enjoy
enjoy
Haha, thanks. After my weekend, I needed that.
the silliest part about it is that it only gets 41mpg... my Cavalier almost did that and it had a back seat and a trunk..
novaderrik wrote: the silliest part about it is that it only gets 41mpg... my Cavalier almost did that and it had a back seat and a trunk..
Only rated at 41, I got 45 out of mine all day long, and I ran it at 80 mph, if I stuck to the speed limit I easily topped 50.
And I love how on sites like this where the miata is king suddenly back seats and storage space (which the smart has more of) become an issue when it's not a miata.
novaderrik wrote: the silliest part about it is that it only gets 41mpg... my Cavalier almost did that and it had a back seat and a trunk..
What does the cavalier get in the city compared to the smart though?
In reply to JThw8:
that is because if you get an NA miata you pay less than half than a smart, and get oodles more performance. a smart has none. so you are paying more.. for less.
SCARR wrote: In reply to JThw8: that is because if you get an NA miata you pay less than half than a smart, and get oodles more performance. a smart has none. so you are paying more.. for less.
I'm not trying to compare car for car here, they are 2 different cars serving 2 different purposes, but I fail to see how people who justify a miata as their only car can make the "no back seat and no cargo space" an issue for the smart.
Power, handling yep, those arguments hold water. Number of seats and hauling capacity, nope.
And the more for less argument only works if it has the more you are looking for. Don't get me wrong, I love NA miatas and I dont think Smarts are the be all end all of cars by any means. But you cant compare an NA to a Smart, at least put it on equal footing, Smart came out in the US in 2008 so choose a 2008 miata and compare pricing. If you are doing a boring highway commute or city stop and go traffic is performance and handling the type of more you need? Or for that type of car would better safety, heated seats and other options and amenities be more important?
Like I said, they aren't an apples to apples comparison, and I never tried to make them such. But the "OMG it only has 2 seats" argument against a smart is just silly.
If decent Smarts ever get down to $3-$k, I think I'd like to play around with one.
petegossett wrote: If decent Smarts ever get down to $3-$k, I think I'd like to play around with one.
The one in that ad is overpriced. An 08-09 will go for about 6k right now so they are coming down, 3k isnt too far off.
They are fun to play with. Once my daughter had used up hers I'm going to consider taking it back and doing the 'busa swap on it for giggles.
In reply to JThw8:
see.... I compare everything to an NA miata, even before I owned an NA miata. I never even thought people might be comparing to other gens. (seriously)
I think it comes down to what you are willing to give up and why. I will gladly give up a back seat for performance, but to give it up to be... short (front to rear) seems odd... and I can't justify the price of a smart for it's fuel economy when you compare it to other cars that get the same.. with a lot more car. for instance, a sonic. (yes, yes, I know 2008, 2012.. ut I am talking about buying one NOW.) almost the same economy, costs about the same... gets way more car with sonic.
I also don't do year to year comparisons. I do what costs what, right now, and what do I get for that price.
so, you see, we compare cars differently. so our values of those cars is different.
I just happen to HAVE a case of PBR! 
> Price is negotiable only if you throw in a case of PBR to sweeten the deal.
One of the best CL ad lines evar
Only thing I would do with a Smart is hack the floor out of it and throw in a Busa----
Strizzo wrote:novaderrik wrote: the silliest part about it is that it only gets 41mpg... my Cavalier almost did that and it had a back seat and a trunk..What does the cavalier get in the city compared to the smart though?
You don't buy a Cavalier for the gas mileage.
In reply to Wally:
Then why purchase a Cavalier? For a miserable truck engine powered car that breaks constantly, nickle and dimeing the owner to tears?
I think SMART is quite the misnomer in a nation with so much space to park in (a few cities excluded). Its not that remarkable in terms of efficiency, cant hold much of anything, has to go to a MB dealer for service(to my understanding), isnt going to be very safe in a collision with a normal sized vehicle, etc.
I used to hate Smart cars on principle (lumped them in with Priuses) but I have spoken with enough owners to sway me. The German build quality stands up and I am seeing them with a lot of them with well over 100K. My Momma had a 1st gen Prius, and while it help up, it still never had the same feel as the Smart.
Still, that was a funny ad, but no way I would sleep with a vegan who wore skinny jeans. Let Unknown Hinson (aka Early Cuyler tell you why)
i have been looking for a smart car half-a**ed and have not seen me all that cheap yet.
Ill probably be talking to you JTHw8 soon about em.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to Wally: Then why purchase a Cavalier? For a miserable truck engine powered car that breaks constantly, nickle and dimeing the owner to tears?
