The true order problem

[HotCookCpl]

I'm not sure I would have gotten involved in a $500 reservation, $200 probably, but not $500. Non-refundable? No way, I wouldn't even have considered it. After all, when I reserved, I hadn't even seen a smart except on the web.

When I reserved I was so unsure about the car I put my reservation off for two months. Now that my car is on it's way, I'm glad I reserved when I did. It took my almost a year to decided that the smart is really what I wanted for my next car.

I certainly understand everyones frustration with the delays, but, as someone who works in engineering I also understand the production process and this has kept me patiently waiting.

Just my 0$.02

[Amethyste]

... i had NO problem putting down a $500 non refundable deposit when my dealer called me with an orphan ( dont flame me cause i got one... ) So if i was and did put down that much right on the spot, then serious buyers wouldn't either...

[knutliott]

There's no reason for smartUSA to change the reservation system. From their perspective it's working great.

1) They're selling every car they can build as soon as they build it. It doesn't matter a bit to them whether the buyer ordered that specific car or not. An orphan sale is just as good to them as selling a smart to the person who originally ordered it.

2) Allowing potential customers to configure all of the smarts being built saves them the trouble of having to guess at the options people are going to want. Since all of the cars are being sold immediately anyway, who cares who configured it?

3) Special ordering ANY high-demand vehicle involves a wait. The more in demand the vehicle is, the longer the wait. MB only plans to send 25k or so smart cars to the US this year, and the reservation list has 40k people on it. You do the math. Again, it doesn't matter who configured the cars, they are ALL being sold IMMEDIATELY.

4) The cars aren't sitting on the lot for 30 days. More like 30 minutes. ;) You have 30 days from when you receive the 45-60 day email to guarantee your purchase, which still leaves the dealership with a couple of weeks to pair the car up with someone from the orphan list if you choose to back out.

Raising the reservation fee would be bad in several ways, especially considering how the spectacular failure that is ZAP has already affected the perception of ordering a smart car. Remember, it's good press for smartUSA to be able to say that they have 40k people on their reservation list. Raise the price to $500 and that number drops, which means they don't have nearly as nice of a number to brag about.

[Karl Roth]

Funny how most folks after taking a test will all vote to make it harder for the next bunch...
karl

[PassionforPassionCT]

Looks rosy for Penske....but all of that is void and null when you have half of your reservation base more than slightly miffed.
Now of course thats all speculation, but I am sure their are alot of people (the boards population as a model) that were far from happy with the recent information.
The dealer network is up and running. The oppertunity to get a good look and feel of the car is there. So I wouldn't think it too much to ask for people to make their mind up. Car or no car. And once everybody who reserved them has their car, they can start stocking lots. I am postive that many people are offput when they walk in to a dealership to find such a long wait and lunacy that is the orphan system.
Sure it looks great on paper for smart USA. But have we forgotten about "customer service" or is that something that we have forgotten as a thing of the past. When you have a substantial amount of unhappy customers, I would not think it wise to ignore them.

[race911]

Check you state regulations for non-refundability on deposits in auto purchases.

[Karl Roth]

Putting what you think will sell on the lot is old school auto sales. the dealer borrows money for stock and then has to peddle them to stay afloat...
Relax save some money the day will come.
karl

[fuelpincher]

The current reservation system worked great for me. My reservation delivery estimate was April 2009. I put my name on the local dealers orphan list and had a car in two weeks. The secret was not caring what model/color/options it had. Seems everybody else in front of me on the list was picky. the car a bought was a base Passion, red. My wife loves her little bugger...

[knutliott]

What unhappy customers?

Are you saying that half of the people who have purchased smart cars are unhappy with their purchases? I doubt that. I suspect that the opposite is true - virtually all of smart's customers are quite happy with their purchases.

Also remember that a) this forum is a VERY small percentage of the number of people on the reservation list, and b) the number of people complaining is a small percentage of the number of people on this forum. Internet forums are a lousy population sample. They're generally filled with extremism, and that's typically extreme negativism.

People whine in cyberspace. That doesn't mean it's reality. Try ordering some other car that has a waiting list that's over a year long and see how much information you get from the manufacturer, then come back with some perspective.

(Good luck with that... I'm not aware of any other vehicles with wait lists that long. Says something about the popularity of the smart car, now doesn't it?)