Smart Car.

[TURBOTOM]

I tried searching the smart car to see what people thought about it, but there were no threads on it.

I was shocked to see that a Smart dealer opened up about 20mins from my house, and I have already seen a few driving around town.

It is a very small car, and does look kinda funny, but I like it alot. I have been thinking of getting one of these as a Daily Driver. My 1991 Mazda is a good car, but it isn't going to run forever.

It looks like the lowest model starts at about 12k, and figure with options should be around 14,000$. I like the fact they get good gas mileage, and also have nice interiors (for the price). I have heard of anywher between 35-55mpg, but I will wait to see what owners get in the real world.

This isn't something I plan to buy soon because there is going to be a dealer mark-up. I will wait till they get all of the bugs worked out, and they are willing to sell them at or below MSRP.

What do you guys think of them????

http://www.smartusa.com/index.aspx







This is the nicer interior, I this must be from the more expensive model.

[kricci11]

I am not a fan - and i worry about the people in one of those when it gets drilled by a large SUV - imagine a smart car and an H2 in an accident - i don't think that would end very well...

i think they are dangerous here in America with all of the distracted drivers and plethura of oversized vehicles - i guess time will tell.

[O HELLA OEM]

there nice..but the smart car would not be nice in an accident..that shiet will fly!!!..

[TURBOTOM]

Originally Posted by kricci11

I am not a fan - and i worry about the people in one of those when it gets drilled by a large SUV - imagine a smart car and an H2 in an accident - i don't think that would end very well...

i think they are dangerous here in America with all of the distracted drivers and plethura of oversized vehicles - i guess time will tell.

Well I did watch a few crash tests, and they seem to hold up well.

Real world crash results are another reason I would wait before buying one of these. They claim they are safe because the driver is protected by a "safety cell".

Only time will tell how safe these are on the US streets, and I will not be the person to find out how well they hold up against an SUV.

[kricci11]

Originally Posted by TURBOTOM

Only time will tell how safe these are on the US streets, and I will not be the person to find out how well they hold up against an SUV.

Exactly!

Can you imagine one of those in the winter too - it'd be interesting. It'd be about the same as a golfcart with snow tires!

Interesting car, but i doubt it's success in America.

[TURBOTOM]

Originally Posted by kricci11

Exactly!

Can you imagine one of those in the winter too - it'd be interesting. It'd be about the same as a golfcart with snow tires!

Interesting car, but i doubt it's success in America.

Well my beater car has no ABS, no TCS, and 14'' wheels, so I cant imagine this being much worse in the snow LOL.

[kricci11]

Originally Posted by TURBOTOM

Well my beater car has no ABS, no TCS, and 14'' wheels, so I cant imagine this being much worse in the snow LOL.

ha ha - maybe - do you know the weight on the smart car?

I can't imagine they are very heavy - at the autoshow my friend and i were gonna try and pick up the front but it was too busy and we never got the chance.

[Garnet Canuck]

We've had Smart Cars here in Canada for a number of years now. I personally would never buy one, but I can kinda understand their benefits. They would probably come in handy if you lived in large cities and didn't do much highway driving. I am not sure what pricing is in the US, but they are pricey up here. You can pay over $25k up here for a Smart Fortwo cabrio.

I saw lots of them in Europe and they have many different models over there. They even have a roadster, which isn't a bad looking little car.

[Garnet Canuck]

Originally Posted by kricci11

ha ha - maybe - do you know the weight on the smart car?

I can't imagine they are very heavy - at the autoshow my friend and i were gonna try and pick up the front but it was too busy and we never got the chance.

They weigh about 1800 pounds.

[TURBOTOM]

Originally Posted by Garnet Canuck

We've had Smart Cars here in Canada for a number of years now. I personally would never buy one, but I can kinda understand their benefits. They would probably come in handy if you lived in large cities and didn't do much highway driving. I am not sure what pricing is in the US, but they are pricey up here. You can pay over $25k up here for a Smart Fortwo cabrio.

I saw lots of them in Europe and they have many different models over there. They even have a roadster, which isn't a bad looking little car.

As far as price here they are pretty cheap, but I'm told there are dealer mark-ups because its supposed to be a "hot car" here.

Looks like the lower models will sell for about 14-15k$ loaded, and the higher models will sell for a little under 20k loaded.

Those are the prices without the dealer mark-up.

I like this car, and I think it would be a great car for me to drive to school/work, but I'm going to wait for real world reviews on it. Also I need to save up some more, mabe even wait till they are on the used market.

[TURBOTOM]

The Smart fortwo Pure starts at 11,590$
Then the add-ons are
Factory installed options:
Air conditioning with automatic temperature control (incl. dust, pollen filter) $600
Metallic paint (metallic red, metallic blue, metallic silver) $225
Silver metallic tridion safety cell $175
Alarm system $160
Panorama roof (sun screen included) $350
Power steering $450
Heated seats $220
smart radio (AM/FM, single CD; incl. 2 speakers, aux input jack for mp3 device [radio 9]) $350
smart premium radio (AM/FM, mp3-compatible 6 disc CD changer; incl. 2 speakers, aux input jack for mp3 device [radio 10]) $495

[MikeYo]

i think that small thing is a death trap

[BlueDevilBAMF]

A friend of mine's father has a very strange infatuation with these cars - When he visited Europe he filled up the majority his camera's 2GB memory card with pictures of SmartCars... as soon as the US release hit the news, he put down a deposit! Haven't asked if he has one yet or not - I can't recall the arrival date.

[Wannabe6MT]

I went and road in one of these at our new Smart Center (just built as well). Really nice little car, and when a fully loaded cabrio with heated leather seats, premium stereo and all sorts of other goodies maxes out at 18.5, and gets 40mpg around town, and 45mpg on the highway, i honestly dont see how you can justify a hybrid when this is jsut SO much more viable.

Like iv stated before, hybrids are hype. This is why europeans dont buy them. People buy them for status. REAL money concious consumers (who just do city driving) would buy somthing like this. MUCH more practical, parks anywhere, is just as fast as a hybrid, and actually has quite a bit of room.

In the long run, it would save you a lot of money.

I was really imrpessed by it.

[P_Diddy]

They are good for city use, but not too comfortable for long distances and highway cruising.

They are pretty small, kinda like a taller Scion xA