?

[vibrato]

I love the spirit of this thread (I started it)......finally.........I'm hearing good and positive stuff. And everybody makes mistakes. How about you Ms Amethyste - in Gorgeous NH. You bought a PT Cruiser and say you hate it. Why did you buy it? You probably got to drive it many times B4 you signed your purchase agreement; and yet you bought it! Sometimes, things just don't work out as intended................I'm listening and I'm just trying to get all the best information I can.

[Amethyste]

Mister Vibrato -
Well - I hate the gas consumption on my PT. Thats why I hate it - I commute a bit and it's hurting my gas budget allocation - it is performing WAY less than what it should. Otherwise its fine. I got ran into my Aveo - the innatentive guy who ran the red light completely anhilated my Aveo and almost took me with it - Had to find a car quickly and thats what I found that I could afford. I wanted a smart, but had to settle for something in the interim.

[angel]

Making an impulse decision can often be considered not smart. An auto purchase is usually major for most. Not thinking it through and considering all the options is not smart. Take your time. Weigh your options. Compare your pro's and con's. Right now I just see a big ole list of negatives. Sounds like your heart really isn't into purchasing the fourtwo.

I know I had to weight my own pro's and con's for the smart against other available vehicles and keeping the one I have now. My reasons can be vastly different from your own though. Again, I wish you well on your decision.

[tipo158]

It has been so long since I nitpicked a spdickey posting that I feel obliged to do it on this one (don't take it personal!)

Originally Posted by spdickey

1. dealer doc fees - anywhere from $50 - $699 (mine to be about $400)

Got to pay the doc fees no matter what new car you buy. Guess you'd have to take delivery in a low cost state to prevent that. Since its the same no matter what you buy, its a draw.

However, in some instances, these doc fees are really a hidden way to get additional margin on the car since smart USA won't let them add an 'additional dealer markup' item to the sticker and, again, in some instances, those fees are less on other cars (at the same dealership) that aren't in demand like the smart.

2. financing fees - 5% - 7.5%

Again, this is the same no matter what car you buy. Another draw.

True. However, some interesting cars are having a hard time selling in this market and some manufacturers are offering nice incentive financing that are unavailable when buying a smart.

3. buy a spare wheel & tire - $200 - $250 (really no place to store a spare)

No need to buy one. If you get a flat, use the included pump and goop to get you to a tire dealer. Or wait for the free smart 1 tow truck.

My R32 does not have a spare. Like the smart apparently, it has an electric pump and fix-a-flat goo. A tire had a slow leak and I took the car in to a tire shop to get them to look at it. Turns out that I had driven on it too long when it was low and the tire was damaged and they wouldn't remount the tire and let me go. I had to buy a new tire then and there from their crappy selection of in-stock tires. Also, they gave me total grief about not having a spare in the car and didn't believe me when I told them that it didn't come with one (until I pointed out the insert in the spare tire well with the pump, fix-a-flat, etc., all marked with VW logos).

6. need to buy a torque wrench if you want to change your own oil - otherwise dealer wants $80 - (whew, what happened to $25 oil changes?)

You can get a $25 oil change from Jiffy Lube. But this happens only every 10,000 miles (about once a year). Forget the wrench!

a. You should have a torque wrench no matter what car you buy

b. You should be running full synthetic oil and that means that your oil change will cost more than $25 at Jiffy Lube.

c. Unless you KNOW that the Jiffy Lube is a good one and won't drain your engine sump and then fill your gearbox with engine oil or won't forget to replace everything that was removed to get access to the oil filter back on right or won't not replace the oil filter, but tell you that you did, I recommend avoid quick lube shops. BTW, those aren't made up examples of mistakes made by quick lube shops; either I or someone I know had experienced each of them.

d. You should change the oil more frequently than 10k miles (maybe not the "too often" 3k miles, though). Particularly on a car with only a 2yr/24k warranty.

12. Limited 24K or 24mo warranty

Keeps initial cost low. Extra time can be purchased from your smart dealer. $395 for one more year.

You are able to purchase addition warranty, but it is the extended warranty variety with a $100 deductible.

16. And all the negativism on this site. Seems I could get another car with a lot of dealer incentives thrown in for probably less money.

One word, trolls. Ignore them. Lots of us love our cars.

Sorry, but the negativism isn't mostly from trolls. It is mostly from people who feel let down by smart.

