it does a site-redirect to the MBZ home page of this dealer; not unusual but they do not yet show any 'smart' specific stuff yet ... that classic music playing in the background also sounds a bit stuffy for potential smart owners but we come from all walks of life ...
here is the direct site that it gets redirected to:
This link is working today - although the finance page ends with "try again later". Hoping to get my smart soon (#1196), maybe in March or April. Have not seen any new SMART's where I live in Huntington Beach, CA. The Laguna Niguel folks are great and friendly, but info is slow to come from SMART - patience is required!
The only high point about this dealer is the GM Mark. He's very friendly and helpful. Once you stop working with him everything goes down hill. This was the worst car dealer I have ever come into contact with and unfortunately for me the ONLY one near so I'm stuck with them. I took out a loan through a credit union and therefore didn't need a loan through Smart or Mercedes. It took me several times driving down there to get the proper paperwork signed because the credit union wouldn't accept the paperwork they were having me sign even though the finance guy Mike Larkin claimed he had been on the phone with them for several days. Even after I signed the papers and he sent them to my credit union my credit union said they couldn't give them the money because THE MOST IMPORTANT document wasn't signed. In order for me not to have to wait ANOTHER two weeks to get my car after already waiting a YEAR I had to pay for the car with a personal check and get personally reimbursed for the car from my credit union. So after two weeks of it sitting on the lot, three trips to Laguna Niguel, and being on the verge of almost getting a Prius I got my car. but not without finding out that these idiot also did a credit check on me, even though I NEVER took out a loan from them. After all this they couldn't even give me some free floormats. Avoid this dealer at all costs. I'd go to Beverly Hills before I'd go here!
I didn't have a problem with either Dean or Mike. Dean is quite knowledgeable about the Smart, and Mike certainly seems to know what he's talking about when it comes to finance.
I'm sure that a simple phone call between you, the dealer and the credit union would have wrapped the process up far more quickly.
I went here and went through the credit check process fine. I got everything hammered out along with a great finance rate that I had gotten from Chase. They offered me MB or would work with a couple others.
My Smart Sales lady...Can't remember her name... I think it was Shelley, was quite friendly. I already knew mostly everything about the car so it was a review. She did however treat me very nicely and was great in communicating what was available and what wasn't in terms of accessories. She called me back when everything got back in stock.
Kudos to this saleswoman because I actually knew more information that she did and she would go out of her way to confirm dates, etc.
Working with an outside creditor/union is a little bit more complicated. I tried did run my credit twice to see what was available, but chase gave me a WAY better rate than the credit union. I do have a tier 1 credit score, so I think the credit union could have knocked off some percentage points but that didn't happen so I went with chase.
I didn't have a problem with either Dean or Mike. Dean is quite knowledgeable about the Smart, and Mike certainly seems to know what he's talking about when it comes to finance.
I'm sure that a simple phone call between you, the dealer and the credit union would have wrapped the process up far more quickly.
Your pal,
meat.
well all I can do is speak from my experience and my experience is that they don't know what they're talking about. and since you weren't invovled in my process nor were you there with me i guess you can't speak for it either.
well all I can do is speak from my experience and my experience is that they don't know what they're talking about. and since you weren't invovled in my process nor were you there with me i guess you can't speak for it either.
Well, all I can do is speak from my experience, and my experience is that they knew exactly what they were talking about. And since you weren't involved in my process nor were you there, I guess you can't speak for it, either.
And, just to be fair to the other two dealers in the Golden Triangle of Smartiness here in Southern California, I have gone to both of the other dealers that are currently open. Beverly Hills does know just as much as Laguna Niguel, but Walters ... well, suffice it to say that their salespeople are a bit light on knowledge of the 451. They didn't know simple things like why the car shifts like it does, what the black thing at the top of the windscreen frame was (hint: it's not the antenna, like they guessed it was), they didn't know about the self-canceling turn signal, etc.
Of all three dealers, I'd just as soon work with a dealership that's knowledgeable - like the guys at the Laguna Niguel Smart center.
My wife and I bought our smart from Laguna Niguel and specifically from Dean who was very helpful. He even gave us his direct cell number should we have any immediate concerns, which as far as I'm concerned is far above and beyond the call of duty for a salesperson.
My only complaint about the dealer was when we closed the deal; we came in with a cashiers check for the full amount so it was a very simple, sign here, here, here... Upon completion of that process the finance manager said "thank you, and when you’re ready to buy a Mercedes, come back and see us". Condescending, party of one, your table is ready…
Peanut, I'm so sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I got mine from Laguna and can't say enough about the service and Stacey, my rep. I would like to say that perhaps you were the exception but unfortunately our experience is really all we care about isn't it?
Hope you have better luck down the road, with whomever you choose to go to.
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