Hello and thank you for your question.
Detlefs Rentals claims to be the only company presently authorized to
import the car to the US
http://www.a-car.com/wwwboard/messages/1271.html
"Price for the Coupe starts at $ 14,690.00
Price for the Cabrio starts at $ 20,210.00
All smart come with the parts for the 10,000 and 20,000 miles service.
The transmission is normal 6 speed and you can grate it up with
automatic, so you get both in one car.
The price list attached will explain all to you what is standard and
what is an option.
The smart car gets a clear title from Florida.
Our Price based on Sarasota/Florida. You need to add only the sales tax to it.
Brand-new for the Coupe are the elect. glass sunroof for US$ 1,600.00.
Leather seats with heat US$ 1,200.00."
Their website is what is known in the web design business as a real
doozy, and unfortunately it has no further information about buying.
http://www.detlefs-rentals.com/smart/
I believe I have traced how Detlefs is obtaining the cars that it offers.
http://www.livejournal.com/community/smart_cars/
"G&K Automotive Conversion of Santa Ana, Calif., and J.K. Technologies
LLC in Baltimore applied last year for permission from the federal
government to import the Smart. When NHTSA gave the importers a green
light on Jan. 22, it also opened the door for any of the 160 importers
registered with the safety agency to do the same, says Coleman Sachs,
chief of NHTSA's import and certification division.
Those converters may be able to import cars from Canada, which would
be cheaper and easier than buying them from independent distributors
and dealerships in Europe. Mercedes-Benz Canada will sell the coupe
and convertible starting in September through its 52-dealer network.
Mercedes-Benz Canada plans to sell about 1,000 Smarts in 2005, CEO
Marcus Breitschwerdt said.
The two-seater is expected to be priced at about $16,000 Canadian, or
$11,954 U.S. at current exchange rates, and the convertible at about
$20,000 Canadian or $14,940 U.S. Only 40-hp CDI turbocharged diesel
models will be sold.
The United States has a blanket import agreement with Canada allowing
vehicles to be imported if they have the U.S.-required restraint
systems, Sachs said.
Comparable standards
U.S. and Canadian safety and emissions standards are comparable. Cars
coming from Canada usually need only minor alterations - such as
switching the speedometer from kilometers to miles.
Mercedes-Benz will show its U.S. dealers the ForMore at a meeting in
Las Vegas this month. There are no plans to import the current
generation of Smart models into the United States, said Dave Schembri,
the Mercedes-Benz vice president in charge of Smart.
Mercedes executives in the United States say Smart buyers may have
problems obtaining servicing of gray-market vehicles.
"We urge all to purchase cars through the Mercedes car group,"
Schembri said. "We'd hate to see a customer put in the position that
they have no service outlet."
J.K. Technologies says it plans to sell Smarts through a few
Mercedes-Benz dealers in the Baltimore area and Florida. J.K. will buy
cars from a European distributor.
The conversion company wants to sell between 500 and 1,000 cars
annually and would service the cars, said J.K. Technologies President
Jonathan Weisheit. The company has been working on the Smart project
for about 2½ years, he said.
No scattershot
"We want to very careful with the Smart reputation in America - our
sales won't be on a scattershot basis," Weisheit said. "We don't want
the Smart image to in any way be tarnished. This vehicle is brilliant
in its own right."
He said dealerships that J.K. works with on conversion jobs will sell the cars.
"We can guarantee service and parts in Baltimore and Florida - we
aren't interested in importing 10,000 Smarts," Weisheit said.
He said he isn't ready to disclose which dealers will sell the cars.
G&K Automotive Conversion is negotiating with about 100
non-Mercedes-Benz new-car dealerships to sell the Smart in six to
eight weeks, owner George Gemayel said. Gemayel said he and his
business partners want to sell as many as 15,000 Smarts a year. They
will purchase stock from European dealerships.
The longtime importer of gray-market Ferraris, Porsches, McLarens and
other cars plans to buy Smarts for between $8,000 and $10,000. Gemayel
said that in the United States, the vehicles will have a sticker price
of $14,500 for the two-door model and $19,500 for the convertible."
And here's some background on J.K. Technologies LLC
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.smart02may02,0,6782449.story?coll=bal-business-headlines
"Cars to roll off a ship in the port of Baltimore and - after a spin
through J.K.'s shop - into buyers' eager hands."
Based on the above, you should not plan on bringing a car in from
Germany yourself, because it will not meet US emissions and other
standards and thus cannot be registered in the US. So the alternative
to waiting the additional months to buy from a US Mercedes dealer is
1. taking the "gray-market" route described above, or
2. buying the car in Canada [where the emissions work will already be
accomplished] and doing the balance of the J.K. Technologies-style
gray-market makeover yourself if you feel you are qualified (miles per
hour speedometer, passenger restraint modifications as needed, etc.)
and then talk your way through the registration process.
Search terms used:
emissions import "smart car"
"J.K. Technologies" smart car
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