Devon PA Dealership closing

My wife and I just received a letter explaining that the Devon PA dealer / service center is closing and that we now need to deal with the Cherry Hill NJ dealership. Well the Devon dealer was an hour away from home and work, and the Cherry Hill dealer is an hour and a half away. When we purchased the SMART, we were told that SMART technicians would be placed in dealerships in the Allentown / Reading PA area, but now it appears that instead of getting closer, service centers are moving away. I have the extended warranty and am concerned about servicing the SMART at a non-SMART repair shop. When I contacted SMART, they directed me to Cherry Hill, and Cherry Hill directed me to SMART. It appears that there was very little consideration for SMART customers from the SMART decision makers.

Can anyone offer a suggestion as to what my next move should be.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by fastturb on January 16, 2010 at 2:21pm

are you a member of the Smart Alec Car Club of the Lehigh Valley?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by TnPD on January 16, 2010 at 3:09pm

It is on my list to get done, but NO I am not.

I have contacted Bill Bessman, and we would have liked to get to the Buckeye, but stuff got in the way.

We just got yearly service in Devon (across the street) so while we are in no immediate need, any information would be greatly appreciated.

thnx

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Julie O. on January 16, 2010 at 4:52pm

I find it troubling that multiple Smart dealerships are closing or threatening to close immediately after David Schembri was replaced as president of Smart USA.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dennis on January 16, 2010 at 5:58pm

I am in the Orlando Florida area the Smart dealership is not the only one in Florida that will service the Smart vehicle. I was told that the Mercedes dealerships also will service the Smart. I know for a fact the Mercedes dealership in Tampa has no problem servicing my Smart.you may want to check in your area if you have a local Mercedes dealership and see if they will service your smart.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by TnPD on January 16, 2010 at 6:14pm

Thanks for the thought.

I presented that idea to the folks at SMART, and Cherry Hill, and they were both hesitant to tell me it was an acceptable method of repair (in fact they told me to read the warranty document to clarify if that would be OK). Specifically, IF the repair involved a warranted part, it might void the warranty. I was told that Mercedes dealerships did not have the SMART repair equipment or training to insure that the SMART would be repaired as defined in the warranty. I suggested that since DEVON was closed (since my first post Devon has closed) the equipment from Devon was available to be sent to a Mercedes dealer, or a Penske service area, but no comment from SMART.

Thanks, but it does not look like the current answer. However that is what we had been told, by SMART Devon, before we made the SMART purchase!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tony on January 17, 2010 at 12:26am

I too am in the Orlando area, north east of the city. I asked Julie, our smart manager about known closures 2 weeks ago when I had my 20K smart service done. I was told that the neither the Orlando nor Tampa smartcenters had any intention of closing. I too have an extended warranty for my smart so it is concerning me who would service my smart IF there was not a center locally. I'd be in a heap of trouble if I had to go any period of time without transportation given my job. Keeping my fingers crossed nothing significant happens here. Maybe one of the new powers that be will provide some official communication ... they spend enough on "cute" mailings, maybe they should help communicate important information to us to avoid panics.

TnPD, you should take some time to thoroughly review the terms of your extended warranty I reviewed mine and because it does not specify alternate options, I wrote to the warranty provider in advance of the situation, should our smartcenter close for some reason. I'll come back with their reply.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by TnPD on January 19, 2010 at 1:55pm

Now a member ! ! ! ! ! - One more item off the list (the list is now down to 38 pages)

BTW, the Devon Dealership is still on all the SMART "Find a Dealer" search, as well as other sites that still direct users to Devon, and in most cases the link still works. Although some links present "ERROR 404", I might expect that the Devon Site might inform those searching that Devon is no longer a dealer, and might offer alternatives.

Have we gotten any direction regarding the possibility of local SMART service?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sandy on January 22, 2010 at 2:32pm

Tampa looks ify to me, they are selling tons of smart stuff on ebay under user TampaSmart

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by TnPD on January 24, 2010 at 12:09am

My searching technique may need polishing. I cannot find TampaSmart on Ebay.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by TnPD on January 24, 2010 at 12:29am

Posted by Jill Lajdziak (the new SMART President)
http://www.smartusainsider.com/profiles/blogs/dear-smart-enthusiast...
as a blog regarding SMART.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AJarrell on March 15, 2010 at 4:19pm

I purchased my Smart when I lived right in city with a dealer (Birmingham, AL). Now that I've moved 2 hours away from the dealer, I'm adrift as far as repairs. I've called the Mercedes dealer here in Huntsville, AL when my 'service engine' light came on, and they refused to touch it. They even told me they couldn't even use the diagnostic machine to pull the code from it! Which is a total lie. My friend at work has a code reader and pulled the code right in the parking lot for me. But Mercedes of Huntsville just couldn't be bothered with me. I worry that if I need service badly, I'll be stuck towing the car to Birmingham! If Mercedes is supposed to service Smart, someone forgot to tell them here.