Anyone here own a smart car? Ok I know this is a 4x place but no wheel chock jokes I'm quite serious. I know there are a couple of others here that own VW diesels and Prius's.
I've got an old Civic Dx that is my work beater and it's been on it's last legs for a while. I saw a Smart in the parking lot at work the other day and checked it out a little. I really like the inside layout. Nice tall seat and big door. In the winter time I have fits getting in and out of the Civic with my arthritis and bad knees. Most other cars that get good mileage aren't much better in that dept. When I say good gas mileage I mean around 40. The 25-35 that passes for good mileage these days doesn't impress me.
I've got a short back road commute with not much traffic. Normal speed is 40-50 mph tops. In 5 years I've only had one other person in the Civic a handful of times and it usually only carries my day pack. The Smart would suit my needs most of the time. I've got the Trooper and the wife's CRV for trips, bad weather and the interstate. If I stick to the basic car the monthly payment on a Smart is less than gas money for many folks.
I've owned smaller cars than this in the past. I've always enjoyed "toy cars". I did a bunch of web reading and read every owner review I could find. The folks that actually own them seem to have mostly good to say about them. Couldn't find much bad about problems or maintenance issues either. The real world mileage seems to be better than advertised as well. Many seem to get over 40 in town and 50+ on the hwy. Now if we could get the 2 cyl TD (CDI) they get in Europe. That gets 80-90 MPG in the real world! Though that's probably in imperial gallons.
So does anybody have one or have any real world experience with them?
I've got an old Civic Dx that is my work beater and it's been on it's last legs for a while. I saw a Smart in the parking lot at work the other day and checked it out a little. I really like the inside layout. Nice tall seat and big door. In the winter time I have fits getting in and out of the Civic with my arthritis and bad knees. Most other cars that get good mileage aren't much better in that dept. When I say good gas mileage I mean around 40. The 25-35 that passes for good mileage these days doesn't impress me.
I've got a short back road commute with not much traffic. Normal speed is 40-50 mph tops. In 5 years I've only had one other person in the Civic a handful of times and it usually only carries my day pack. The Smart would suit my needs most of the time. I've got the Trooper and the wife's CRV for trips, bad weather and the interstate. If I stick to the basic car the monthly payment on a Smart is less than gas money for many folks.
I've owned smaller cars than this in the past. I've always enjoyed "toy cars". I did a bunch of web reading and read every owner review I could find. The folks that actually own them seem to have mostly good to say about them. Couldn't find much bad about problems or maintenance issues either. The real world mileage seems to be better than advertised as well. Many seem to get over 40 in town and 50+ on the hwy. Now if we could get the 2 cyl TD (CDI) they get in Europe. That gets 80-90 MPG in the real world! Though that's probably in imperial gallons.
So does anybody have one or have any real world experience with them?