[El Tomate]

Originally Posted by MarkB

Why does anyone pick the car they drive? Because THEY like it and that's all that matters. Don't ask us if it's smart or not, just drive what makes you happy to drive. It's pretty simple really, after all it's just a car.

Well said. I want this car because I like it. I did my research, tried other brands and models and decided that this is the car for me. It really comes down to that.


Freddy

[JusNameMe]

Originally Posted by spdickey

One word, trolls. Ignore them. Lots of us love our cars.

TROLLS, it's a great word, I like it.

I have "taken delivery" of my car but have not yet seen it (in person), touched it, sat in it, or driven it. I do have pictures of my family members doing all those things for me. YET, I LOVE MY CAR!! I can hardly wait until I get to come back to the states to drive it.

[Peddlecar]

I cancelled for a new Equinox. It gets half the gas mileage. But I did get 0% financing for 48 months. I got 1000 off on a rebate. They threw in a DVD entertainment system 1200. And the document fee was 50 dollars.

I figured it out and for my wife to drive this car will cost 500 dollars a year more in fuel. Is it worth it?? Yea. But mainly because it has way more versatility and the nearest Smart dealership from me is Omaha.

I had called them 3 times with no response. I decided that was just a little more omen of the kind of service I wasn't going to get. It was just too risky.

[saxdiva]

Originally Posted by spdickey

One word, trolls. Ignore them. Lots of us love our cars.

With all due respect, that's a pretty easy thing to say when you've at least had an opportunity to participate based on first hand knowledge of the car. In my case, I'd say my experience with the process so far is becoming pretty negative. Based on the total lack of information from smartusa (in addition to their promises to improve communication, which are being broken one by one), I am almost 11 months into this wait with NO IDEA when to expect delivery, even though later reservations are now being delivered (nothing new, I realize). Four months from configuration to delivery? I'm going to be astonished if that happens; all smartusa can tell me is that my order was forwarded to production, but I have *not* been routed to a dealer, and that I can assume it hasn't been shipped. And as of today, the "tool" to give reservation holders may be delayed until April.

So... we're talking about a company that has no means of tracking a production order and can't seem to get a process developed in a reasonable amount of time. To be honest, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about their ability to handle service and parts competently. I understand that there are trade-offs in being an early adopter, but I don't think it's fair to dismiss people's frustrations as "trolling" when it's pretty clear that this roll-out hasn't been thought through as well as it should have been.

[vibrato]

Originally Posted by saxdiva

With all due respect, that's a pretty easy thing to say when you've at least had an opportunity to participate based on first hand knowledge of the car. In my case, I'd say my experience with the process so far is becoming pretty negative. Based on the total lack of information from smartusa (in addition to their promises to improve communication, which are being broken one by one), I am almost 11 months into this wait with NO IDEA when to expect delivery, even though later reservations are now being delivered (nothing new, I realize). Four months from configuration to delivery? I'm going to be astonished if that happens; all smartusa can tell me is that my order was forwarded to production, but I have *not* been routed to a dealer, and that I can assume it hasn't been shipped. And as of today, the "tool" to give reservation holders may be delayed until April.

So... we're talking about a company that has no means of tracking a production order and can't seem to get a process developed in a reasonable amount of time. To be honest, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about their ability to handle service and parts competently. I understand that there are trade-offs in being an early adopter, but I don't think it's fair to dismiss people's frustrations as "trolling" when it's pretty clear that this roll-out hasn't been thought through as well as it should have been.

Hi,
I'm thinking like you too!! I'm really very, very close to getting the call that my smart is here and ready for my pick-up. Now I'm reading about the Toyota iQ. Which I happen to like very much. So, I'm thinking, ...Toyota has a very fine dealer network in the US. Is beating all major US manufacturers. Stands 100% behind their vehicles, and will probable have minor mechanical issues once here on US soil. Pricing unknown to me at this time....but will probably be higher, but not a whole lot (anybody have any inclination as to the pricing on this toyota?) So, I'm going to bed tonight thinking if maybe I should cancel the smart and wait another several months for the toyota iQ. Waited a hell of a long time for the smart....what's another few months??????
We'll see.....Vibrato

[timhood]

Vibrato:

Yes, I'll bet the Toyota iQ could be significant competition for smart if they haven't made a big dent in the market before then. That's *IF* it comes to the U.S. There are no current plans. My guess is that it probably will come, but I would doubt it comes earlier than the '10 model year.