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Ron Tonkin Smart sour grapes in the Oregonian this am.
Having been passed over for a Portland/NW Smart dealership in favor of Kuni, Ron Tonkin whines about the Smart in this mornings Boregonian
>>>>Monday, July 07, 2008
The Oregonian
Regarding your Business story concerning Oswego Luxury and its problems ("Complaints send cops to arrest auto dealer," July 3), I want to point out that we were offered Smart Cars from G&K Automotive Conversion well before anyone else. However, the price they would have had to be sold for was between $23,000 and $28,000. I felt I could never have faced a client who paid that kind of money for a vehicle that was going to be able to be sold by a franchised dealer in just a few months for $14,000 to $19,000. So I refused that opportunity.
I certainly made the right choice and I am glad I did.
Our dealerships offer clients a choice of a Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris or Nissan Versa at the price of a Smart Car. Those cars have accommodations for four people, have a usable trunk and take regular gas while delivering similar mileage and a lot more comfort.
The Smart Car has room for only two, requires premium fuel and has a trunk that holds little more than a valise. I bought a Smart Car myself just to see if it was all I thought it promised. It is not and I'm selling it. I am pleased we did not obtain the franchise.
As an aside, the city of Portland bought more than one Smart Car at an exorbitant price. I was extremely critical of the city doing so at the time and said so in an interview with The Oregonian. The city made a poor choice with taxpayer money.
It certainly seems like sour grapes for Ron Tonkin -- who a February 2007 Oregonian article claimed "spent nearly two years and at least $100,000" to bring Smart cars to Portland -- to now say that other cars for which he has a franchise are better buys for the same money because they seat more people and have more trunk space.
For the ten years of Smart's existence, their primary model has been the "fortwo." It's always been a two-seater, and it's about forty inches shorter than a Mini Cooper. How Mr. Tonkin could only now have come to the realization that the Smart didn't have the capacity of longer cars with more seats escapes me.
I'm sorry Mr. Tonkin doesn't enjoy his Smart. Like him, my wife and I saw them in Europe in 2001, back when gas was $1.70/gallon. I kept an eye on the various attempts to bring them into the US as gas crept up over $2 and $3. At the first opportunity, in March of last year, I put a $99 deposit down on a Smart convertible, and we've been driving it for just over three months. Yesterday, we stuffed five full bags of groceries into the back and filled up our gas tank for $33, like we do every week-and-a-half or so, then drove home with the top down. I'm sure Mr. Tonkin can find someone to take his car off his hands.
Those cars have accommodations for four people, have a usable trunk and take regular gas while delivering similar mileage and a lot more comfort.
The Smart Car has room for only two, requires premium fuel and has a trunk that holds little more than a valise.
Not wanting to beat a dead horse here, but it is comments like this one about comfort that REALLY pisses me off!
"A lot more comfort......" I will guarantee you that this goober is average or less in height. I have been in a Prius, a Taurus, a LeCern, etc. They are NOT more comfortable. In contrast, they are all LESS comfortable because they all compromise legroom in the front to make room for that prized back seat. Granted, I am nearly 6'6". So this issue is somewhat unique for tall people. But the fact is, his statement is worded such that it applies to ALL people. That is just downright false.
I am quite sure my opinion is shared by others like bigcritter, who looks like he is a big boy in his avitar...
OK, soapbox for rent.....
comfort is subjective and very much based upon what you like. meaning, if you're inclined to like a priius, then you'll also find it comfortable. so i tend not to get all bound up when the reviews are largely subjective impressions.
for some, it would seem that having only two seats in a car is a deal-breaker. even if 99% of the driving they do is alone and by themselves. some people need the security and comfort of knowing that they have three or more empty seats should the situation require it. having only two seats available, one for the driver, means that they may have to orchestrate their lives in a certain way so that they are never faced with the hassle and aggravation of having to tell someone they don't have seats for them.
the same phenomena holds true, to a certain extent, with cargo capacity. more is betterer in some people's minds. even if they only shop for one and rarely have more than a few grocery bags, just KNOWING that you can fit 100 more bags in the cargo area is comfort in and of itself.
this type of person will never be "taught" to think differently. they are very set in their ways, they know what's best for them, what works, and nobody can tell them otherwise. much of their belief system is built upon self-rationalization and justification of the decisions they've made - whether "good" or "bad" decisions, even in their eyes, they feel compelled to defend them vehemently because not to do so would expose their own insecurities to the light of day.
of course, the other side to the debate is smart owners who get upset or otherwise emotional because some stranger doesn't endorse their car buying decisions.
Yeah, he also lies about the gas mileage. Everyone who wants to make a point seems to compare the Yaris/Fit/Versa REAL WORLD mileage with the smart's EPA numbers.
15-20% better mileage out of the smart doesn't qualify as "similar" to me.
And Bull8042 - I'm 6'4" and I'll vouch for the fact that the smart car has more room for the driver and passenger than any of those other cars. As you point out, those cars compromise front seat room in order to make space for that useless back seat.
Plus... I'll bet those cars have a single occupant 95% of the time. Who needs to haul around an empty back seat all the time?
for some, it would seem that having only two seats in a car is a deal-breaker. even if 99% of the driving they do is alone and by themselves. some people need the security and comfort of knowing that they have three or more empty seats should the situation require it. having only two seats available, one for the driver, means that they may have to orchestrate their lives in a certain way so that they are never faced with the hassle and aggravation of having to tell someone they don't have seats for them.
the same phenomena holds true, to a certain extent, with cargo capacity. more is betterer in some people's minds. even if they only shop for one and rarely have more than a few grocery bags, just KNOWING that you can fit 100 more bags in the cargo area is comfort in and of itself.
this type of person will never be "taught" to think differently. they are very set in their ways, they know what's best for them, what works, and nobody can tell them otherwise. much of their belief system is built upon self-rationalization and justification of the decisions they've made - whether "good" or "bad" decisions, even in their eyes, they feel compelled to defend them vehemently because not to do so would expose their own insecurities to the light of day.
of course, the other side to the debate is smart owners who get upset or otherwise emotional because some stranger doesn't endorse their car buying decisions.
It's the same way with houses. A lot of people feel they "need" a 3,000sqft house. I downsized a few years ago to a 1,200sqft place and I'm fine.
On the other side of the coin I feel I "need" a 1,200sqft garage. But everyone needs a big garage/workshop.
Once people adjust and learn they can actually live with a small car they'll be fine. Retraining that mindset is going to take time.
One has to remember Mr. Tonkin is a second hand car dealer
Although I think I know what you're getting at there, just to be clear, Tonkin's raft of dealerships sells new cars as well as used: from Kia, Nissan, and Hyundai to Ferrari, Lotus, and Maserati. If he'd gotten the smart dealership, I'd have gladly purchased my car through the Tonkin group. And after waiting seven years to get my smart, I can certainly understand his frustration at spending a couple of years trying to get them into the States only to get aced out by Kuni when DaimlerBenz finally decided to award the dealerships (frankly, I'm still annoyed at them for holding out for so damn long, even though I've got my cabrio).
The smart's not a practical car for everyone, any more than a Hummer or even an SUV is a practical car for me (truth be told, we could have easily gotten on for any number of years with our eleven-year-old Escort wagon; its mpg isn't as good but then I didn't jump at every opportunity to drive it, either, so we're probably buying more gas overall).
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But everyone needs a big garage/workshop.
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