Smart Center San Francisco

I just wanted to weigh in that everyone at the Smart Center in SF has treated me fantastically but I especially wanted to give a nod to Felipe. Felipe always turns what could be a stressful chore (getting your car repaired or serviced) into a breeze. He always listens to whatever I have to say about my car and goes over and above the call of duty to make sure my concerns are addressed and that my transportation needs are met while my car is in the shop. Felipe is just as great at communicating as listening, and thoroughly explains what work has been done or the results of diagnostics. I have rarely had time to let Felipe know how much I appreciate his help, so I hope this review helps express my gratitude. Happy New Year!

Had such a positive experience here. Professional, didn’t feel pressured and every time I need something, the guys here always help with no hesitation. I would totally buy another car here just for the service. I highly recommend working with Bill Scott.

Service Manager Felipe is worth his weight in gold for his customer service skills, and the other folks who work there are courteous and efficient and take great care of my SmartCar. I always call and make an appointment for services (don’t leave a message, just wait until you get a live person) and I have had repeated great experiences. They got me a ride to work and then reimbursed my cab back for car pickup. I’m so pleased with this place. Thanks.

My SMART Fortwo Cabrio recently required scheduled maintenance. Felipe the service manager went out of his way to ensure I had a service date that was convenient and to make sure I had a loaner waiting when I dropped my vehicle off.
My car was ready before promised and at a discounted rate. It was freshly washed and vacuumed. As usual, my service experience was what I expected: great!
Thank you SMART Center!

(Service Review)
In August I took my Smart to MB/​Smart Center SF for a scheduled 110k-​mile checkup. That went totally fine, except when I stepped back in the car and shifted into «Drive,» it didn’t function — the gear readout on the dashboard was blank. I tried turning it off and back on, but then didn’t even respond at all. 3 employees tried this with the same result, so it had to go back to the garage. Not the most typical situation at an auto shop, I imagine.
Service advisor Felipe Alfaro had me wait as the car was quickly checked, but there was no clear answer. I took a loaner and Felipe said I would hear back tomorrow (Sat.) or the next Monday. The weekend came and went, including Monday, with no word. In fact, it was *two weeks* later when I finally got Felipe on the phone again, and he informed me that he «mis-​tagged» the car, which I assume led to failing to contact me. Really, is tagging the catalyst here? Are we blog posts now? Do I just accept you immediately forgot about this wacky situation with a car and a customer who’s been nothing but patient so far? He added the car’s transmission would have to be opened to examine the clutch. Great, awesome; the words «transmission» and «clutch» are always what you want to hear from a repair shop. In my naviety, I still hoped this would spur some extra customer service from a shop that’s otherwise been friendly and accommodating enough, based on the last time I went in for service.
More waiting, though. Early the next week, I get a text message explaining what the technician found and recommended, with parts/​tax/​labor over $ 1400. Felipe added the work could be done «tomorrow evening.» (Nothing to this point came with any sense of compassion or regret, by the way.) This being my nightmare scenario, I called and asked for wiggle room on the estimate, since I walked in for routine maintenance and didn’t expect (nor was told I could expect) a $ 1400 bill. After checking on cheaper parts, the Smart Center butter knife shaved the bill to $ 1171.68.
The aforementioned «tomorrow evening» passed, as did the rest of the week. I was officially impatient and kept calling, but Felipe still wasn’t picking up. Eventually I got a text stating there was «hardware» that needed ordering to complete the work, but that the car would be ready the next afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I got a text the next day saying the car was ready — no prodding needed! Maybe it was the truth! I came back that day, but expressed my disappointment in the service to that point, and that the department should pay the bill, not me. Felipe directed me to his supervisor, Troy. Troy apologized for the situation, and ultimately got the bill down to their barest costs for them; nearly $ 700.
Yes indeed, a crazy deal for clutch work, but I still wasn’t happy, considering the original problem made worse by the radio silence. No budge from the boss. Instead, he stressed they were no longer profiting from the service (right, except I’m in the red too), so we ended it there. I made sure the car worked, paid the bill under protest, and left with my car after nearly a month of completely unnecessary negligence.
I feel this case was «special» enough that apologies and cost-​cutting only go so far. We seemed to agree I got the wrong end of the stick, and the lack of oversight on Felipe and the techs led to an expensive mistake, but I disagree it should be my mistake too. To be clear, the car *never* exhibited a shifting problem since I owned it, and I don’t care how close it was to doing so. And again, if I can’t even drive it off the lot after you tell me it’s done and paid for, you’d think some extra effort at customer service would be in the cards. Nope. Nor do I think an $ 1100-​turned-​$ 700 bill under these circumstances should be a concern for a company that also sells Benzes, where it’s probably $ 700 just to fix the joystick on a seat adjuster.
Basically, we have an advisor who couldn’t be arsed to get back to a call in the same day and only compounded the bad situation and my bad mood. I suggest hiring more Smart service people, especially ones who can keep track of their customers.
The final insult (s): Two nights after getting the car back, the Check Engine light came on. On one hand, it’s clear the car was on its way out. On the other hand, what the hell else happened to it in the garage? The company also refused a refund after I filed a BBB complaint. No surprise there… but really, what else does it take?

