Smart Car

[Got Duc]

There are two in my town.

I can fit that sucker in the back of my truck! 

Wouldn't give up my truck for anything.

[whidbeymonster]

we have far to many of them north of seattle. they are slow as death getting up on the highway  . when you live here and have far too much money you buy a house in the san juans and drive your smart car there. then buy a fleet of lame scooters for your entire family.

[IZ]

we have far to many of them north of seattle. they are slow as death getting up on the highway  . when you live here and have far too much money you buy a house in the san juans and drive your smart car there. then buy a fleet of lame scooters for your entire family.

uh huh!  Lived there..seen that!!   

[Bick]

Howzabout instead we all get to ride or drive what we like and can (mostly) afford, and let the market sort out the details?

What kind of talk is that?!!!

You think you have some sort of God given right to make your own decisions?!!!

[erkishhorde]

I'm still not sold on the safety of that little bugger. It's built really sturdy but I haven't seen much in the way of energy absorption for the passengers. Curtain airbags alone aren't that effective. It's the crush zones that make cars safer, isn't it?

[fwtcc]

I got an '03 regular MINI for 11k when getting rid of my Jeep GC.  It would get even better gas mileage if it wasn't fun to drive, but I still spend less than half of what I was spending in the GC.  I kind of wish I would have gotten the S, but then I would probably have lost my license by now, so its for the best.

The newer ones gas mileage has only gotten exponentially better.  Its a shame they don't put the 6 gear transmission in the regular.

I find the MINI to be small enough and it cost roughly the same and has value outside of what you would expect for a golf cart.

[cmorgan47]

they're showing up in increasing number here.  in detroit.  so, yeah, they're here to stay.

i like them, but find that they're over priced and don't get that great of millage for what they are.  my wife's hybrid, for example, gets better millage for about the same price.  and really, the hybrid should get better.

[the_Journeyman]

There's a couple here.  My most recent memory of seeing one was as I was slowly headed up a twisty mountain road with a school bus (maybe 30mph) and one came scooting around a curve downhill running wide and nearly embedded itself into the grill of the bus.  I'm sure there's no safety feature that can make up for a stupid driver ~

JM

[Fresh Pants]

*** the way of energy absorption of the passengers.

This is what I was thinking actually.

[Duc Stamp]

Where are they charging 18-20K for them? Last I saw they were about 11-13k...

In DC, the dealers are marking them up as well as private buyers and resellers.

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/car/782707944.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/car/781947631.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/car/778939939.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/car/777379895.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/car/774090722.html
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/car/770723781.html

And then there is the guy charging $32,000 for a prius with 35K miles on it.  http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/car/782579633.html

The smarts are definitely status symbols in DC right now.  The only people that drive them are ones with money and they drive them so they can feel good about their Hummers and Bimmers and Benzes.  (not that there is anything wrong with those cars).

[Goldeneye]

wtf kin of status r you talking about?

Yep, the look at me, I'm concerned about the enviroment, status.   

Wonder how all those extra lead/acid batteries are going to look in the landfill? 

Most of the people I know (more like recognize than know) have a Prius or Smart as a 3rd or 4th car.  Save the enviroment, yeah right...

[He Man]

Prius saves gas, low emissions, GREAT!, but if eveyrone drove a hybrid, wed have toxic nickle in our wastelands instead.

The process of mining nickle and refining it probably does twice as much damage as a V8 Diesel. the nickle gets shipped back and fowrth for processing, and the end result? Ni-Cads are notorious for memory cycles. I wonder how many charges those batteries can take before they get replaced. The future of energy? I still dont know, but Tesla cars look SICK!! i just wish i knew how the make the beast with two backs they work. lol

[rgramjet]

How about a Safer smart car?  Check this out!

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/09/16/battery-or-fuel-cell-powered-inflatable-car-just-might-be-safes/

Id like to see what a "Smart Car" looks like after driving off a 25 foot cliff!   

[ducatiz]

They are "Smart" if they have the original 600cc gasser or 800 cc diesel engine and get >60 mpg

the USA version with the 1L engine is not smart at all.

For about 3000 less, get a Toyota Yaris hatchback and you get a backseat and more carrying space and almost the same mileage.  (37 vs 40 hwy)

The US version of the Smart car just screams "I AM A make the beast with two backsING MORON AND CARE MORE ABOUT MY IMAGE THAN MAKING SMART DECISIONS"

If you want a cheap, good mpg car, get the Yaris.  If you want to look like an idiot, get the Smart car.  Then drive your SO and your sister/brother to work -- oh, that's right, you can't get more than one other person in the car.

[707soldier]

Datech name of company here in Fairfield, Ca.
is selling a basic Smart car for $21,000, fully loaded conv. $27,000   
WTF! is wrong with this picture  .