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Permalink Reply by tc on March 31, 2008 at 10:53am

Are the dealers swapping vehicles?

Permalink Reply by BrandSpecialist on March 31, 2008 at 5:22pm

No. Dealers are not swapping smarts. If we ever do, it won't be for quite a while.

Permalink Reply by Julie O. on March 22, 2008 at 1:37pm

Todd... check the VIN numbers on those orphans... my Smartie is 21 days past due and I'm still anxiously awaiting a phone call from you guys!

Permalink Reply by christian on March 27, 2008 at 4:14pm

Just put a deposit down on an Orphan here on the East Coast. Car is due in April and I am very excited!!!!

Permalink Reply by JJ on April 8, 2008 at 10:58am

I just called Lynnfield and was told that if a reservation-holder refuses the car, the orphan would then be blessed with three add-ons:
--LoJack
--Simonized inside and out (yes, on the plastic panels) so it would "always look new for you"
--Clearcoat plastic on the front and corners.

I, as a potential orphan buyer, now have to pay for these extras.

So I asked, specifically: Can you let me know when a reserved fortwo has been refused and now up for sale beFORE the add-ons are applied? I am not interested in those add-ons.

Answer: No.

Anyone else getting this story?

JJ

Permalink Reply by mr bad example on May 13, 2008 at 11:00pm

i've seen it over and over, the dealer wants to make a "profit" with useless "add-ons", "clear coat" is for METAL PAINTED SURFACES, they don't put it on plastic bumper covers! the smart body is a plastic bumper cover. simonize isn't forever! unless they invented some kind of permanent teflon coating (highly doubtful).

our "buddy", todd, sees nothing wrong with this abduction of baby smarts and adding on useless options before offering them to waiting smarties as an orphan. the coating options are put on by $8-9@hour mexican porters in a few minutes. (i can wash my smart with a gallon bucket and sponge in 5 minutes!) dealers will pounce on orphaned cars, abduct and abuse them! for $20 of labor and materials, they'll screw a smartie wannabe.
(it's a plastic car, they might not even apply anything and just say they did!)

as you have stated, the orphan becomes an "instant hostage" before being offered on the "adoption" market.

i worked at a new car dealership about 13 years ago, i know a lot of their "tricks". i left the dealership when one of the mexicans brought TB to the dealership and infected a lot of the staff (i was in "parts" and 5 out of 8 parts people tested positive for TB, i left the day after i tested negative by the DuPage county health dept, and i'm still TB negative, i was a lucky one!)

you want car/dealership stories, ask me!

Permalink Reply by mr bad example on May 13, 2008 at 11:20pm

a new car sales manager would sell his grandmother for a case of beer, if he could.

Permalink Reply by JJ on May 14, 2008 at 8:54am

I hear ya on grandma's beer. When I sold VWs (briefly), the boss said if I had to drive the customer to the bank to get the loan (inferring I should personally co-sign), that was part of my job. There is no fine line between ethics: You either are or you are not. In the monthly quota game, a heart of a hustler drives sales. All we (consumers) can be is informed with a mega dose of cynicism.

Not all dealers are like this, just a vast majority IMHO. At the end of the day, I've decided no car is worth hunting down and begging a dealer not to add on gimicky stuff. smarts are great; how we acquire them should not sour the joy.

I just picked up a used hybrid and am happy with my choice. At 66-85 MPG, I have no complaints.

smarts will be around a while. I have lots of patience :)

Glad to hear you're TB free :)

JJ

Permalink Reply by tc on April 8, 2008 at 5:59pm

Todd,

Just curious, are there any dealers out there selling their Demo's, the miles must be piling up.

Permalink Reply by BrandSpecialist on April 8, 2008 at 6:38pm

Miles are not too bad. We will probably drive ours until he '09's come in.

Permalink Reply by dramadoctor on May 13, 2008 at 9:28pm

I finally received an email announcing that my yellow/black cabriolet with black leather interior would be arriving between November and January! I hope my current vehicle holds up. I would hate to have to buy something else! I live right near Universal City, so I expect that you will be my dealer.

Permalink Reply by geosynch on May 14, 2008 at 2:44am

My reserved cabriolet wasn't due until later this year, so I got on the San Jose smart Center's orphan list for exactly zero dollars down. A few weeks later they called me and I drove away very happy after paying exactly list price with no fluff add ons.

Rumor has it they (San Jose smart Center) have a couple of orphans as of May 14th, but I'm not sure how long that will last.

Best,

geosynch

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