can anyone give me a clue as to what goes on "in port?"
From what I have seen, the car is off loaded from the ship, inspected for damage and US compliant, schedualed for transportation and shipped to your dealer.
Work is not normally done on the vehicle unless damaged in transit.
400 bucks in a doc fee is all they are marking up the car, I was at the Toyota dealer last years looking at a vehicle with an MSRP $21,000 with an additional dealer margin (ADM) of 6K! When I asked about the ADM the salesman told me the vehicle was hard to get and if I wanted it I would pay the ADM. He can sell every one of the cars he can so he was making money when he could. I walked but the car was gone the next week.
I was happy as hell to buy my Passion for MSRP knowing there are 30,000 people inline to buy one. A normal dealer would be sticking us for at least a few grand until the list started to run down.
My 2 cents worth.
Just for clarification, there is a huge difference between ADM and the dealer doc fees discussed at length on this forum. PAG does not allow dealers to add additional markup to the MSRP; everyone is buying the smart at MSRP. What PAG didn't restrain are the doc fees, which vary from $50 to almost $800. If you're happy with "only" $400 in doc fees, so be it. A lot of us wouldn't be, particularly when we can't chose the dealers we buy from.
I picked up my Passion today at Mercedes of Chandler. When I got there, it was sitting in the window of the showroom. Maybe they do that with everyone's car, but I seemed to be the only one there this morning. A couple came in for a test drive, but that was about all the activity there was. I was a little nervous about driving it home, but that lasted for about two blocks. I decided the automatic shifting was not for me within those two blocks and kicked it over into paddle mode. I hopped on the 101 North to Mesa and went 75 the whole way! It's funny to see other drivers slowing down and grinning in your direction. When I pulled in my driveway, the engine really smelled hot and new. I'm thinking (hoping) that will go away. I say it's the next best thing to riding a motorcycle and a heck of a lot safer.
I am in Scottsdale and have an order. If you do an event at Pavilions, please post in the forum.
Welcome. Glad to have you on board...What is the last 4 numbers of your reservation? Mine is 1232 and confirmed on Dec 28. Now I am "waiting patiently" like a good many of us.
confirmed on Dec 28. Now I am "waiting patiently" like a good many of us.
Teapots
Hey Teapots...
I confirmed the same day you did (1226) and am also doing the waiting thing. Have you picked up any info as to when the next step will be taken (whatever that is)?
Have you done any checking into getting insurance for your Fortwo? I have the Lizard and he has not idea what I am talking about. From my lurking, I notice that there may be insurance offered through Liberty Mutual via the dealer.
I have had some communication with Tracy in Chandler found her to be very helpful, but I am reluctant to bother her with detail questions until after they contact me with specific information about the car and delivery.
Personally, I'm thinking that being where we are in this process has turned out to be a good thing because some of the problems that occurred with the earliest deliveries will be ironed out when we get ours. Patience is good.
When I pulled in my driveway, the engine really smelled hot and new. I'm thinking (hoping) that will go away. I say it's the next best thing to riding a motorcycle and a heck of a lot safer.
My Smart car smelled exactly the way your describing it and yes it did go away.
My engine light came on at 1100 miles. I called the dealer right away. I guess they have already gotten some cars in with the engine light coming on but it seems to be minor. They told me if two engine lights come on then it major. Is anyone having any problems with their car? I take mine in on the 23rd of Feb (Sat) to find out what going on, in the mean time they said it was ok to drive it since there is no noise coming from the engine and seem to be running great. I guess the only is issue is getting part from what they told me.
Insurance: like Desert_Friar, I had problems finding an Insurance that knew about smart. I too read something about a deal between Mercedes and Mutual, to be available at the Dealer. But found out that State Farm, who's headquarter is only blocks away from smartUSA/Penske in Bloomfield Ill., is looking into it. They offered me coverage, to be finalized once the VIN is known.
I went down Saturday and finally test drove one. I was a little thrown by the transmission at first, but I think after a few hours I could get it down without a problem. I know they are not speed machines, but I am a little worried about the sluggish start. I am hoping it is because I was learning how to shift or in auto mode slightly let foot off gas. Either way the whole experience is making my long wait even more frustrating. I want my car!! I did give the salesgirl my card and told her to call me if any buyers back out and they have an orphan. Hopefully between her and Tracy I might get lucky.
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1976 Rover Mini
2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (SOLD)
2009 smart Passion (Gone)
2011 smart Passion
"the car", "la voiture"
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