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Arent there a bunch that haven't been picked up that were previously ordered?
I see A lot of them on the lot that say 'sold' but they have been there for a while.
How long before the dealer can release them to someone else and forget the guy that left a 100 bucks?
Is it me or is it ridiculous that Smart lets you order a car to your specs for $99 with no obligation to purchase? You can just say...Nah, I changed my mind...
Seems like a very odd policy
Yeah it is. I guess they figured it'd be a hot item and would have no problem selling them if someone cancelled. If Smart didn't take reservations, the dealers would....just like the Prius, Mini, etc.... I had to cancel. Now I'm curious how long it'll take to get my $99 back.....by snail mail.
The $99 reservation fee was a great tool for Penske/smart to learn what potential customers really wanted on this (then) new and odd piece of merchandise. What better way to find out what would be appealing (leather? heated seats on a small car- very un-tested before the MINI and smart). Then, even with a customer canceling- smart has a car pre-ordered that already had options most would want.. and save them shooting in the dark ordering stock that had all the wrong options.
Also, once people pony up some money, there's an instant 'connection'. I'm sure Penske/smart craved to recreate the passionate, connected experience new MINI customers enjoyed through their ordering process. When a customer loves and coddles a car before they even own it.. there's bound to be a loyalty that's priceless.
All of the above, plus it did bring in some interest free $$ to help with the start up.
The interesting thing about this is, Smart didn't expect Americans to prefer the loaded cars over the base, much cheaper, stripped cars, and thus was able run the right ones off the line.
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