april'08
i'm going to try to enter my smart experiences here on a regular basis...as if anyone really cares
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itibiti blog april'08 i'm going to try to enter my smart experiences here on a regular basis...as if anyone really cares |
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| itibiti bling | itibiti pictures | itibiti home | itibiti videos | karen & billo |
| < back | table of contents | may 2008 > | ||
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| the five smart ownership stages | ||||
| 1. how it all began | 2. the reservation | 3. the configuration | 4. "congratulations" | 5. "come and get it" |
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how it all began... the reservation the configuration i got my cocomats! "congratulations" freddie visits smart 2008 smart fortwo nhtsa crash test results cargo tracking voyage details hella horns smart USA meeting april smart michigan users group meeting mark looks at the hella horns itibiti's here! it's getting close! |
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it's getting close! posted: 04.30.08 wednesday 1:30pm |
i called shane reed at smart center bloomfield today to ask him some last minute questions about the smart payment process. i want to take care of the all details early, before we actually take possession. he told me he thought we'd be be able to pick it up on saturday, may 3rd. previously, it was to be the week of may 5th, so this is exciting news! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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itibiti's here! posted: 04.29.08 tuesday 10:32am |
i got a call from mark hovis, the service & parts manager at
smart center bloomfield, letting me know
itibiti had arrived! they've
had it for a few days and just finished installing the
hella horns
i ordered. he asked if i would like to come check them out. i previously
requested he call me when they began installing the accessories i
ordered, so i could drive over and take pictures. while the
hid headlamps,
painted
brake calipers and
powder
coated rims are installed, they are still waiting for the front &
rear rocker
panels to come back from paint, and the left & right side painted
rocker panels are sitting on the table. it's possible it will be ready
by saturday, may 3, 2008, but most likely won't be until the week of the
5th. at this point, while i would love to get it sooner rather than
later, i'm just thrilled knowing it's here, safe and sound. i
just can't get this smile off my face! :) you can see the accessories i added here. |
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mark hovis posted: 04.22.08 tuesday |
i went to smart center bloomfield today to meet with mark hovis, their service & parts manager. he called me yesterday to discuss installation of the hella horns i purchased (see below). after looking them over, he said they could "probably" do it, saying you have to take off the front end, there is not much room for them and they've never done it before. i truly believe he'll get the job done. more on this later. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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april sMUG meeting posted: 04.20.08 sunday |
saturday, 04.19.08
10:30am to 12:00pm the smart michigan owners group had their april meeting at classic appreciation, a high-end detail shop located in birmingham, mi. i counted 13 smarts and about 30 members in attendance. kasey hopper, and his wife hope, provided a lot of professional tips to keep our smarts in tip-top condition. after the seminar, almost all attendees headed to woodward avenue for lunch at duggan's irish pub, in royal oak, mi. for a peek at some video of the meeting, look here. |
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smart USA meeting posted: 04.20.08 sunday |
saturday, 04.19.08
09:00am to 10:30am i had the good fortune of attending, along with six other members of the smart michigan owners group, a meeting with ken kettenbeil, media relations director for smart USA, rick cortright, brand manager/smart center bloomfield and melanie ricketts, customer relations/smart center bloomfield. ken presented mock-ups of the upcoming smart owners website and forum. they hope to have it go live by 05.01.08. it looked very promising, maybe best described as a cross between smartcarofamerica and myspace. the words "highly customizable" and "lots of content" come to mind. ken also mentioned that they will give some of us early access to the site, so we can get a "real world" feel for it, and help with any fine tuning. i'm looking forward to the experience. we discussed many other things, but one that i particularly liked was a postcard sized hand-out for people who are curious about the smart. it will have information printed on both sides so, instead of answering the same questions over and over, you simply hand out an information card, allowing you to move on, while still being a smart advocate. if you are reading this, you most likely know what i'm talking about. individual dealerships will incur the cost, and smart owners will be able to stock up while visiting their local dealer. smart center bloomfield has 10,000 on order for us to try...then smart USA will roll out the program to all other dealerships. |
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hella horns posted: 04.18.08 friday |
my wife has expressed concern on "being noticed" while driving itibiti. "will other drivers see a small car like that?". "will they hear the horn on that little car?". "i think the red color will stand out more on the road"...and so on. so today, i ordered some hella horns from griot's garage. when i honk the horn, it's for a very good reason. i want to be noticed...especially when a big rig doesn't see you and moves over into your lane. i emailed mark hovis, the service & parts manager at smart center bloomfield, to ask his advice on installation. he emailed me back saying he would look into them on the following monday, and get back to me (note: he did, look here). i certainly hope there won't be a problem, as i can't wait to hear these bad-ass horns coming from itibiti. it'll make my wife a happy camper, too! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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voyage details posted: 04.14.08 monday |
today, i decided to check itibiti's progress. it docked in new york
wednesday, 04.09.08, then was on to baltimore by friday, 04.11.08. i doubt
if it will be here anytime this week, but i'm hoping to hear from
smart center bloomfield sometime during the week of 04.21.08. this is what i learned: |
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cargo tracking posted: 04.06.08 sunday |
with information i found at
smart car of america (on
this thread), i checked out
wallenius wilhelmsen logistics to track itibiti's movement. i know
it takes about 2 weeks from port to port, so my semi-educated guess is
that it will arrive in baltimore friday, 04.11.08. it will then be
off-loaded, inspected and loaded on a car mover and begin the journey to
smart center bloomfield, mi. it will then be prepped,
my accessories will be added
and then i'll be notified. i'm hoping it will be mine somewhere around
monday, 04.21.08. yippee!! This is what it looked like... |
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2008 crash results posted: 04.04.08 friday |
i just received the following e-mail from
smart USA. it's concerning the nhtsa front and side crash test. the
results from front impact were good, but the side impact test was
rated excellent. the media i heard today concentrated on the front
impact results, so i think
smart USA is trying to get out in front of it
by sending out this message to all smart enthusiasts. i posted the crash
test video here: Dear smart Enthusiast, This week the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released its results of the smart fortwo frontal and side crash tests. The results are consistent with our expectations and what we have been communicating to you. The NHTSA evaluations and video of the crash testing can be found on their website located at www.safercar.gov. We encourage to you view the site. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety also performs crash testing on vehicles in the United States. We expect these results within 30 days and we will share the results with you once we receive their final report. Safety is a top priority for Mercedes Benz and smart USA. All crash data is currently being reviewed by Mercedes-Benz engineers as we continue to look for ways to make the smart fortwo an even safer vehicle. Warm Regards, The smart USA Team |
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fred visits smart posted: 04.03.08 thursday |
i went to
smart center bloomfield today with my friend fred who just turned 73
a week ago. he has been in the car business most of his life, and was
anxious to see this little car i've been telling him about for the
better part of a year now. i sat down with samantha to go over the
details of the sale, and went over all the accessories they had to
offer. being that the dealership is only a 20 minute drive from my home,
i've been going in there every couple of weeks, and pretty much knew
what i wanted...and so did samantha. we just verified everything. as
time has gone by, i've been accumulating the accessories i wanted.
