OK, OK, Uncle - How did you folks find a used Smart to buy

adept99 · October 21, 2015

Yes, those are black bird feathers at the corners of my mouth. Don't rub it in any more please, already pretty sore...

We, uh, We have decided to purchase a Smart as an aid in our travels. Don't know what you folks did, but Louisville has dern few used Smarts (no, wait, just because we're from the South...). At last look, there were only 3-4 within 50 miles. Don't think going to see all of 'em outside of that 3 or 4 is practical. How did you folks do this?

We will not actually purchase the vehicle until after the 1st of the year for tax reasons. That said, from what I can tell, these seem to be pretty sturdy little cars, so I'm not all that concerned about a warranty or the mileage as long as it's not just absurd.

We're pretty set on the Passion coupe. Any absolute must haves? Any "Don't worry about it, it doesn't work anyway" items? Wasn't someone buying cruise control kits - any issues?

We will be of the "Drive up the Ramps" school of thought, owing to the possible need to load a Smart, a Spyder, or a Street Glide Harley. Discount Ramps now has Smart Specific ramps. With very few bed modifications, we can be ready to roll.

There will be more questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

Paul

NoDirectionHome · October 21, 2015

Saw mine on the toads list here on the forum. Called, told him consider it sold. Jumped on a jet a week later and made a vacation out of the drive from Nashville to Long Island. It was a 2008 with 12K miles in better than mint condition with many upgrades.

Thanks again Russ

billr · October 22, 2015

Check out Smart dealers listings on auto trader. You can search a range of dealers within your range. They Smart certify the used ones so they are like new and offer warranty as well.

I just bought a replacement Smart that way from a MB dealer 8 hrs away. 2011 passion full loaded. It was prepped and Del to s friend a week ago. I pick it up in s few days. Load on the truck and head south

We negotiated a good deal for a real clean one with 29K

We sold our 05 Diesel a month ago it was a good car and served us well. 100k it was time.

Passion has most the good options standard Some Pures has special packages that had a lot of the main features of the Passion. So don't rule them out. Check out the features

Bill

sclord2002 · October 22, 2015

Paul. I had mentioned to a friend who was asking about our truck that some people hauled a Smart on the back and that I thought it was a good idea.......well, about a month later he called me and said that there was a Smart Car on the local VW dealers lot. We procrastinated for about a week and then we decided to go see if it was still there....it was, we drove it, wife fell in love with it and the rest is history. Charlie

rocksbride · October 22, 2015

For both Smarts we ran national searches via AutoTrader and a few others. Keep a little spread sheet going with year, price, color and the other amenities you want. Your car will pop out of the pack. We got fabulous deals on barely used Smarts both times.

We flew to Detroit from East Texas for the first one. It was well worth it; it was only a few months old with barely any miles. We saved thousands and got everything we really wanted.

I ran another national search in November 2014, watching cars from California to Georgia. We had two dealerships in Dallas looking, too. We got within 20 minutes of our winter park at the TX/MX border when a Dallas dealership called with a deal we couldn't refuse: $5K off a 2015 with 900 miles. I hopped on a plane the next day and drove it back to the border.

When you start watching the market and comparing prices for the same car (including color), you'll find that a plane ticket is cheap. It's just like running comparable sales for real estate. The market value and the great deal becomes obvious in a very short time.

Be sure to look at the PHOTOS: dealers don't know Passions from Pures and will advertise them interchangeably. You can tell quickly by the steering wheel, hub caps, and electric (or not) windows.

The other thing to know is that Mercedes dealerships don't usually keep their Smart trade-ins. They go to other brand dealerships and those guys don't always know the value of what they have, or again, the subtle differences between Passions and Pures. The ad says Passion; pictures show a Pure, or vice versa. Often you will find a slightly used Passion advertised for a Pure price. Look at ALL the photos.

The two dealerships in the Dallas area were Mercedes/Smart dealers and they knew our budget. We bought a car at the end of the year from the top Smart salesman who was trying to put several deals together. Ours was brought back in by a woman who'd leased it for 3 months and decided she wanted an electric model. Because the salesman knew what we wanted, he didn't let it leave the Mercedes dealership and was able to get us our car and sell her the electric one.

Again - $5K off the sticker was worth the plane ticket for a virtually new car. In both cases, the salesmen picked us up at the airport. We didn't even have to rent a car.

BTW, we had factory cruise on the first one and loved it. A friend just installed after-market cruise on our new one and I don't know how to use it yet (I mean just installed it.) Those little cars easily go 80 on the freeway, or 50 in a 30 mph speed trap. I consider cruise control a money-saving necessity. They are fun to drive.

You also need to know that the beautiful Brabus model has a lower front end than the other two. Be really clear on your specs and what will work for you. I found a fabulous deal on a beautiful car in Atlanta I wanted, but the clearance was too low for our truck bed and I would have torn up the front end of the car loading and unloading. I don't remember the details, but be sure you talk with someone from a MERCEDES SMART DEALERSHIP that SPECIALIZES in the Smart cars. Not everyone at the dealership is trained to sell Smarts.

We bought ours from Alan Johnson at Park Place Motors in Dallas. A first class young gentleman who really knew his product and LISTENED to us (allan.johnson@parkplace.com, 214-443-5284). Looking at my notes, Alan is actually the Smart Brand Manager. We'd worked with several people in different cities over several years who couldn't make it happen. This young man was outstanding.

Good luck in your search. This is a great time to be looking... prices get softer as the year closes.

bmzero · October 22, 2015

I found mine on Craigslist. I use a site called www.SearchTempest.com to search multiple cities within Craigslist. It uses cached search results from Google, so it's not always up to date, but it's pretty close.

adept99 · October 22, 2015

Thank you Rocksbride - that will get me headed in the right direction.

Biker56 · October 22, 2015

Many Smart Cars for sale near Shepherdsville, KY

Bigtrailer · October 23, 2015

Phoenix craigslist. I have a convertible and a coupe. Bought the 2008 convertible with over $4000 of new repairs this girl had done 6 months before I bought it. It has just over 100,000 miles Paid her $3500.

A dealer had the 2010 with 20,000 miles, $6900.

Phoenix had 9 Smarts for sale 3 weeks ago. There are 2 convertibles listed now.

Bigtrailer

adept99 · October 23, 2015

Thanks

Brad & Jacolyn · October 23, 2015

I think we found ours on auto trader. We also got ours from Park Place in Dallas. If you have one far away from you just ask if someone is in that area and would take a look at the car for you. Rickw looked ours over before we bought it (we were in AZ). That was in 2012 and the car was a 2009 with 3800 miles on it.

Brad