Went to this dealership for the first time and had the worst sales experience ever. My sales rep was Lauren and although she tried really hard to be professional, she came off snooty, condescending, rushed and overall unfriendly. I came in last Friday evening to test drive a car, although we hit some traffic when we finally found an open road she made it obvious that all she cared about was getting back to the dealership to end her day. To top it off, since the dealership had locked the doors, she didn’t even have the decency to come outside to get me. Waited outside for 10 minutes until I banged on the door and someone let me in.
Was told my application was going to be submitted first thing Saturday morning. Called the dealership at 1pm on Saturday and spoke to Mark who said it had not be submitted. Did not receive a call on Saturday or Sunday, took the initiative to call around 3pm on Sunday and Mark said Lauren was supposed to get back to me but never heard back from her.
Called Lauren today and advised her that I was not satisfied with the rate and was hoping to shop different banks, yet because Mark was gone until Monday she said I had to wait until the end of the week to have someone else look at the deal. I asked her if someone else can look at it tomorrow and she immediately said no with out even checking with finance. That gave me the impression that my deal was not very important.
Great job Lauren, congrats! Because of you I will be doing the same deal, if not better at Beshoff Motors who found the approval. I will never go back to this dealership ever again. I DO NOT recommend this dealership. Go to Beshoff Motors in San Jose instead.

I see a lot of polarised reviews… never bought a new vehicle here.
But the service is great. They made a tiny mistake and fixed it for free. Cant ask for more then that, and they did it on the spot.

Bill Scott was so helpful, kind and creative in answering questions about our Smart. What a great salesman and person!

Worst experience ever!
If you read previous reviews of this place, you’ll find them highly polarized. My guess is that there are some super nice people there, and some terrible ones. Unfortunately I met one of the latter.
I was there the Friday before last, visiting for buying or leasing a Smart. The sale person, who accompanied me for a test drive, was actually nice. Later he brought his the manager to discuss the price. The manager turned to be rude, terribly rude. Follows are quotes of what he said. The conversation happened as I was trying to figure out what the lease terms are.
«So you are saying we’re trying to steal your money» — he said so in a very aggressive manner, right after handshake.
«I don’t guess» — said arrogantly. It happened when I wanted to figure out the least down payment I need to pay, and he said that’s the original $ 1917 minus $ 1000, and I said so it’s $ 917. He simply left the above comment and turned to his smartphone.
«They’re just miscellaneous fees, I summed them up for my convenience. You don’t need to know» said very impatiently. It happened when I asked what the extra $ 600 fee was for in the terms he gave me, compared with what was on their website.
«I don’t want to waste my time with you» — That was his way of saying goodbye.
Too bad I didn’t take a video and couldn’t show his expressions, which doubled the rudeness in what he said. Someone did follow up by email and tried to bring me back, but he didn’t seem to be able to do anything meaningful, such as let the manager apologize.

I highly recommend SF SMart, part of SF Mercedes. I have received outstanding service from the start of leasing my car to having the car in for maintenance.
The staff is extremely kind, attentive and seem to have a real concern for making each visit a positive experience.
The Service Representative Kyle does an outstanding job. He always has everything prepared in advance and does an outstanding job remaining calm and positive dealing with multiple clients all who are in a hurry.
There was an issue with my insurance company. Kyle went out of his way to assist me in resolving the problem quickly. He is a great asset for the dealership.
I also appreciate the diversity of staff at the dealership.
If you are looking for a Smart Car or Mercedes dealership, I strongly suggest trying SF Smart, SF Mercedes.

