Why Smartcar?

[mtnbkr]

I've noticed a bunch of them running around here lately, so I decided to take a look at their info online.

Why does anyone buy these things?  Gas mileage is no better than a Corolla or Civic.  They're much smaller.  Less power, slower, etc.  Price isn't even that attractive (can get a base model Corolla/Civic for not much more, or go used).

What's the draw other than them being trendy?

Chris

[Manedwolf]

What's the draw other than them being trendy?

Chris

Simplify, and you already said it.

They also had an ad campaign to the lefties that was pretty close to the Simpsons' Monorail guy.

[K Frame]

Yuppie/GenXer posturing bullshit braindeadedness.

You can get a base Toyota Yaris that gets 29/35 for nearly $5,000 LESS than the "Smart" car.

A quote from Grandma's Boy comes to mind...

"But the Smart Car isn't that smart, so you're dumb, Bobby..."

[The Annoyed Man]

You can get a base Toyota Yaris that gets 29/35 for nearly $5,000 LESS than the "Smart" car.

You sure about that mileage?  I've got a 'yota Echo, the Yaris' predecessor, and it regularly gets 40 on the highway and in the 30's around town.  AFAIK, it's the same car, isn't it?

[K Frame]

That's the mileage quote from Toyota's website.

I've always found those quotes to be conservative.

[Jamisjockey]

I couldn't get the smartcar website to open from my wife's laptop for some reason (Oh, yeah, Sony VAIO is a POS, that's why...)......
What was the base price of a smartcar?
Paddy:
29/35 is listed on the Toyota website.  

That's the mileage quote from Toyota's website.

I've always found those quotes to be conservative.

Ford's MPG estimates are spot on for my F150.

[charby]

Yuppie/GenXer posturing bullshit braindeadedness.

You can get a base Toyota Yaris that gets 29/35 for nearly $5,000 LESS than the "Smart" car.

A quote from Grandma's Boy comes to mind...

"But the Smart Car isn't that smart, so you're dumb, Bobby..."

My wife's Pontiac Vibe does a litte better than that. The Vibe is a whole lot bigger than a Smart Car.

Bring back the Geo Metro, mine was an auto and got 40/45 consistantly.

[K Frame]

OK, I was looking at the wrong Smart Car.

The absolute base is about the same as the Yaris, just shy of $12,000.

A/C is a $600 extra cost (standard on Yaris base), the engine is SIGNIFICANTLY less powerful, it won't seat as many people, lots of other detriments, as well.

[Scout26]

WTF ?!?!?

My 7 year old Turbo-charged Saab 9-3 with a five speed gets 30/33mpg and I can get above 35mpg on the Highway if I keep it at 65mph.  It comfortably seats 4 (and a dog) with plenty of room to haul all the guns, ammo and clay birds for a full day of fun out at the range for the whole family.

(Mileage does decrease, somewhat, when hauling two good sized deer out the woods, back to camp, and then to the processors.)

[K Frame]

I'm on Pontiac's website and I'm having a really tough time finding EPA ratings. I hate it when the website makes it impossible to find that kind of information.

[K Frame]

The base Honda Civic 1.8l engine gets a reported 25/36 with a standard.

I've driven a 1.8 standard Civic (few years ago) and was EXTREMELY impressed with how peppy and responsive it was.

[Manedwolf]

This will score no women other than the sort that wear Che shirts, are unshaven and reek of patchouli.

Man. If cars had soundtracks, that one would have a single kazoo.

[Firethorn]

The only reason I can think of getting one would be if I was having to parallel park a lot at work.  Maybe if they put in some microcar parking spaces nice and close.

Oh, did anybody else catch that you need to feed this thing premium?  91 octane minimum.  I beleive that the civic, yaris and such can all take regular.

On the mileage, I wonder why the huge difference between 07 and 08 fuel specs?  It makes some sense under 07 specs, but not the 08 ones.  What changed?  All I get is that the EPA changed the rating system to be more accurate, for example, actually assuming that you'll use accessories like the radio and AC.

It's an awfull lot to sacrifice for something like 5-8 mpg over it's competitors.

[mtnbkr]

Ok.  I had the price for the Cabrio version stuck in my head. The base is $11,590, which will still buy a nice used Corolla (1-3yo certified, etc).  The Corolla will get the same or better gas mileage AND have room for 4 adults and luggage.  Plus, the car and company have an established track record.