Mostly to keep women from hitting on me. And because you never have to fix anything that goes wrong with it. I add oil and washer fluid every so often and as long as I don't run over any of the parts when they fall off it keeps going.
CarKid1989 wrote: i have been looking for a smart car half-a**ed and have not seen me all that cheap yet. Ill probably be talking to you JTHw8 soon about em.
Happy to answer questions about them. If I hadn't given it to my daughter I'd have sold it for around $6500 last year, it had 105k on it at the time. Still runs great, no issues.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: I think SMART is quite the misnomer in a nation with so much space to park in (a few cities excluded). Its not that remarkable in terms of efficiency, cant hold much of anything, has to go to a MB dealer for service(to my understanding), isnt going to be very safe in a collision with a normal sized vehicle, etc.
Well if you buy a car for parking abilities only then yeah, that's pretty silly.
I didn't even drive in the city with mine, purely a highway commuter.
45mpg is still pretty decent for efficiency, granted it could be better, but its not terrible.
Can't hold much of anything? Really? Let's see.. . On 2 occasions I hauled:
4 15inch wheels with tires mounted, no problem
A 42 inch flatscreen TV
A small block chevy engine (the engine builder cussed me out thinking I was wasting his time coming to pick it up in the smart)
600lbs of floor tile
etc, etc...
Really there's a crapload of room inside them for hauling stuff.
I wont even get into the safety argument, you can look up the ratings yourself, its not "OMG ITS A DEATHTRAP" or I wouldnt have put my 16 year old daughter in one.
You're driving a Yugo FFS and you want to talk about safety? :)
How many airbags does the yugo have?
Antilock brakes?
Stability control?
Heck, take all of that away the the Smart is still built stronger and more survivable than a Yugo. But really that's a terrible comparison, its not like the Yugo is setting a standard for safety :)
MB is the dealer network, if you want dealer service that's where you go. If you want non-dealer service, its a car, any shop can work on it. I know my daughter isn't dragging hers to MB for oil changes.
Ok fanboi mode off, and really I'm not a fanboi, there are plenty of shortcomings to the car. But the blind hatred is something I've never understood. Many of us have longed to get some microcars back in the states for whatever our personal reasons are. Smart took the chance and while ultimately they aren't very successful they have paved the way for things like the Fiat 500. All the time I hear people lamenting the fact that we dont get any of the "cool" european cars but when a company takes a chance and brings them to us they stop being cool and we just bash them to death.
Thats going on the podcast... 
In reply to JThw8:
A SBC, that's impressive. I've hauled a lot of random things that shouldn't have fit in small cars too, I enjoy playing IRL Tetris.
Yes, the smart is very, very strong, I remember when they came out and was rather impressed by how the passenger compartment held up. However, size/mass is a big factor when you are actually crashing cars into each other, and engineering can on do so much to help that. I imagine the stability control in one of those is superb, or else they wouldnt sell something with such a short wheelbase in MI.
Dont get me wrong, its a fine vehicle for what it is, I just dont see the point when you can go buy a Fiesta, Sonic, Spark, Yaris, etc. for mot much more, have way more room, and run on regular gas.
The Yugo is a limited use nice weather toy that I dont even really consider a car, I accept any collision above 20mph will probably kill me instantly. I do however find it impressive how much steel they used in the doors on that car, it has more impact beam than the 96 Sunfire coupe I drove for a long time, a well known deathtrap in a side impact.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: A SBC, that's impressive. I've hauled a lot of random things that shouldn't have fit in small cars too, I enjoy playing IRL Tetris.
It was just a shortblock so it wasn't even really a challenge. Plenty of room to spare, could have made a full long block fit easy.
Kenny_McCormic wrote: I do however find it impressive how much steel they used in the doors on that car, it has more impact beam than the 96 Sunfire coupe I drove for a long time, a well known deathtrap in a side impact.
If only they'd bothered to put some of it in the bumpers. I swear the plastic covers weigh more than the bumper itself.
EastCoastMojo wrote: I just happen to HAVE a case of PBR!
No one drinks that swill on purpose unless they also have a one speed bike with no brakes and a pile of Apple E36 M3 in a "satchel" or the other option was to strain mouthwash thru bread. It must have been a gift... right?
I just wish they fitted the SMART with a proper gearbox. If they had of I would consider it.
93EXCivic wrote: I just wish they fitted the SMART with a proper gearbox. If they had of I would consider it.
Well in theory it does have a proper gearbox. Its a manual 5 speed in there. They just lacked space for a clutch pedal so they automated the whole thing. It's not terrible once you adjust to it, but a user operated 5 speed would have been better for sure.
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