Treehugger - Latest Comments in Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Steve Steven — Sat, 14 May 2016 06:39:55 -0000

It's not designed for the average family, the clue is in the name Smart ForTwo. It's a second city car for commuting.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Keys2Broadway — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 12:10:36 -0000

I am considering purchasing a Smart Car. I am concerned about physical safety. Do you ever worry about it's ability to withstand impact and how it will affect your physical safety?

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Excel — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 07:54:58 -0000

ill stick with my V8 pick up truck.....Thanks

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

buick322 — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 10:33:23 -0000

If these mini-cars [Smart car, Chevrolet Spark, etc.] would produce over-the-moon fuel economy numbers, I would say fine. But they don't, so have zero appeal to most logically thinking people. 34-38 mpg? C'mon. Plus not safe, can't take a trip, very uncomfortable and ride alone! My daughter-in-law has a new Hyundai Elantra; lots of room, comfort and power. Plus she gets 40+ mpg all the time. I see absolutely no positive reason whatsoever to but these itty-bitty cars at this time. And yes, I remember the Chevrolet Sprint back when I worked for Chevrolet in the 70's and 80's. And yes, they did get 50 mpg!! Go figure, huh?

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Tom Alexander — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:11:44 -0000

What a dumb idea. I thought this thing got 75 MPG. Other than trying to get attention, it doesn't make sense. Overpriced, underperforming, economy not nearly good enough, and dangerous:to wit, a crash test against a brick wall is not the same as testing against another vehicle such as a big SUV.
When crashing into a wall a car needs to absorb it's own kinetic energy; crashes involving another vehicle require a car to also absorb the energy of other vehicle which will be many times greater(since the other car will certainly have greater mass);the exact force dependant on other vehicle mass, speed, etc. If you're buying this car for reasons other than to gain attention, you made an uninformed choice at best and a dangerous one at worst.
News flash! car makers are not interested in making low profit models, that is why this thing is priced so ridiculously for what it is. They have the ability to make a good, affordable, high mileage car, but they won't. Research what happened to Michael Arrington when he tried to market a $100 PC tablet.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

focus — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 12:13:18 -0000

The smart car is a death trap if u get in a wreck more than likely it will be with a truck or suv....u can used the same amount of money to buy a car that's bigger and gets 30-40mpg

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

focus — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 11:48:02 -0000

You can buy a car that gets better mpg and is bigger then the smart for around the same price.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Fcanenea — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 02:01:22 -0000

driving a smart, its like driving a motorcycle. u can die easily

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Chackon — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:35:57 -0000

very cute . Ilike it .
Babu N. chacko

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

A Taylortrail — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:23:58 -0000

I especially like your last line...

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Smart_n_funy — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:31:13 -0000

Hey al, if you believe all of the hype about the smart car, then I have some ocean front property in Kansas that I would love to sell you.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

al — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:37:46 -0000

err this is online bullshit here goto youtube and search smart car crash test and as an overall standard the smart car hits a 4.5 avrg this is by ways of testing done by the dmv dont bother me with your crap i can watch a girl swallow a fist online not saying that every girl can....

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Potato — Sat, 22 May 2010 16:58:54 -0000

the smart car is unsafe... look up "smart car crash tree" on google images and you'll be surprised...

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

al — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:02:04 -0000

people realy dont understand the smart car for its advantages
A: a tiny vehicle that you can park almost anywhere!
B: the ability to get 40 to 50 miles to the gallon of premium gas 20 cents more at max on the "huge" 8 gallon gas tank i live in northern vermont drive down to concord nh over 100 miles away on quarter of tank guess what thats 2 gallons of gas!
and further more the car get rate up to highway speeds and dos'nt bog down on hills like my 1992 geo metro convertible did and fyi i dropped a new motor in the car less then a year ago

finally walk into any dealer ship and the sales person will gladly tell you it takes atleast 5000 miles to break in the engine then it will hit its maximum gas per mileage ratings i bought mine about 2 months ago and am already very impressed with the overall standards of this car i guess what i am saying is if you want and like it get it and if you dont just get in and shut up about hybrids which i already owned 1 of give it 3 years when the batterys are toast the little motor cant supply enough electricity to charge them to optimum you my friend will be in for one hefty bill that only a specialist can take care of!

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

tim — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:26:05 -0000

This car is too expensive, I wanted one drove it and liked it but it is more like mabe a 7,500 at the most i think and that is with the convertible top. If they lowered the price more they would sell these alot more garanteed. this would make a good second car for me to drive around in. so if anyone of importance is reading lower the price! we will buy it! like overseas it is only 5,000 so something isn't right here!

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Joe — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:50:54 -0000

I have two daughters I need to drive around. I would love this car but how is it practical for an average family that is moving three or four people. It just doesn't work out for most people. Sorry, If I could afford it I would definitely have this as an extra car to go to work in but these days, that just is not the option.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Just a dad — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:43:48 -0000

The Smart is so DUMB!

When gas hit $4/gal, I sold my SUV, I went out, found a nicely used 1995 Saturn SL1 (reliable, low maintenance, super cheap). I spent $2400, for a 5spd, 4 door (I have to kids to haul around), with 70k miles on it.

