i'm rethinking as well and my car is here (even though my dealer is apparently not ready to deliver anything yet). i have several beefs: firstly, as an 1173er I also expected some sort of special attention. we got none. then we get whipsawed with the country's worst warranty! combine that with heretofore sketchy info my dealer and i'm not a happy camper.
my thoughts are this: if i orphan my car and wait a year or so i have a chance of hopefully getting either a micro hybrid or higher performance model. any bugs that might crop up would be worked out. insurance companies and credit unions will be familiar with the car. and if all of that fails, i could pick up a lightly used model for a discount once its bloom has faded a bit.
i'm also rethinking my model choice. i went with a loaded cabrio, but now i'm thinking a sparingly optioned pure might be more in the spirit of the car.
i'm all over the map to be honest. if my dealer had his sh*t together and had the car available when it arrived, then there would have been no second guessing, but now that i've had the opportunity to think about things i think there might be another orphan out there.
i will own a fortwo someday: i can guarantee that. however, perhaps i will wait things out for a bit.
i'm still open at this point. i'm sure if my dealer drove my little smartie over and knocked on the door, i'd sign the papers. i honestly never thought i'd be in this position, but here i am!
Got off work tonight and walked out to the car with a college that likes cars we got in talked about it fired it up and drove him to his wifes WRX. Pretty sure smat has an other 99 buck deposit. most that pass never really drive the dang thing. Waiting drove me nuts. The car is a bag of fun
karl
firstly, as an 1173er I also expected some sort of special attention.
Just start driving it around and you will get all the attention you desire and then some. Not every person who buys a smart in the first wave is going to get on tv that would be ridiculous. What kind of attention did you want?
Well I did get on TV after taking my delivery. A German crew came to Beverly Hills Mercedes to ask four of us to comment on smart in the USA for an in-house video produced by smart GmbH.
Camera guy drove around the block with me asking questions. More Q&A inside the dealership. I'll get a DVD of the finished show later. It will be up on YouTube soon after.
My best line, while driving down Rodeo Blvd., (around the corner from the dealership) I passed a Bentley, Porsche, stretch Hummer limo. Who were the tourists on the street paying attention to? Not the $100,000 plus cars. It was my $16,000 smart.
I actually rolled down the window next to a guy driving a Bulgari and asked if he had any Gray Poupon. He laughed and asked me if I liked the smart. Oh, a little 90210 humor!
Doesn't everyone who bought a smart get to be on TV?
i'm rethinking as well and my car is here (even though my dealer is apparently not ready to deliver anything yet). i have several beefs: firstly, as an 1173er I also expected some sort of special attention.
Special attention? The sense of entitlement in our culture is out of control already, why add to it? I mean, whaddaya want, a 21-gun salute? Perhaps a free pot-bellied pig? Or maybe a cut and blow (dry)?
As a 1363 rezo, this may be a big "So What?" but I'm having all of the same reservations cropping up in my oversized head.
If it had been a six month wait from reservation time, I'd have one in the drive but as it is, well, maybe not.
I have a pretty bad case of "look at me" but only to a point. Besides, by the time I actually get one the flash factor will be over because the smart will be as invisible as the mini. But then that might be a good thing for those of us who prefer the "grey man" option at times.
On the ol' One-to-Ten desirablity scale the warranty took it from a 10 to a 7, the wait takes it down to 6 and I wont' buy 5 or below.
Hell, maybe I'll just get in line for an Amazon.com Kindle and take public trans for a while.
All that aside though, a pot-bellied pig WOULD take it back up to a 7. I'd name him Steven.
Good thing about the rethinkers who are considering moving on...they will make a lot reserved & orphan wannabee folks very happy. For me...it's smart all the way for the next 3 yrs and then I'm onto a smart upgrade like Xclusive.
I've been doing a lot of thinking myself, and have actually been happy that I've got a 1353 reservation number so I get to benefit from the bleeding edge early adopter's experience before I make my decision.
So far, I'm still going to buy. I'm in a place where the Doc Fee is limited by law to $50. All the reports and personal experience with the dealer have been positive. The car, though not meeting what many had built up in their head as probably gas milage (The only figure I ever heard from smart on the milage of the 451 being 40+, which it does for Highway milage), still has the highest MPG of any gasoline car for sale in the USA. It's reasonably priced. I fit in it comfortably (Larger than your average bear). And I need something soon to replace my 10 year old car that I only use for commuting anyway.
What I'm really waiting for is a PEV. I don't really WANT a gasoline engine at all, and I don't want to pay $25K+ for a Hybrid that's MORE mechanicly complex than an IC car that I hope to replace in 3 years.
For me the smart is a stopgap till I can get what I really want, and it still makes sense for me.
Special attention? The sense of entitlement in our culture is out of control already, why add to it? I mean, whaddaya want, a 21-gun salute? Perhaps a free pot-bellied pig? Or maybe a cut and blow (dry)?
Yep, I never considered an e-mail update as special attention nor an invitation to drive the car on a 1/4 mile fixed route after waiting in a line 45 minutes.
I wanted more timing information, insider info and a semi-private drive session and a coffee cup, hat, key fob or pen. Just something to show I was valued for waiting a year.
Being treated as one of the herd wasn't Smart for we are the ones that will popularize this brand to the masses. My fervor isn't infinite and isn't taking to these disappointments well.
Instead of leaving Daytona yesterday to buy a boat company, Roger should look after the things he already owns. This one has none of his legendary attention to detail showing in the least.
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