Still thinking of giving up the company car. And thinking about a Smart car.
Looking around they seem to be quite a few with high miles on (around 60,000)
Can anyone here tell me if these cars do the mileage well ? I would have thought not, but maybe im wrong.

I only do 14 miles to work and back, and 90% of that is under 20mph so semi auto is also appealing


Do you own a Smart? have you a view on one?

Let me know, good and bad.

 

Calling Salsa

 

SMART. the company, has recorded record losses this year due to product recall and fault repairs.

Check out CNN financial.

Personally i wouldnt go for a car that looks like it was made out of lego. And possibly is.

 

I got the wife a Smart about 7 months ago and to be honest it`s really suprised me.
Most weekends we only use the Smart, it`ll do the weekly shopping trip to Tesco/Sainsburys etc easily and is easy and fun to drive around town, we only use the Golf for longer trips (30 miles+) .

Economy is good, we give it about 10 litres a week and insurance is peanuts, 100 quid fully comp!

Quality wise it`s as good as the Golf (Mk 4) that I have and nothing at all has gone wrong with it. The only problem I have is with the Mercedes dealerships who treat Smart (and their owners) as a pain in the ****!, their attitude is awful and if there is a dedicated Smart dealership nearby you`d do better to use them instead.

All in all it`s a good city car and I`d buy another with no hesitation, in fact we may swap it for a Roadster Coupe later in the year.

 

In fact Smart has never made a profit, but that doesn`t equate to it being a poor product, it just costs too much to produce and market.

What was wrong with the one you tried?

 

Simon, Thanks. Its interesting to hear you have a golf in the family too.
So do I !

We must have the same buying pattens

 

I was also surprised when I drove one, really impressed with it, nice little grunty engine, well made and I didnt feel quite the **** end I was expecting to feel, people take the p1ss having never driven one, if you are town bound most of the time they make a lot of sense, the gearing and power delivery is perfect for that, didnt try it on the motorway but it must be better than the Pug 106 I just drove 150 miles in !

 

Bought one for work just under a year ago, 17,500 miles later and the only things that have gone wrong is that the rear window washer came off the nozzel and the spare key lost it's code. Both got fixed so not a real problem.

Some parts are really poor, espically the horn (I soon changed this for a set of air horns ) and standard sound system (10cm speakers *2 ), easy to remove dash and install base boxes.

The tyres are not brilliant either, the fronts are only 145, so you tend to get blown about a bit. Swap these for a set of 195's all round and it becomes a much better car at speed on the motorways. Also means one of the old wheels can be used as a spare.

Had a couple of headlight bulbs go too, replacing means squashing your hand through a tiny vent on the front, undoing the wing and pulling it out slightly or taking off the front pannels.

Overall it is surprisingly good, plenty of room inside and you don't get caught to drive all your mates down the pub in it!

 

Apparently, people are now fitting Fireblade engines ??

Anyone got a link

Or just general smart car links to forums and tuning ?

 

That sounds scary

 

Wish, do you also post on the uk-mkivs forum?

Anyway, just remembered EVO magazine did a review of a 170bhp Smart a while ago, I think it had a GSXR 1100 engine in it.

Yep, agree about the standard 145 front tyres, ours has got 175s and it`s plenty fun around town, a remap will give 80+ bhp and an easy 100 mph top whack which I think is plenty fast enough.

 

Yes, But dont post a lot on there now.

 

We bought 3 for our Company (imported from Germany when they were 1st released)...One lasted 35000 miles, the other 55000, the 3rd was sold shortly after...

 

When you say lasted - do you mean they broke?

 

I work on them (well try to avoid them and work on the mercs), I could let you know all the faults (especially the water leaks on the roadsters), but to be fair, if you confine it mainly to town use, they are great at that and an absolute hoot to drive (especially the Brabus). Avoid the judgements and enjoy yourself.

 

Craig, are early models ok. I dont want to spend too much on one if i can help it.

 

I am trying to convince the wife that a SMART would be good for her (and a wee play thing for me) but she doesnt seem too keen.
http://www.funkysmart.co.uk/forums/index.php

 

I'm suprised that no one has mentioned the just plain awful gearchange...... come on 2 seconds between changes are they having a laugh!

