smart Passion available ACT NOW $1000 Non-Refundable Deposit

[2009Aveo5]

Originally Posted by PassionforPassionCT

lpm=liters per mile.
Just remember that a car like the Aveo and the Smart really cant compare. You have to ask yourself what you are using this car for. This car is like a good pair of jeans. it fits you, or it doesnt. Make sure you try it on before you buy it.

I agree. The Smart is in a category all of its own.

I test drove a Cabrio, and that's what I want so I'll keep looking for that Cabrio w/ leather with hopefully not too many dealer add-ons. If I don't find what I want by the time the 09' Aveo5 comes out which is suppose to be May then I'll spend half the $ and buy the Aveo5 in May (although car manufacturers rarely deliver when they say they are so likely I could be waiting through summer for either car.)

The Smart car seems like it's going to be an easier find than what it seems. I've called all the dealers in New England and Middle Atlantic, and they all seem to estimate about 40 to 50 cars scheduled for delivery in the next 60 days, so there will be cars available.

The Middle Atlantic area seems to be very aggressive with the orphan list for the local area and one dealer went so far to say that the dealership gets penalized if they sell a car outside of their geographic allocated area.

Roslyn, NY 516.801.8800 – left voicemail
Latham, NY 518.785.4197 –left voicemail for John Monroe jmonroe@keeler.com
Williamsville, NY 716.633.0088 – Kelly – can’t be on list, only for local reservation holders
Devon, PA 610.848.7627 – Christina – left name and phone
Pittsburgh, PA 412.683.5000 – Matt – left name, phone, email
Edison, NJ 732.549.6601 – Danny - You have to come in to be put on the orphan list.
Englewood, NJ 888.211.8045 – Dave reservation holder for local area only
Cherry Hill, NJ 856.663.3200 – They have to sell to reservation holders in their area or else Smart USA penalizes the dealer 2%

[2micro4u]

If im not mistaking the AVEO is american made. I don't recommend it because most american made cars dont last like German or Japanese powered vehicles.
Just think in 6-10 years the AVEO will be nothing special about it. It will go down in value faster than some other forien brands. The SMART will hold its value and will always be special because of its size and interchangable parts.

PLEASE PLEASE if you don't get a Smart go for a Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit but not an AVEO its cheaply priced for a reason.

[jwight]

Via Wikipedia:

The Daewoo Kalos is a subcompact automobile manufactured by GM Daewoo (the South Korean subsidiary of General Motors) introduced in 2002 and marketed globally in 120 countries — prominently as the Chevrolet Aveo[1] (ah-VAY-o).[2]

Marketed under five GM brands and eleven different nameplates, the Kalos vehicles have evolved through two styling generations.

[2009Aveo5]

Originally Posted by 2micro4u

If im not mistaking the AVEO is american made. I don't recommend it because most american made cars dont last like German or Japanese powered vehicles.
Just think in 6-10 years the AVEO will be nothing special about it. It will go down in value faster than some other forien brands. The SMART will hold its value and will always be special because of its size and interchangable parts.

PLEASE PLEASE if you don't get a Smart go for a Toyota Yaris or Honda Fit but not an AVEO its cheaply priced for a reason.

lt is Korean made.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/11...cs-come-to-us/

There's nothing special about the Aveo5, and resale will plummet but we are talking $10k fully loaded or $6k stripped (taking into account all the discounts I'll end up getting). Smart and Fit you are talking nearly double that with 100k warranty and current dealer tactics. I have a friend with the Fit. It's a nice car. I've know someone with a 07 Aveo5, they are much better but still have a long way to go. Well, see I want to see what GM can do with their chevrolet lineup, particularly the 09 redesign of the aveo5. The 2008 Malibu 2LT literally shocked me beyond belief that I was driving a Chevy, seemed more like a Cadillac at a third of the price. It's been rated above the Accord with Car & Driver, but we all know Chevrolet has a long way to make up for their past of making mediocre cars. American cars are starting to make a come back, but I still think the Accord/Fit and Camry/Yaris are better cars than 08 Malibu/09Aveo5 yet with my $3500 discount, I can get a fully loaded Aveo5 for about $10k with a 100k warranty. I can't get that with a comparably equipped Fit.

So yeh, a Japanese and German car is better, but if I'm going to spend high teens on a car (and I typically like to get a fully loaded car unless the options seem pointless), then I'm going to get a Smart Cabrio w/ leather and not a Fit/Yaris. If I'm going to spend $10/11k on a car then I'm either going to get a 09 Aveo5 LT or a Smart Pure base (yet these are seemingly impossible to find.)

We'll see.

[JoeyCrack]

what turns me off is the dealer options adding the cost. I guess I'll pass on this one

[2009Aveo5]

Originally Posted by 2micro4u

The SMART will hold its value and will always be special because of its size and interchangable parts.

