wonder 'why' a short, untypical 2 year warranty was assigned, to an all new, unproven, unknown usa vehicle and model, that essentially has no experienced 'smart' repair specialist professionals or do-it-yourselfers in the usa.
QUOTE=Dave Schembri
"(the warranty on this car is) 2/24 bumber-to-bumper. You know, we wanted to keep the value proposition of this car really as just a tremendous value to the customer. To do that, we could have had the longest warranty, could have a lifetime warranty, but eventually that cost gets into the price of the car. We wanted to allow, like everything with this car, the customer to customize their own warranty and service package.
Notice the 3 emboldened words above.....THAT would be a kick-butt setup for fuel economy!!! Second best choice would be turbo-gas and electric orLet me customize with a turbo diesel, and electric. Customizing with a warranty period that should be standard equipment is a crock.
I've leased vehicles in the past, and although most of them were done through the manufacturer's own finance arm, some were leased through third parties (major financial institutions)....Not for sure, but since one can lease every other car sold here I can't imagine we won't be able to lease a smart. Could be wrong of course but I'm betting on the lease option.
In reading the Rueters article, Shembri states that the smart will have one of the highest residuals in the entire industry.The only wrench in the works at this point is that residuals are unknown, with smart being a new brand. I would guess that leasing, at least through third parties, might be a little more expensive as a result.