5 stars for the excellent and superior service my wife and I received when leasing our new Smart car with Liz Boeder. We recently were in a car accident and my wife’s car was completely totaled. We heard that smart cars were pretty cheap & affordable to lease so we stopped by the Smart center to investigate. We stopped by right before closing and figured we wouldn’t be able to get a whole lot of information out of anyone since they were probably packing up their desks.
Luckily, to our surprise we were greeted by an enthusiastic and friendly woman named Liz. We explained to her that were interested in the smart cars and just wanted to find out more information regarding the lease (since neither of us has ever had a lease before). She gladly took us upstairs and showed us the cars they had on display and explained in great detail the benefits of driving a smart car. She even let us sit in one as she continued to point out all the advantages of having a smart in the city and what a lease truly looks like. You could tell she spoke authentically and had our best interests in mind the entire time.
I appreciated Liz’s patience with us because we had a lot of questions and some of them may have seemed amateur due to our lack of experience with buying/​leasing a car from a dealership. Regardless, Liz spoke to us with respect, patience and honest excitement. She shared stories of past clients she worked with and the success they had with owning a smart car. We walked into the dealership unsure and curious and after talking to Liz we were pretty certain leasing the smart was the best option for us. We didn’t feel she was trying to sell us anything that we didn’t need, which I assumed all car salespeople would try to do. She was never pushy, but still was able to answer or questions in a timely manner. Liz offered to run our credit and get back to us to see if we wanted to move forward. Just a day later she gave me a call to let me know we were approved and if we wanted to come back in for an appointment to sign the lease. Sure enough, we came back in later that week to pick up our very own smart car! It was such a smooth and easy process thanks to Liz and the financial manager who walked us through each and every stage of the paperwork and how the lease would be constructed. Again, we asked a lot of questions but everyone was super patient and knowledgeable, which made us feel comfortable to put our trust and money into the lease. Liz made it very easy for us to follow-​up with her, if there were any problems with the car or any dissatisfaction of any kind. This sort of customer service is commendable and will definitely have me coming back in the future. Thanks again Liz!

Lack expertise, couldn’t even answer basic questions and they don’t want to spend time on people buying anything but Mercedes. To the extend that they were rude to smart car buyers

Excellent customer service!!! I want to give GIANT kudos to our Smart Car specialist, Felipe! We’ve had our Smart from 2008 on and found that we get the same 5-​star service that we’ve had with our Mercedes (Smart Car & Mercedes are together at the San Francisco dealership). We love that we get a courtesy ride to wherever we need to go (within reason, of course!) in a lovely new Mercedes and that we get a paid cab fare when we go back to pick up after servicing. I had a BMW for years, and the SF BMW dealership seemed to be terribly lacking in this respect… very marginal/​below average customer service there (see my earlier review, if you’re interested). I think that if I had driven a 7-​series instead of a 3-​series BMW (that I purchased there BTW), they might have treated me differently… oh well…
Soooooo, I just love my little Smart… and so much more than the Mercedes and BMW for SF parking reasons. Thanks, Felipe, we’ll be seeing you soon for a couple of detail items. Keep up the great work!
P. S. I also want to mention that Felipe texts me with updates, estimates, etc. I so like that he does that because it’s not convenient for me to answer my cell at times. The texting is really awesome and I really appreciate that Felipe and the Smart Car team are so efficient and make it easy for me – the customer! ;))