things like
cocomats, a very high quality sisal floor and cargo mat. i also have
smart
all-weather floor mats, smart
liners for the glove box and dash compartments and the smart
net set and
retractable luggage compartment cover for the luggage compartment.
i'm also having all 4 of the rocker panels painted to match the rest of
the car...which is red, by the way. it really makes the tridion bar
stand out! they had something new, though, and it really caught my eye.
on one of their demos, they had powder coated the wheels black,
pinstriped them the same color as the body panels, and painted the brake
calipers with a heat resistant red. it looked awesome! well, i had to
add them to the list...didn't i? by the way...my boy freddie loved the smart!! |
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"congratulations" posted: 04.02.08 wednesday |
today, a "congratulations"
e-mail arrived from
smart center bloomfield letting me know my smart is on a ship,
somewhere in the atlantic ocean, making it's way to new york, then
on to baltimore. it should be
here with-in a couple of weeks or so. of course this is very exciting
news, and i called samantha (my smart brand specialist), to go over a few
things. i told her i would be in the next day to finalize
everything...as far as accessories go. should be fun. note: if you have your vin number, you can track your smart on the cargo ship by going here. click on "auto cargo", plug in your vin..and hit enter. |
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i got my cocomats! posted: 03.27.08 |
Below is something i posted today on
smart car of america:
I got my cocomats......now, if I could just get my car! So let me start by saying I doubt if there is a stronger smart car advocate (obsessive much?) anywhere than I am. So... last week, I received my red & black cocomats and decided to take them to my local dealer (bloomfield, mi, in the same building as smart USA) to see how they would look in the red passion they have on display, as that is the same color I have on order. the general manager, rick cortright, took one look, loved them, loved the quality and asked me to send him the details. i went home, emailed him the Cocomats info, and within the hour he emailed me back thanking me, and telling me he ordered 3 sets of mats and a swatch for customers to look through when they order their accessories. Cocomats are going to be part of the accessory line at their dealership! I then got an email from Jeff at Cocomats thanking me for the hook-up. He was very excited, too! Who knows where this might lead, as smartBloomfield has the ear of Roger Penske and Dave Schembri because that's their home base. All this good will because of a post in this forum by 124tom. I learned two things... 1. I hope all smart General Managers are as open minded to listening to customer ideas as Rick was. Please listen to us, Mr. General Managers!!! We know quality products when we see them! After all, that's why we ordered smart cars!! and 2. This is a VERY powerful place for smart enthusiasts to gather all kinds of information, good and bad, and share it in and out of this forum. Just do it! If you don't believe me, ask Jeff from Cocomats. Again, now if I could just get my car! |
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the configuration posted: 11.26.07 monday |
i received an email from dave schembri today asking me to go to
smart USA and configure my smart fortwo. my wife said "it's so
small!! i want to stand out on the road...i want people to see us!!", so
we decided on red with a black tridion cell and the comfort package. you
know, all the bells and whistles. see for yourself:
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the reservation posted: 04.25.07 wednesday |
i logged on to smart USA today and gave them my $99.00 reservation fee. i don't remember how i heard about the offer...i think i read about it in the detroit news/free press...but when i did...bam!!! i couldn't give it to them fast enough! little did i know it would be a year, almost to the day, before i would sign ownership papers for my very own smart fortwo, eight years after my first sighting! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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how it all began spring, 2000: |
i first saw a smart fortwo in the fall of 2000. it was at the
mercedes-benz USA company picnic on the beautiful, sprawling grounds of
their headquarters in montvale, n.j. my wife (who had seen the smart car
while traveling for her job in europe) worked
for m-b at the time, while i worked for bmw USA. i immediately fell in
love with it (see the original photos
here) and asked my wife about
u.s. availability. she
said m-b was attempting to bring them over, but they were running into one
difficulty after another, and that it probably would never happen! i
told her "if that thing ever comes to the u.s., we have to get one!".
little did i know it would take 8 years for that to happen. here's a bit of trivia for you: the mercedes-benz vice-president that was overseeing the attempt to import the smart to the u.s was current smart USA president dave schembri. |
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