Pete Mankins embraces economical Smart ForTwo
Just about all of Nissan’s popular cars and trucks are either in the showroom or on the lot of Pete Mankins Nissan on Summerhill Road.
The new Titan and its beefy counterpart, the diesel-powered Titan XD, are available. So too is the Altima, the comely midsize sedan that delivers better fuel economy than many a hybrid. The iconic Z cars are there, as is the refined Murano, the highly esteemed Rogue hatchback and its frisky cousin, the Rogue Sport.
You probably won’t find an all-electric Leaf, which sells like hotcakes in big cities but not so much in rural areas, where its 107-mile range will barely get one halfway to Dallas.
What excites owner-operator Brant Smith, however, is not his inventory of Nissans, most of which are made in Tennessee, but a used-car lot chock full of something built in France by Mercedes. He recently bought 1,000 of the tiny, economical but surprisingly safe Smart ForTwo.
Most of the cars are 2015 models and still have the balance of a four-year, 50,000-mile warranty. When new, they carried a price tag of $12,490 to $17,890. Smith is letting them go for $6,995. (If you’re looking up used values on Kelly Blue Book, Pete Mankins is $1,000 to $3,000 below standard retail).
The bottom line: $500 down and $130 a month.
“They’re selling like crazy,” said Smith. “Most people spend more than that per month on their cellphone.”
A fill-up costs around $8 at the gas pump, and that will go a couple of weeks in a car that gets 33 mpg in town and close to 39 on the highway. And, unlike high-capacity charging stations, gas stations are pretty easy to find in this neck of the woods.
There isn’t much trunk room, but Mercedes puts large, well-padded seats inside the little car’s egg-shaped steel cage. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tested the ForTwo in two crash test categories: moderate overlap front and side impact testing. In both, it receives a Good rating, the best possible.
If you must take a driving test, this is the car for you. No other car on the market is easier to parallel park. U-turns and maneuvering parking lots are among its strengths.
Power comes from a 3-cylinder, 1.0-L engine that puts out 70 hp and 68 ft.-lb. of torque. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s enough in a car with a 73.5-inch wheelbase and that in at 1,808 lbs.
Standard features include heated seats, Bluetooth connectivity and power windows and door locks.
Standard safety features include four air bags, brake assist, traction control, fourwheel ABS and electronic stability control. Reviewers generally give the six-speed manual transmission high marks. An automatic transmission is available.
Though the car is tiny, Mercedes put the interior space where it counted most, up front. A high roofline gives the seating area a spacious feel.
Customers find a variety of uses for the little car. Some buy it to run around town and leave their gas-guzzling SUVs in the garage.
“The money they save on gas makes the payment on the Smart Car,” Smith said. “I’ve sold half a dozen to people who want to pull it behind their motor homes.”
Pete Mankins Nissan has long had a reputation as a dealership that treats its customers fairly and works with them to solve problems. That has not changed in the six years since Smith bought the business.
“There’s no secret to this business. The easy part is selling a car,” he said. “What we do is make sure that we keep our customers happy, that they are taken care of when they need service. We count on them bringing in aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters. That’s our bread-and-butter. We get a lot of repeat business.”
Smith makes sure that happens.
“I’m here six days a week,” he said. “I’m hands-on.”
“The money they save on gas makes the payment on the Smart Car. “I’ve sold half a dozen to people who want to pull it behind their motor homes.” —Brant Smith, owner Pete Mankins Nissan