As a recent customer, I have found my experience with your San Francisco dealership to be far from pleasurable, and memorable for all the wrong reasons.
About a month ago, I went to the San Francisco Dealership to get my car fixed because it was over heating. I spent approximately $ 1300 to get the radiator changed and the ac condenser fixed among other issues that required fixing. Going in, I had the impression that this dealership had honest, professional, and well educated employees, so when the foreman at the shop said the car would be done in a week, I thought nothing of it.
However, to my surprise, a week turned into two weeks, two weeks into three, and (frustratingly enough) then a month. As a paying customer, I found this to be unacceptable, not due to the time frame, but to the lack of communication between employee and customer. I was told, after having had to repeatedly contact (name shall not be mentioned) about the status of my car after the week had ended, that my car would be ready on a certain day and time. This changed quickly, to either being done «Monday» to «later in the week» to «I’ll call you by the end of the day» but no call came. Most of the communication had to be initiated by me.
When I finally managed to get a hold of someone to properly tell me why I still couldn’t pick up my car, they told me the following: My engine was still over heating and, despite having close to a FULL MONTH, they were still no closer to finding a solution than when I had first brought in my car. In fact my car was just parked outside of the parking lot with nothing being done for a week.
Not only did they still not know what was wrong, they told me that the only option was to disassemble my whole car, JUST to check the engine. The disassembling of my car would have cost me an additional $ 1500, including the re-​assembling. I was then informed by (…) that 1 of 3 scenarios can occur: If the cylinder head gasket is the root of the issue, it would cost $ 22. If it was the cylinder head, that would be $ 3300. If the engine block was discovered to be damaged, it would cost $ 10,500. Which is ridiculous because that’s more than the car itself.
I was astonished that they decided that disassembling my car would be the only option to figure out why my car was still overheating, so I sought second opinions. Hearing the second opinions from other professional auto technicians, I grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of professionalism from the dealership, due to the general consensus being that my car did NOT need to be disassembled and then reassembled just to look at the engine. To additionally pay between $ 1500-​$ 15,000 is completely ridiculous.
I feel I wasted so much of my time and money with the San Francisco dealership, only to have had my car returned to me with the issue still not having had been fixed for $ 1300. I am thoroughly disappointed with the lack of customer service, communication, and falsely promised pick up dates that inconvenienced my busy schedule for close to a month. I had no issues with calling Smart Car USA reps, they were the best part of my experience which I cannot say the same about the San Francisco dealership.
I hope this brings attention to all of you, if you are JUST purchasing a car then fine. You’re «just» another sale they need to meet their quota.

Extremely terrible customer service.
I ordered a small part and they totally neglected it.
Never had a phone call back nor any apology.
I called them twice to check if they received the part and found out they didn’t even have a record of ordering the part.
Just stay away from this one and be friend with your local mechanic.
Smart Fortwo is a well engineered car and you can find detailed manual/​videos easily.

We bought our smart here 6 years ago and have been coming for service ever since. You seriously get Mercedes-​level service — friendly, helpful and punctual staff. Drop off and pickup is very easy. The services are always well-​explained and repairs/​maintenance always completed on time. We had some problems with the car (not dealer’s fault, but manufacturing defects) and the staff here (Felipe, in particular) have been very helpful in working through these problems and fixing the car. I think the service here is what saved the smart brand in my eyes. Keep up the good work. See you at the next service appt.

After purchasing an electric smart car from Kasey Ouellette, a Sales & Leasing Consultant for Mercedes/​SMART CAR, I had a huge issue with the range as I do too much freeway driving for any electric car.
Kasey Ouellette (especially) but the whole Mercedes/​Smart staff were caring, professional and fixed the problem within a week. Smart Car/​Mercedes could have legally kicked me to the curb, but they didn’t. In fact, they rented me a car until they could figure out how to fix the issue.
Kacey worked hard to get me into a car that worked for me. Kasey Ouellette, Rob Stuban, the General Sales Manager, along with Robert Evans, the Finance Director are one of the finest teams I have ever bought a car from, and I have bought a lot of new cars. I can’t thank them enough for my new gas SMART CAR!!! I LOVE IT!!!
I would definitely buy another new car from these guys! Thanks again.
Cynthia A.
Santa Rosa, CA

Happy 40,000 miles you piece of crap!
Since I have owned this car, the battery suddenly died within the first year, random pieces of plastic have fallen off in the interior, it has had numerous transmission «software» problems that have left me stranded and ready to walk away from it, the engine blew at 23,000 miles, AND NOW it has yet ANOTHER transmission problem that the service department can’t figure out — I can’t get it to shift out of Park when it is cold! THIS IS A PROBLEM!
I told my service manager, «This thing is a F*6king piece of Sh*t!!» He nodded his head in agreement. I asked, «Are you agreeing with me?» He replied, «Yeah, it’s been pretty bad.»
Even if there is not something seriously wrong with it, just the sheer number of times I have had to bring it in for a problem is ridiculous!
I tell everyone I see when I am at the dealership, I tell everyone that ever asks me about it. The guy in the parts department even agreed with me: «Yeah, I have never heard of a car having that many problems in that combination.»
It is TRULY a piece of crap.
This has all happened since this car was BRAND NEW! A car with less than 40,000 miles on it should not have had this many problems!
As an early adopter, I was charged way too much for this car and was essentially ripped off by Smart Center San Francisco, and Bill Scott, the sales manager at the time. Unfortunately, my experience is not in line with lemon law or I would sue. I can’t even sell it since it is underwater AND has already had the engine replaced. My best option is to default on the loan and let the financier take it, which will totally mess up my credit.
Smart Center San Francisco, it would be a gesture of good will to offer to buy it back. Until then, my biggest passion is blasting all over the internet how terrible Smart Center San Francisco is. Luckily, Unilocal has great SEO, so lots of people will get to see this. ;) Next, auto reviewing sites…

