Megan, We also live some distance from our dealer (110 miles) and my smart is in for a problem as I write . Am I sorry I bought it ? No. I knew I would be in for a drive every so often and this was something I was wiling to accept to get a car that met my needs/wants. I did however choose the extended warranty; the distance to have her serviced was big in making that decision. I do hope that by the time my warranty is up that I will be able to have her serviced more ‘locally’ if not I’ll consider getting a new smart fresh with a new warranty.
Agcojoe, We were going to finance with our credit union because they offered us a very nice rate. When I told our salesman this he promised that they would beat whatever our C U would give us, and so they did, without so much as asking for proof of the rate we told them the C U would have given. I would count this as a good experience.
To the Finance issue - I don't know if smart has financing but the dealers can help you with aranging financing. I too went to my bank and asked for a current rate. My smart center said they could beet it. They called me and said congrats you have been approved, I asked what the rate was and they quoted me a rate higher than my bank. I told them to get back to work and they then came up with 1/2 a point lower than my bank. Don't just except the easy offer from your dealer, They are making money on it. Make sure you have another option so you hold the power.
To Megan - If you decide to back out for whatever reason don't feel bad. You will not be the first. If no one backed out from their deal we woudn't have Orphans for those who don't want to wait. Because of the wait period, many folks have life changes that make them back out on the deal.
Last edited by forestacademy; 03-10-2009 at 06:27 AM.
Megan. IMO, if you are buying this car as a play toy, and do not plan to run high mileage on it, long trips to the dealer may be worth it.
Right now there is no service manual available so repairs must always be done at the dealer. Ours is 40 miles away.
We have one of the first US cars (build date Jan 08). We now have 22k on the ode and have had to make many trips back to the dealer. Smart still has QC problems as we are seeing 09s with the same old problems.
All the above said, this is one of the most fun cars we have ever owned, and all in all, the hassle is worth it. Good luck. A2Jack.
Megan - To buy a car that I would enjoy more would be tough without $150K. I don't worry about going places because of gas expense, and the cars seem to run without many problems. I have had zero problems. Not even some of the problems they talk about on this forum. I have a great credit score (over 800) and they financed mine through a CU for 5.25%. My local bank was 6.75%. Got a Cabrio 09 orphan with lots of the options, and total with TTL was right at $21K. The best thing about the car is that it lowers your blood pressure by not having to be such a slave to the oil prices. Go ahead and find an orphan to your liking and get it.
I have had my little car since March 2008. I have not had any real problems. There was low air pressure in one tire and I took my car in for routine maintanance when the little wrench was showing. I have 4500 miles on it and I do not regret any of them. I really like my little car. I named it Herb (shortened version of Herbie; the Love Bug).
I bought my smart christmas eve and was going to finance through my credit union offering 5.75 but due to the holidays could not complete the loan until after the new year. So to avoid the 09 smart price hike I went through the mercedes dealer. He got me 5.9 with no money down through bank of america. Not bad imo considering the credit crisis. Check with you local bank though, a lot of them offer discounted rates with direct withdraw and the are much more likely to approve you now if you opt for that.
Kwagar is right, you're bound to get a biased opinion. Here's mine.
I've never really been a "car guy" and haven't worked on cars since I was out of school and could afford to pay someone else to do it. Then I bought a Smart for commuting. To my great surprise, it turned out to be so much fun to drive that I got started playing around with it. That turned out so much fun that I've added dozens of decorative and functional do-dads (mufflers, speakers, cruise control, HID's, dash kits, etc, etc.) and had great fun doing it. While I'll readily admit that I have a Smart obsession/addiction, there's no chance you'll get me into rehab. Perhaps into another Smart....
Totally agree with Mvaldes! I'm not a car person at all, but from what I've seen of these things (I haven't got mine yet, but the dealership is about two blocks away from my home) the smart is such a simple to fix and tinker with car, that I'm pretty sure when I get my car, I'll be a "smart-person" and love it!
He got me 5.9 with no money down through bank of america.
FYI, be careful with the BoA loans that smart issues, especially if you plan on paying it off quicker than the default term.
I had a friend fiance through them and looked over his paperwork after the fact. I was shocked (as was he) to discover that they have an early payment penalty. If you pay back the loan in under 16 months (in his case this was a 36 month loan, it may vary?) there was a sliding penalty based on how soon you paid it off.
His plan was to pay it off within a year, but now he's stuck paying it for at least 16 months. He has been paying it back quicker (knocking down the principal), but it took some work to figure out how low he could pull it so he still had to make a payment in the 16th month as to not trigger the early payment clause.
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. Am I sorry I bought it 
? No. I knew I would be in for a drive every so often and this was something I was wiling to accept to get a car that met my needs/wants. I did however choose the extended warranty; the distance to have her serviced was big in making that decision. I do hope that by the time my warranty is up that I will be able to have her serviced more ‘locally’ if not I’ll consider getting a new smart fresh with a new warranty.
1 - LT N FLFY
2 - Forests ride
3 - Little Blue
4 - Big Red
Good luck. A2Jack.
If you pay back the loan in under 16 months (in his case this was a 36 month loan, it may vary?) there was a sliding penalty based on how soon you paid it off.
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