Racing Inspired

Today, Liz-Boeder custom designed racing stripes for one of our smart cars here at smart center of San Francisco. For anyone who doesn't know the infamous Liz Boeder (my mentor) she grew up with a racing history and you can pretty much ask her anything about Mercedes-Benz and she'll know it. She is also the one who has greatly inspired my test drives. For any of you who have been on one it will probably be your most memorable test drive you'll ever be on. There are few people who can top me and Liz Boeder is one of them. Beyond being a walking encyclopedia of Mercedes-Benz knowledge and history, she is also an artist. You can often view her work at her desk.

What makes Liz really special is she is also a smart car owner and enthusiast. She is an owner of the highly coveted Brabus edition. For those who are new to the smart world, the Brabus was only made in the US in 2008 and part of 2009. It is a beautifully designed car with a lot of great body kits and accessories in it. Her Brabus (named Natasha) is a silver convertible that she skillfully races around San Francisco. Soon you'll be able to recognize her because she is going to have Martini Racing inspired stripes on her car.

Liz's stripes inspired me to put so fun back into the smart car. Get our clients' creative juices flowing again and remember what smart is really all about, individuality. She was nice enough to custom make an original piece for us and for a future lucky client to have. You'll also have the joy of knowing that they were applied by hand by myself and Liz. A lot of love and care went into this car and it's new found uniqueness. Come on by and take a look at it and while you're at it take a test drive with us to.

From Left to Right: Liz Boeder (artist and creator of the racing stripes) Chanel Meanor (Brand Relations and Specialist)

So while on a test drive I had to really prove to all of the skeptics out there that the mini cooper is 3 feet longer than the smart car. Many times when I tell guest who walk into our homely showroom that the smart car is three feet longer. I was finally able to prove it to the client that didn't believe me and now can share with all of our fans and readers.

Please note that this is an older model mini and over the years the mini has only gotten bigger. Living in the biggest little city every foot makes all the difference.

Juice for all...at lease for our electric drivers

The San Mateo County Examiner just released an article about San Francisco's plans to install charging stations for all of our electric car drivers. These stations will be FREE OF CHARGE until 2013. Plans are to have 2,750 chargers of that 2,750 we will see 30 "fast chargers". These chargers can perform at fractions of the time it takes a regular station to juice up an electric car.

Where will you find these stations? Places such as SFO, city owned public parking garages, and General Hospital garages. Mayor Lee is set to make San Francisco a leader in supporting electric cars. This is fantastic news for all of our clients looking into getting into a new smart Electric Drive.

To learn more stop by our store to read the full article and pick our brains about the Electric Drive smart and our plans for the future.

The Daily Show

Exciting event went down today at smart Center of San Francisco. Members of the Jon Stewart Daily Show were here at the dealership and in San Francisco doing a piece San Francisco's recent decline from being the #1 Gay City in the United States to the 11th.

We lost our title purely because of the way it was calculated by per capita. Members of the Daily Show borrowed our Hello Kitty car and brought it to a near by park to shoot small clips of Jason (one of their "reporters") in the car. Over taken by Minneapolis even Cleveland, Ohio has beaten our progressive city.

No fear we are still known as the most gay lifestyle friendly city with the best Pride Parade in the Nation. Who knows, smart Center of San Francisco might make another debut there too.

New news

smart is officially going to be a complete daughter company of Mercedes-Benz.Projected to be completely absorbed in a couple of months smart will be manufactured, distributed, financed and maintained by them. Some have speculated it is to improve the overall fuel economy of their fleet. Great news is that warranty won't change and will possibly improve for the smart car because it will no longer be warrantied by Penske.

In other news we have the Electric Drive available to test drive and lease. Anyone interested in the E.D. should definitely come in a test drive. It is completely different in all the best ways. A little strange when you first drive it because it makes no noise. Flawless in the way it drives and handles. It's both fun to drive and economical.

Much More Than a smart Purchase

With tough times like we have seen over the past few years it also teaches us a lesson as well. We remember to be a little more conscious about our purchase decisions and look at the bigger picture of things. When shopping for a car more often we look at what it is going to cost us over time. When we look at those figures we're shocked when we thought something was a good buy but the cost for us to keep it was a different story.

I was doing some research on the smart fortwo today to look at the bigger picture numbers. I wanted to investigate for my customers beyond the ecological pricing we have for a commuter, first time buyer car, or a car that one just desires because the customability. I investigated is it the right decision for a long term purchase and how this amazing little car stands up to our competition. This is what I found.

A couple years ago, when I was at Honda, I often used the exact same tools my customers to help them with their decisions. Edmunds.com has built a fantastic tool to help us make the right choices. They built a tool that analyzes the True Cost to Own a vehicle. Great thing about this tool is you can look at any car, new or used, and it will estimate the cost for you to own it over a 5 year period. They calculate everything from fuel consumption, maintenance, purchase price, financing, miscellaneous things you might encounter beside basic servicing etc. So, I wanted to come up with a comparison of the total cost at the end of 5 years with my competitors I usually get shopped against. Below are my findings:

2010 Mini Cooper: $37,131
Cost per mile: $0.50

2010 Honda Fit: $32,493
Cost per mile: $0.43

2010 Toyota Yaris: $32,283
Cost per mile: 0.43

2010 smart Passion Coupe: $29,577
Cost per mile: $0.39

Edmunds.com TCO Side by Side Comparison

After seeing this I wanted to dig a little deeper. Another tool I use often is fueleconomy.gov. This website was built by the EPA to help consumers get a better sense of the actual fuel economy they will get based on their driving habits. The numbers I am going to report to you is based on 15,000 miles driven per year, 45% highway driving and 55% city driving.

2010 Mini Cooper:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.97
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.89 gal
Cost to Fill up: $39.56
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,783

2010 Honda Fit:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.49
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.81 gal
Cost to Fill up: $29.48
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,497

2010 Toyota Yaris:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.49
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.81 gal
Cost to Fill up: $30.87
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,497

2010 smart Passion Coupe:
Cost to Drive 25 Miles: $2.31
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles: 0.69 gal
Cost to Fill up: $26.07
Annual Fuel Cost: $1,389

fueleconomy.gov Side by Side Comparisons

One day soon we'll be able to see the full lifecycle of a car we purchase it's effects on the environment and the cost for it's entire lifetime.

Right around the corner

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls the much anticipated 2011 fully electric smart car is almost here. It will be here the last week of January. For it's debut I am thinking about putting together bit of an event for it. More details to come as we get closer. I'll leave you in suspense until we get closer.

Don't forget to stop by any time to learn more!