Terrible experience at Smart Center/​Mercedes San Francisco. I wanted to look at the used Smart Cars they had in stock and possibly drive a new one for comparison. Ben R. was my first salesperson. He is everything you imagine in your head when you think of a sleazy salesman. Even after I told him I had no interest in leasing a car he continued to push the leasing so hard I finally asked him if he got paid extra for that.
After the test drive I decided the new ones didn’t perform sufficiently better than the 2009 smart I test drove the day before at a different dealership to warrant buying a new one and I told him I wanted to look at the used ones. Apparently all 6 – 7 cars listed on the website had been sold that morning (I call bull$#*!) and he continued to push the new car until we were just so frustrated we left.
As we were leaving, another sales guy (Adejai) ran out after us and said they just got a used one in. We went to look at it, I said great — this is exactly what I want, and we negotiated a price. I said I’d be in to pick it up on Monday (1 week later). I didn’t hear from anyone that week and my 3 calls + 2 messages on Monday (the day I was supposed to pick it up) went unanswered. I didn’t hear from anyone on Tuesday. Finally on Wednesday afternoon I got a call from Adejai saying the car wasn’t ready but he «hoped» it would be ready for me Thursday evening. He said he would follow up with me either way on Thursday afternoon. He didn’t call and I went back to the other dealership to buy the used Smart Car they had even though it didn’t have all the features I wanted.
On Friday morning I left another message which finally Adejai returned, saying the car «should» be ready for me to pick up today but he couldn’t guarantee it. Too late! I told him exactly why I wasn’t going to purchase from them and he didn’t even apologize once.
So, in summary: this is a horrible place to shop for a car and these guys blew a done deal with poor customer service.

A decade ago, when I was touring in Europe, I saw Smart Cars and Mini Coopers all over the place, and thought that they were über –cool. A few years later, the new Mini graced our shores and I was one of the first to say I wanted one… except that I was just starting a graduate program and had the financial resources of dryer lint. But years later, I bought «Wentworth», my ’05 Mini Cooper S Convertible, and enjoyed the experience immensely.
Moved away from the Bay Area (tear) and decided to get something shinier for Los Angeles. I know, I know, they might as well just implant a chip in me. But I got a spectacular deal on a newer 3-​series and my Mini was getting a little bit long-​in-​the-​tooth.
But now, here I am, possibly moving back to San Francisco in the near future, and thinking to myself… the smaller the better… again.
I could certainly get another Mini, Wentworth was generally good to me… but I’ve been there and done that. And anyway, now the Smart car has reached America’s shores. Worth checking out, at the very least.
Popped into Smart of San Francisco yesterday as I was walking past, deciding it was time to at least try one on. A salesman from Mercedes downstairs followed us up to make certain we were attended to, and when we assured him we were just looking around, he left us alone and informed a Smart salesperson that we were on the floor, and she approached us to answer our questions and talk up the Smart.
Bottom line: We had a good experience with the people here, they were professional and on-​point. Unfortunately, the car is too small for me (I’m 6’6) and I didn’t feel as comfortable as I’d have liked in it. No shocker, really. Also, and I know this isn’t a review site for the car itself (and I’m not taking it into account in the rating), but the build quality and feel of the car seemed very inferior to a Mini, which honestly, isn’t that much more money at the end of the day.
It’s a cute toy more than a car. Good for petite women who stay in the city or rich dot commers who just want to have one of everything. As an only car, probably not my cup of tea. But the people here were nice to me… and if you’re thinking a Smart is for you, go on in and check them out. Apparently the salesman named after me as well as the young female I worked with today are both very nice to their customers.
Lots of one and five star reviews for this place.