Demand for smart in CO

[cosmart]

The Denver dealer opened yesterday, although the parking lot, service bays, etc. are still unfinished.

I went down to test drive a smart, since I had only actually ever seen a gray market car, other than on the internet. I was satisfied with what I saw and experienced. This is a great little car. It will sell like hotcakes. I wish it had a standard manual transmission, but the automanual is not a deal killer.

I reserved in May, configured in December, and the people at the dealership are as much in the dark about when my vehicle will arrive as I am. As they put it, they are getting 7-10 cars a week, and when the truck arrives, they know who to call. Every car on the first two trucks were going to first day reservations, and that is all they knew.

Here was the shocker (to me):

I asked them how many $99 reservations they had. Holy buckets...they have over 800 already. In addition, they said a lot of people had come down yesterday to test drive, and nearly everyone who didn't already have a reservation said they were going to reserve.

At 7-10 cars a week, and 800 people in front of you already, if you live in CO you are in for a long wait unless you can snag an orphan or get one from somewhere else. The Denver dealer is the exclusive smart dealer for the entire state for three years. Even with a 50% dropout rate, if you reserved today you are looking at the tail end of the year at best.

Boulder is the Prius capital of the world, and I'm guessing the smart will be just as popular. Lots of environmentally conscious people with a lot of disposable cash, and really tight parking spaces. I'd be willing to bet a high percentage of the cars being sold by the Denver dealer will be going to Boulder. It is too bad the dealership is deep in the bowels of south Denver. With no traffic it is 45 minutes from Boulder. During a normal AM rush it will be 1.5 hours. Also, it is not all that great a neighborhood and I'm not sure I would want my car sitting outside overnight there. The lot currently is not fenced, but maybe that is in their plans.

[Alustiza]

Did you find out what if any additional fees will be added to the price of a car? I asked the question in another part of the forum to the dealer, but as of yet has not been answered.

[cosmart]

Originally Posted by Alustiza

Did you find out what if any additional fees will be added to the price of a car? I asked the question in another part of the forum to the dealer, but as of yet has not been answered.

I didn't ask, since it looks like May at the earliest before my car arrives. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, but I will walk if I feel they are trying to rip me off. I don't know anyone who has ever bought from a Kuni dealer, but they are a pretty large operation and I haven't heard anything bad about them. They also own the Portland, OR smart dealership, so maybe you can find out what fees they have been charging up there.

[smartco]

Also went to smart center Denver for test drive. Car is great, much better than road show cars. Everyone at smart center Denver was very helpful. Met Trang (GM), Catie (Account Exe), and Sean (Product Specialist). Most excellent group.

However even the Kuni Group which owns both Denver & Portland has elected to add additional profit beyond full sticker price. So with that off my chest, here are the facts.

Dealer Fees Denver: $295 - because they can
Dealer Fees Portland: $50 - because they are state regulated

Apparently the costs are much higher in Denver than Portland - dig...dig

[jediknight36]

Transfer yours and not wait. I feel so bad for you. Sounds like you will wait almost 2 years.

[Alustiza]

Smartco,
Thank you for the information. I suspected they would pull something like that. Now does anyone think it takes longer to sell a car in Colorado versus Oregon or Cally?

Admin may wish to update the Dealer Fee list.

[4-2NV]

Originally Posted by smartco

Also went to smart center Denver for test drive. Car is great, much better than road show cars. Everyone at smart center Denver was very helpful. Met Trang (GM), Catie (Account Exe), and Sean (Product Specialist). Most excellent group.

However even the Kuni Group which owns both Denver & Portland has elected to add additional profit beyond full sticker price. So with that off my chest, here are the facts.

Dealer Fees Denver: $295 - because they can
Dealer Fees Portland: $50 - because they are state regulated

Apparently the costs are much higher in Denver than Portland - dig...dig

$250 fees here in Boston area. About the same as other dealers for other brands of cars. I thought PAG was not allowing any dealers to have "market adjustment" markups on smart. Boston dealer is adding LoJack, clear-bra and "simonizing" to orphans for nifty profit enhancements though.

[smartInDenver]

I stopped by on Tuesday too, met Sean and Josh, and got my test drive. They seemed really nice. They said 7 cars came in on the first delivery and 11 should be coming in today.

Then I left the dealership and got rear-ended by a 17-year-old kid. Now I really really need my smart car to come soon. It doesn't take much on a '98 Honda to total it, though I haven't gotten the repair estimate yet. Thank goodness it's driveable, for now.

Thanks for all the info, cosmart!!

[bmx43]

Originally Posted by 4-2NV

$250 fees here in Boston area. About the same as other dealers for other brands of cars. I thought PAG was not allowing any dealers to have "market adjustment" markups on smart. Boston dealer is adding LoJack, clear-bra and "simonizing" to orphans for nifty profit enhancements though.

PAG isn't allowing any "market adjustment". these are "doc fees" and are different than dealer markup. still shady, but different. A Penske dealer is even charging an inflated doc fee. there are several threads on this board about this subject. do a search for "dealer fees" and you will find all kinds of info.

since the orphans are now inventory cars, the dealer can add whatever they care to add and charge whatever they want for those options and it doesn't break any rules.