Don't know why previous thread about this got deleted, but all it takes is a phone call to the Smart Center of Laguna Niguel in Orange County California so see that it's true (949 347-7627).
The last day in business is in 2 days, and they will stop showing up on smartusa website on 1/15. They told me no more service or parts either and I should go to Cerritos as the next nearest dealer.
This is sad as this is clearly the begining of the end when one of the top dealerships calls it quits.
Don't know, what's too many dealers? You are in Florida with 7, California 12 (counting Laguna Niguel), at least from what I can tell from their dealer map. When you consider that the population of California is more than double that of Florida. Using your logic, Florida has more dealers per capita and some of them should close up?
Now say one lives in Orlando, the other O.C. and home of Disneyland/world and lost that dealer. Wouldn't that be devistating to the customers of that area that now have to drive for quite a distance to get parts & service, not something they signed up for.
Very few people in So Cal will drive for hour to buy and service a car. Heck, a friend of mine lives in Satelite Beach and the thought of driving to Orlando to buy and service a car (1 hour away) was enough to not consider the Smart even though he wanted one.
From what I understand you are saying, less dealers means surviving dealers will have more cars to sell. Since I see Smart dealer lots with lots of inventory, my opinion is the fall of Orange County's only dealer will not significantly increase sales for the surrounding dealers in Cerritos or San Diego. Heck, it may even slow sales as people hear that dealers are closing down.
Ford and Chevrolet both closed down dealerships and it doesn't seem to have had much effect on them, well they were in trouble to begin with, but they seem to be surviving.
It's hard to compare the two. Imagine this, O.C. has a population of over 3 mil. In that, there used to be a single Smart dealer, so 100% of all Smart dealers in O.C. are closing.
Currently, within 25 miles of me, there's 12 Chevrolet dealers still in business. There are 22 Ford dealers withing 30 miles. So I can see buying a Ford or Chevy and driving 5 miles further even if my local dealer closes, but I can't see driving an hour away after my Smart dealer closes.
If one Ford dealer out of 22 closes, the other 21 benefit as there's less places where you can buy a Ford but still reasonably close. When 1 Smart dealer out of 1 closes, where does one go.
Don't know, what's too many dealers? You are in Florida with 7, California 12 (counting Laguna Niguel), at least from what I can tell from their dealer map. When you consider that the population of California is more than double that of Florida. Using your logic, Florida has more dealers per capita and some of them should close up?
Now say one lives in Orlando, the other O.C. and home of Disneyland/world and lost that dealer. Wouldn't that be devistating to the customers of that area that now have to drive for quite a distance to get parts & service, not something they signed up for.
Very few people in So Cal will drive for hour to buy and service a car. Heck, a friend of mine lives in Satelite Beach and the thought of driving to Orlando to buy and service a car (1 hour away) was enough to not consider the Smart even though he wanted one.
From what I understand you are saying, less dealers means surviving dealers will have more cars to sell. Since I see Smart dealer lots with lots of inventory, my opinion is the fall of Orange County's only dealer will not significantly increase sales for the surrounding dealers in Cerritos or San Diego. Heck, it may even slow sales as people hear that dealers are closing down.
Completely different with FL and CA. Most in FL will drive an hour to the dealership... the dealerships are quite spread out if you think about it. Heck... those in the panhandle of FL are 3 hours from a dealer... I don't know for a fact but I'd wager that there are as many if not more smart owners in FL than in CA. Mindset down here seems to be if you want the car, you'll buy the car... If you buy the car then your willing to do what needs to be done for service... though many of us have realized that the dealerships are not a necessity for service.
To sum up... if you want the car, you'll buy the car... it's a niche that seems to fit well with the demographic of FL...
St. Louis, MO has one dealer. I don't see it closing. Last I heard, business was "okay". Next closest dealer is Kansas City, MO... 3 hours away. That's honestly gonna suck if that were to happen. I live about 15 min from the dealer now.
I would have never gotten the car if I never seen the dealer...
Kansas City, has 2 dealerships. 10 mile each way from me. Sells look to be very very bad, at the new dealership. Heard there was 1,100 brand new cars sitting at the dock. No takers!!!! Its Christmas time, sells are always bad, this time of year. Our dealer would still work on the car, till the parts ran out.
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