[buellwinkle]

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.

There may be deals to be had if you hurry.

 

[Wdhitch]

While unfortunate, how is it the start of the end???

I always thought that So Cal might have had too many dealerships.... just attrition.

You probably won't see any deals though as they'll sell their inventory to another dealership.

 

[buellwinkle]

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.

 

[jimvw57]

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.

 

[buellwinkle]

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.

 

[Duckhunter]

At least you have dealers near you

 

[Wdhitch]

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...

 

[NeWave]

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...

 

[smark]

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.

 

[donnyonee]

i heard that 1 dealership took best sales in their district, only sold 5 smarts.
not good.

 

[PassionforPassionCT]

Wow... talking about throwing in the towel at the wrong time. Must not have been a Penske dealership, so mis-steps might have been taken.
This would be a far worse indication if this were a Penske dealer.

 

[pabille]

Not everybody in OC is like this but...

I picked mine up at Laguna Niguel. I was hoping to take delivery in Torrance but plans for that site were canceled. Now open, Cerritos is a lot closer to me for service.
For Southern California, Laguna Niguel was an odd location for a smart center. Located in the open spaces of southern Orange County where the average household income is quite high. By the average resident's thinking, there is no need to buy a car that is easy to park in small spaces, easy to drive in crowded narrow streets and is thrifty on gas. The wide open spaces around Laguna Niguel suffers from none of those problems.
Other areas in metro-LA do have those problems so it would be logical for just Laguna Niguel Mercedes Benz to stop selling smarts and just sell cars to a client base that wants E-Class and S-Class cars. Perhaps, maybe a C-Class for the daughter.
Not everybody in the OC is rich but unless your commute takes you north of the Orange Curtain, your mindset is generally not one to buy a smart. Even if you were an enviro-phile, you'd probably buy a Prius, Civic or Ford hybrid.

 

[buellwinkle]

Could be that Laguna Niguel is too affluent an area, but it's was the only dealer in Orange County and there are plenty of congested O.C. beach cities (Laguna Beach, Seal Beach, Newport Beach) that are affluent yet can benefit from a tiny car and plenty of affluent parents that would buy their kids a cute little inexpensive car (albeit not my spoiled kids).

 

[donnyonee]

LN smart just sold me another map pouch for 1/2 price.

and oil went to $80 a barrel today. that might just be $4.50 a gallon/gas this summer.

 

[pabille]

there are plenty of congested O.C. beach cities (Laguna Beach, Seal Beach, Newport Beach).

Sounds like my kind of commuter traffic congestion. Too bad I can't get a job there. I generally avoid those areas during the summers and on spring break weekends but a fall morning coffee in front of Huntington Beach Surf and Sport after a beach bike cruise is very appealing.

 

[Gilbert's]

That's the place I got my Smart sad to hear about it...

 

[buellwinkle]

Their website, smartcenterlagunaniguel.com is gone. Still shows up on the smartusa.com dealer search but I hear that's going to be updated by the 15th.

Anybody know a good Smart mechanic in South O.C.?

 

[Miss Mercedes]

Since I don't have my smart yet, I've been monitoring three dealers in my area.

smart center Lake Bluff is selling really slow, but they have a small inventory.

smart center Lincolnwood (aka Loeber Motors) - I see new Inventory, they must be selling...oooooh, they've got the same smart as Milwaukee does...2/1 chance!

smart center Milwaukee - is selling 1 per month (unless they're gettting $$$ from reservations), the smart I want has been sitting there for about a year.

 

[buellwinkle]

Tough call, if they close up shop in your area, it could be a PITA to get warranty work. Service you can do yourself and parts you can mail order.

My biggest worry is not the local dealers, it's Smart USA. If they don't think it's profitable, they may pull out of the U.S. just like many foreign car companies that didn't make it here. We can then probably still get parts from Canada, but will our warranties be honored by MB?

I think it's cool if they pull out of the U.S. I remember when Triumph pulled out of the U.S. market in 79, so I got one dirt cheap. It was a blast to drive a rare car and there were plenty of places to get it serviced but that was car that was around a while.

What's funny with Buell closing it's doors this year is that sales of remaining motorcycles in inventory are actually better than ever.

 

[Miss Mercedes]

Well, we have to let the smart sit in the US for a bit and we have to let non-MB mechanics have a go at some smarts if we ever plan to get service anywhere like normal cars.

But owning a rare car sounds really fun...it's one of my crazy ideas around the roadster...

But like someone had said earlier, smartUSA may be in the green, it's just the dealers that need to survive on very little income.