Dealership - 1.5 hours Away

[IMSMART2]

Anyone else about 1-2 hours away from their dealership and concerned about warranty work or breaking down and having to have the car taken back? Does Smart offer free towing (this might be included with Roadside) and even so...do they give you a loaner car? My concern is taking the car down and being inconveinced for days. Any thoughts of this subject?

[oldbike]

I would be happy with 1.5 hours, I am 5 hours away. Oh well, I knew that when I reserved.
Most new cars are so trouble free that I am not going to lose sleep until something does go wrong.
I have owned Hondas since 1984 and have only been into the dealer one time for warrenty work.

[eqwalker]

Same here. 5.5 hours away from my dealership.

[jwight]

About an hour and 20 to Columbus when they open. Not great but better than 5 hours! AAA, smart 1 roadside assistance should be enough for the first 2 years. After that it's AAA and the cell phone; oil changes are DIY in my book.

[Karl Roth]

Originally Posted by IMSMART2

Anyone else about 1-2 hours away from their dealership and concerned about warranty work or breaking down and having to have the car taken back? Does Smart offer free towing (this might be included with Roadside) and even so...do they give you a loaner car? My concern is taking the car down and being inconveinced for days. Any thoughts of this subject?

loaners are a dealer call, one poster here already got one. mine has not said anything which I take to mean not. This is usually an item I shop for, something that was not an option here. Bought the car anyway.
karl

[SmartJJ]

Originally Posted by oldbike

I would be happy with 1.5 hours, I am 5 hours away. Oh well, I knew that when I reserved.
Most new cars are so trouble free that I am not going to lose sleep until something does go wrong.
I have owned Hondas since 1984 and have only been into the dealer one time for warrenty work.

Don't judge all cars by your Honda experiences ** I had the same experiences with Toyota, but after moving on to Audi and MINI, learned that not all cars are created equally. As both have dealers as close as 2 miles from me, it didn't stop me from buying the cars, but I have been back for work WAY more times than with my Toyotas of the 80s and 90s.

Oh yeah, and for all of you who are counting on AAA after the roadside expires, check on the towing coverage. Basic AAA here in Texas includes towing up to 3 miles. While on a road trip recently with a friend, we learned that AAA's referral tower was going to charge us $4/mile for the remaining 107 miles to a dealership. Using the Garmin, we quickly found another tow company nearby that would do the tow for $2/mile, saving us a bundle. If you are concerned about towing to a far-away dealer, you should check with your local AAA regarding its coverage.

[Fredvon4]

Or look into options besides AAA...like the GoodSam club...wink

[Harleyduo]

I think I have a fairly simple solution for towing, if I need to have my car towed to the dealership that's almost two hours away. I bought my smart to save having to drive my full size pickup truck. It just so happens that I purchased a rather large landscaping trailer to haul my John Deere tractor and even two Harleys if I decide to go on really long hauls on a trip to ride my Harley in scenic country. I plan on just driving my smart up on that trailer (it'll fit easily) and towing it with my other vehicle. I think that will be a more economical solution than paying somebody else to tow it. Of course, I hope I never have to find out, but that's my 'contingency plan'.

[davidmac]

I am 3.5 hours to Charlotte, but I figured it would be Atlanta or Charlotte when I got involved in this. It seemed like I heard once that any Mercedes dealer can do the warranty work, but not sure about repair.

[canon1753]

Somewhere here someone said something about an insurance co. doing a deal where it was free towing to the dealer. Not sure if true or not, but may be worth looking into.