From 1996-2003, I drove a 1993 Toyota Paseo 5spd.  I regularly got 30mpg in town and 40+ on the highway.  It was pretty peppy, though no race car.  My parents' 2007 Corolla gets low to mid 30s around town and low to mid 40s on the highway with AC and an automatic transmission.  It costs more than the Smartcar Cabrio (just barely), but is a more versatile car.

The Smartcar would make sense to me if it cost less than $10k (with AC) or got 40/50 mileage.

About the only benefit I can see is the size will make it easier to drive in crowded cities, but all the ones I've seen have been out in the 'burbs (at least one had DC plates though).

Chris

[Scout26]

It looks like something my 7 year old son would drive around the playground.

[mtnbkr]

The only reason I can think of getting one would be if I was having to parallel park a lot at work.  Maybe if they put in some microcar parking spaces nice and close.

I parallel parked my SUV with the hitch mounted bike rack on the back (with bike) in a space that left about a foot of clearance on each end.  Not only did I get it in, it required almost no back and forth to get it there.  I got it in as if I had 4-wheel steering.  Yeah, I'm proud of that parking job.

Chris

[The Annoyed Man]

Wasn't the Smartcar developed in Yurp where streets are narrow and parking space is a huge problem?  I seem to remember my son telling me that after a trip to Holland.

[K Frame]

When I was learning how to parallel park, I had a choice of two vehicles that my family owned at the time:

A 1977 Chevrolet Suburban, or a 1980 Dodge Stretch Van.

If you can learn to parallel park one of those, you can parallel park anything.


I was also going to suggest a Mini Cooper as an alternative, but they base nearly 7,000 more than the Smart.

The first microcar I ever saw was in France in 1980. We picked it up and moved it so that our tour coach could make a corner in Chartres. They pick up REAL easy.

[charby]

I'm on Pontiac's website and I'm having a really tough time finding EPA ratings. I hate it when the website makes it impossible to find that kind of information.

I gave you what our real world experiences are.

[roo_ster]

You can get a base Toyota Yaris that gets 29/35 for nearly $5,000 LESS than the "Smart" car.

You sure about that mileage?  I've got a 'yota Echo, the Yaris' predecessor, and it regularly gets 40 on the highway and in the 30's around town.  AFAIK, it's the same car, isn't it?

The gooberment recently changed the way it tests for fuel economy.  I suspect the new "35MPG Yaris" gets as good or better mileage than the old "40MPG Echo."

Anyways, those numbers are just relative indicators. 

FWIW, I wish they would have stayed with the old method, as it is now impossible to do MPG comparisons across a particular year using gov't data.

[K Frame]

I'm on Pontiac's website and I'm having a really tough time finding EPA ratings. I hate it when the website makes it impossible to find that kind of information.

I gave you what our real world experiences are.

Yeah, but that doesn't allow adequate comparison across car lines when I don't have someone else chiming in with their mileage on, say, the Blumpkin XT

[roo_ster]

The only reason I can think of getting one would be if I was having to parallel park a lot at work.  Maybe if they put in some microcar parking spaces nice and close.

Oh, did anybody else catch that you need to feed this thing premium?  91 octane minimum.  I beleive that the civic, yaris and such can all take regular.

On the mileage, I wonder why the huge difference between 07 and 08 fuel specs?  It makes some sense under 07 specs, but not the 08 ones.  What changed?  All I get is that the EPA changed the rating system to be more accurate, for example, actually assuming that you'll use accessories like the radio and AC.

It's an awfull lot to sacrifice for something like 5-8 mpg over it's competitors.

You can fill it up with regular (87) or mid (89) and it will run fine.  You'll lose a few HP and a little MPG.

Which makes me wonder if they specified premium (91) in order to bump up claimed MPG?  If you filled up a base civic 5sp and a base Smart 5sp with regualr gas (87), I wonder if the Smart has ANY advantage, MPG-wise?

[K Frame]

You sure about that?

When Subaru brought out their first gen 6-cyl. Outback it required high test. Trying to drive it with 87 octane led to significant performance impacts, not just the loss of a few whorse power...

[charby]

I'm on Pontiac's website and I'm having a really tough time finding EPA ratings. I hate it when the website makes it impossible to find that kind of information.

I gave you what our real world experiences are.

Yeah, but that doesn't allow adequate comparison across car lines when I don't have someone else chiming in with their mileage on, say, the Blumpkin XT

I use edmunds reviews on vehicles to check out what people have been getting. One of the reasons we settled with the Vibe and that my brother is a manager at new car lot that is part of a large chain. Joys of family discounts.

[K Frame]

Neighbors bought a Vibe a couple of years ago and they have been extremely happy with it.