Great little car but that gearchange just drove me nuts!

In the end bought a Sportka for the wife!

Plums.....

 

LOL@ Fireblade engine!!!
Personally I wouldnt drive one. Always preferred big cars.
astraboy.

 

We've got one - we bought it about a year ago and its now done about 10 000 miles without a problem. I like it as a town car, wouldn't swap it for the scoob though

As a town car I think they make good sense - we get 50 mpg out of ours, they're a doddle to park and suprisingly nippy in traffic. I certainly wouldn't want one as my only car, as on long journeys they are noisy and do get blown about a bit if its windy.

I agree about the gearchange (we got the passion which is auto and semi) - it can be a right pain, but you get used to it after a while and just pop it from manual to auto when required.

I think they are expensive for what they are - you can get a Ka for the same money, which would probably be as cheap to run. If you shop around you can probably pick up a good discount on a new one (beware it could be a year old though and have been sat around) - I noticed that motorpoint had new passions for about £6.2k. Smart ran me the other day and we offering new passions at £8k and roadsters at £9k.

 

I drive about 8 miles a day to and from work and I have a fantastic car for that.... a Ford Ka.

Cheap to buy (sub-£2k), cheap to insure (insurance group 3), good on fuel (40-45mpg), cheap main dealer servicing (£120 for year service, £180 for the 3 year service) and cheaper road tax as it's a 1.3.

Our one is has air con, 14" alloys (better grip than standard) and uprated brake pads (one of the failings on a standard car)

For less money and running cost, you get a reasonable size boot (enough for a weeks shopping for two people) and 4 seats.

Don't discount a 'conventional' car like the Ford Ka.

 

I'm on my 3rd Smart:
Mk6 City Pulse -> Roadster -> Brabus Roadster.

I did 10k in the Pulse (which was remapped) and loved it so much I sold the scoob The Pulse was great fun to drive round town and on county roads. However, as already pointed out, it was not so much fun on windy motorways. Everyone who either drove it or was a passenger in it, 'saw the light' of the Smart concept...something casual observers or 20 minute test drive people don't have.

 

I have a roadster which has suffered from the water leak problems but now these appear to have been cured !
The gearchange problem can be cured by buying a car with the paddle shifts ! The time for a gearchange is then diminished ! Also new gearboxes are available aftermarket which make this not an issue ! not that it is really unless you are pushing the car hard !
I have had a remap on mine & also fitted a decat exhaust system ! nice power & will keep up with most things in the twisties but doesnt have the grunt of the scoob (but we are working on this too
BEST fun car I have ever driven ! I also drive a 2.5l MY01 & this smart is as much fun but at more sensible speeds !
NO ONE who has been out in it has been disappointed ! GREAT CAR !
Still has all the toys (elec windows, elec roof, Air con & Heated leather seats !)

 

Must admit, I love the little roadsters with the glass boot.

 

Simon S3,

Mercedes dealers that I have experienced always treat you like dirt for some reason whatever Mercedes you own new or second hand. The mainstream models reputation for build quality has also gone down the pan. Wouldn't touch one with a barge pole any more. I can expect the occasional problem with a car but not to be treated like a leper.

 

CLSII,

I know, my Father traded his A6 for a new E-Class last year and after Mercedes` indifference to the problems he had with it he`s just got himself a new A6 3.0 TDI.

The problems with the car could (and should) have been sorted but it was the attitude of the service dept that caused him to return to Audi.

He wont buy Merc again.

 

Just for the people that have swapped the tyres for wider sizes, didn't smart choose the thin size to stop the cars habit of tipping over? I seem to remember they dialled in a good amount of understeer as a safety measure? Kinda like all the stuff they had to do to the A-class.

I drove a trade in Smart at my works and it was pretty good fun, bit like a little go-kart. Not sure my heavy footed driving style suited the car though, although in fairness they were never meant to be a performance car. I also struggled to see the point in an expensive two seater city car when for the same price you can buy some korean 5 door jobbie that would carry more shopping or passengers?