WARRANTY/LONGEVITY CONCERNS...

I question whether the Smart will hold its value or not...that really depends on how the American market does for the Smart car, which I think is a unique market. It hasn't been tested here yet. It comes with a 2year/24k warranty, which leads me to think they aren't thinking long term for this car. All the reviews beg for the transmission to be changed over to be a manual. If they put a manual in this car I think Americans will like it more. In my opinion, it'd be more fun. I'm not bashing the Smart. I can overlook these concerns, because right now the Smart doesn't have any competition to speak of to be more competitive, but I do have issue with such a small warranty with a $1395 premium they charge just to get the warranty that most other car manufacturers give as standard. The smart buildings are quite small. I know someone unfairly wrote that the Smart was like the Yugo, a Mercedes Yugo, which clearly this car is much better thought out and designed, but the buildings themselves...the Smart centers seem rather mobile looking inside and out. Where's the service center? Parts? It seems rather bare and my first impression is it's a building to sell me a car, which is fine...that's the stage they are in, everything is new and it's the beginning of an experiment. Or at least that's the feeling I get from it all. None of these first impressions would keep me from buying one so long as I can find one that I like as far as options and the price is reasonable.

If Toyota comes out with the IQ with a more sporty feeling transmission, i.e. a manual AND/OR a more traditional automatic AND/OR a real tiptronic without the letting off the gas/jerk motion...I don't know, I seem to think that transmission is going to be problematic for most Americans to deal with but I could be wrong.

Next on this list is gas mileage, it's good but for the size of the car it's not great. 0-60 I think is nearly 14 seconds with the pedal to the metal, so getting on a freeway might be doable but really this country needs to be introduced (well, reintroduced) to diesel. But I guess that's too much of a gamble for Smart to make the little car a diesel or maybe some states/federal EPA had laws or issues with such an idea, but either way the gas mileage on the car isn't anything outstanding compared to its size and weight.

I don't know...I question the resale value. The only thing in my opinion that will hold the resale on this car will be its exclusivity, so long as they can keep the number of them sold down low and the competition is null, then the car should maintain a decent resale value. If Toyota or anyone else jumps in or if the supply outweighs the demand then you are going to have a problem. I really don't care about all of that above because it's a new car, I simply want a Cabrio with leather. ;)

Just random thoughts, I suppose. I could be way off...I'm not well read on the subject, but rather just my take at this point.

[2009Aveo5]

Another issue Americans might have is convincing them it is safe. There are enough videos showing the car getting hit by that Mercedes offset test where the Smart hits it and rolls all over the place like someone throws dice at a craps table. Granted Smart did a good job and redoing the crash test to make sure that part is not shown.

Then there is the unfortunate death of the actress Ashely Callie head on collision with a Renault this month, which it was the newer 451 model. Now someone wrote that there was only one death in Europe with over 800,000 Smarts on the road, so if that's true then that's a great statistic. There really isn't much information about safety, there's the graphic pictures of the head-on collision in Canada with a smart and a Mack truck, which strangely was similar to Callie's death. The Smart car driver's fault where the Smart car suddenly crossed over into oncoming traffic for unknown reasons.

Hopefully the Smart car safety cell really is as safe as they make it out to be and it's a solid car. It's basically plastic body panels from front to back with that metal safety cell supposedly like a helicopter design (although you crash a helicopter and you are likely dead). I'd like more information about its safety that's for sure. I think it's currently lacking, but sufficient enough to feel comfortable to buy a car.

[geoffwood]

It would seem like an act of tremendous faith to give a dealer a $1000 NON refundable deposit before they tell you what your trade in is worth. You would have lost almost all leverage in terms of negotiating the value of the trade. If you don't like their offer you either have to take it or lose $1000 and they move on to the next customer.

[2009Aveo5]

Originally Posted by geoffwood

It would seem like an act of tremendous faith to give a dealer a $1000 NON refundable deposit before they tell you what your trade in is worth. You would have lost almost all leverage in terms of negotiating the value of the trade. If you don't like their offer you either have to take it or lose $1000 and they move on to the next customer.

I was talking about this with a friend of mine. It's one thing for them to offer me a car with $2-3K+ worth of dealer add-ons, but quite another to tell me over the phone that we need $1000 non-refundable deposit, then I asked to come down to get approved for financing and/or tell me what my financing rate is over the phone and I'm told that the business managers are extremely busy and won't be available until next week so I would have to do the following:

A. Give them $1000 non-refundable deposit without seeing the car.
B. Find out 4 to 5 days later what my finance rate would be.
C. Determine what my trade-in is worth 4 to 5 days after giving the deposit.
D. Pay several thousand dollars more for a Smart car due to dealership add-ons.