Since then, I average 32 city, 38 hwy. The insurance is super low, the car is more reliable than my Accord (our other car) and it hauls our family of 4 around town in reasonable comfort.

CAR MAKERS - GET THIS PLEASE!!! We want a car that delivers good fuel economy, is reasonably room and has a few important features - heated seats (not necessarily leather - but heated) a good stereo, strong air-conditioning, and a few airbags. It doesn't need 300 horsepower or a seat massager or even an electric motor in addition to the IC motor. Just a small... comfortable, 4 person car. Lightweight, simple, and prices new around $12-15k.

At that price, we can afford to buy or rent a nice big car for long trips, or trucks for the occasional home renovation project, and all other times drive our little butts around in our comfortable, little cars.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:09:51 -0000

well the smart car thats here in america is more safe than the one in europe, do to safety laws. anyway i have driven a smart for six months and i had no problems with it. i even drove this car through the angeles forrest mountains and had no problems with hard an sharp turns, now if your nervous of small cars then this is not the car for you, as far as gas mileage i was punching it everywhere and i got 32 mpg, now driving regular lilttle faster than the flow of traffic, i got 45 to 50 mpg, i don't know which model you have, but i had the bottom maybe thats why, me and my friends all had different models and i got the best, and the top of the line got the worst. I do know that they can all handle turns very well, seem scary at first, once your used to it feel o.k., and it can handle a real impact because of the reinforced high impact steel frame, i would trust this car with my life, if anyone get a chance look up how safe the car is, because it is as safe as any well built car on he road no joke, please research before you bash.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Jayson — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:44:50 -0000

very cute car..i love it..!!

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

hak — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:03:30 -0000

So far i'm getting 40-45 mpg in the city, granted we JUST got the smart and used 2 gallons of gas. So we will see what happens in a few months when it is broken in. We are driving in the stop and start traffic, snow & hills of Pittsburgh.

I've ridden on Motorcycles that get worse MPG. With the new EPS safety features it can outperform many cars in the snow.. I actually felt safe while driving up very slippery hills.

As for the transmission, you can use the automatic or you can shift yourself, it is very easy to do.

Also it fits nicely in my very small garage with our scooters, our previous car we couldn't put in the garage. Over all, I think it is a great car for the city and perhaps shorter trips. The suspension is stiff, you certainly feel the road. You either like it or don't...the more I use it, the more I like it. Of course, we are small people and we don't need to carry stuff all over the place. I gotta say, it sounds like the writer of the article had a predisposition to NOT like the car. We have heated leather seats, (very nice) Stereo/CD you can hook your ipod up to it..

When we first purchased the car my husband and I were wondering "what did we just do".. but we are enjoying it more and more. It is a cheap car.. it starts out at around $12,000... but it works for us. We replaced a 1999 Jetta that gets 19 mpg (in town).. and has a really bad emissions score. The last time someone rode in the back of the Jetta was 2 years ago! We basically were useing it to haul 1 or 2 of us to & fro from work. That is it.

So you have to consider how you use a car, and what your priorities are. My priorities were MPG and emissions and affordability. If I need to haul something, or we have company, or if we decide to take a road trip with lots of luggage, we will probably rent a car.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:56:16 -0000

its just a vehicle

i think its a great idea

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

JonT — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:20:34 -0000

If you want a Smart car that corners excellently, has good acceleration and still has good MPG, then come over to Europe and pick up a Smart Roadster. Even better, petition Smart to start making them again.

http://www.roadstermodelgui...

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Brad — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:28:40 -0000

I just purchased a smart Fortwo and it has been the best purchase I have made in... probably all my life. I feel great about it because I know I am not driving more car than what I really need. Should the need arrise to carry more people or things (which is rare) I can rent a car. Not a big deal.

In the mean time - I am driving a fun little car that feels much bigger than it is once behind the wheel that I can keep up with traffic in, even doing 75+. and know my carbon footprint is much smaller than just about any car on the road. In a few years I might even look at thier electic option... I wanted to avoid a battery as in many cases these batteries are just as bad as CO2... For now, I feel this was a very smart choice. I love it and encourage anyone to take a test drive. It's perfect for someone that commutes and wants to use less and have less impact.

You have to look at the big picture - less car equals less waste, bottom line. This works well for me.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Robert Posey — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:09:14 -0000

OK, I read through most of these comments and here is mine for those interested. ...

I own a Smart ForTwo Passion. I have about 16,000 miles on it and can comfortably state, having driven it daily (184 miles per day round trip) that the car averages 41 MPG. I drive a major highway in Texas and travel about 70 MPH. The terrain is hills and some city driving.

When I first got the car I only got 39 MPG and the shifting was very stiff. Around 10,000 miles the shifting loosens up and the MPG increases. So, if you drive one that has low mileage, you may experience rough shifts. Remember, this isn't a car designed to perform like a sports car. It is a daily commuter car designed for city driving. If you want performance, switch to manual and use the paddle shifters. It has spunk! And it is fun to drive, easy to park and you can fill the tank for $15. That will get you 320 miles down the road.

Re: Smart Car: How Smart Is It?

Nick — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:34:10 -0000

The smart car sounds a little on the slow side. The gas mileage isn't as good as i thought it would be.