Smart car arrives in January 08, will it sell?

[Stoga]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/08/smart.car/index.html

[DanL]

While the SmartCar wouldn't make sense for me (though I wish it did), I'd sure like to see it do well. I'm actually sort of fascinated by the little things.

I've noticed more of them on the road here in Rome than any of the other places I've been, even London. It's funny to see them pulled head-on into the curb, and not take up much more street space than a larger car that's parallel-parked.

Looks like it makes sense for a city-dweller that never has to haul anything more than a second person.

For a while, there was a fella selling them at a dealership near me. He's since pulled up stakes and moved closer to the city but he always had half a dozen on his lot. It's hard to believe he sold any at all, because he had a 50% markup on the price (18K rather than 12K). I stopped and talked to him one day about them; he said he had to do a lot to them to make them legal to sell in the U.S., though I have no idea what that involved.

[1973Swinger]

I think they will be good for people that live close to the city and dont have to do alot of highway driving, but I wouldnt want to be driving one of those. I live out in the sticks and drive through deer alley every day. I know what happens when you hit a deer with a regular sized car, the damn things would be in your lap if you hit one with that. Nevermind that I would be nervous to drive one anywhere near a tractor trailer. I dont know if enough of them will sell to make much of an impact though, people in this country are too concerned with the latest SUV on the market and how flashy they can make them. The Smart will have less of a market than the Prius IMO.

[Stoga]

The deer thing scares me too, you may have noticed I reactivated the old deer thread after hitting one with my 2000 GC.
The Smart really appeals to me on a cheap basic level , good mpg and no doubt go-kart like handling, but the thought of hitting Bambi's father kind of makes me hesitant to get one. Hesitant, but not dead set against it either. I had planned to put my 96 Breeze back on the road once the kids are out of school, but if I make a parking lot racer out of it, I'd like to have a gas sipper to beat around in and make short trips to town with.

[Clair]

I wish the Smart made more sense for me, too - Except for having to haul things home from the salvage yard from time to time, I'm a perfect candidate. I commute about 10 miles round trip to work, and we have a larger Family Truckster for road trips. Plus, I just love those little things, too. My dad was stationed in Germany when I was a kid, and again when I was in college, so I've been fascinated with the little cars available in Europe for a long time. If they just had SOME space in them, I probably would have gotten one. That said, Consumer Reports called the last version they tested one of the worst cars they've EVER tested, but were hoping the new version was improved. I kind of have a hard time believing it's that bad, there are TONS Of them all over Europe. They're rigid little suckers, too. Check out this Youtube video...

Clair

[bjoehandley]

Well that was Consumer Reports Clair, can't usually believe what they print........ It would be nice if the Smart was a good choice for me, but I'll still wait to see what Chrysler does for a small fwd hybrid. I'm kinda started hoping for a plug in PT Cruiser Hybrid.

[Stoga]

Yeah, Consumer Reports hated my 96 Breeze, but ADORED and WORSHIPED and LOVED my friend's 96 Geo.
Guess which one is in the scrapyard after multiple failures including 3 engines and a finally a suspension failure that cost more than the car was worth to fix, and which one is parked outside my house still ready to go?
Consumer Reports should stick to washers and hairspray and juicers and leave the vehicles to gearheads. They only test for a limited time anyway, so they have no real idea of what true reliability and dependability really are.

[Walkercolt]

When a "Smart" is hit by a Ram 3500 towing a cow trailer, they'll wipe the passengers out of the Smart with a rag. I've had tiny sports cars...Fiat X1/9's, Alfa Romeo Sypders, Fiat Sypders. You got hit by a Buick Electra 225 and they buried you in an envelope. You can't repeal the laws of physics...smaller and lighter is ALWAYS worse in an accident. At 1800 lbs., that's lighter than the old Corvair, and MUCH less "crumple area" in the front of the car. Curiously, the worst place to get hit in a Corvair was from the rear. They won't be calling people "Smart" who get hit by an SUV or a full-sized pick-up or much less a semi or a bus....they'll be calling them "fatalities". Then we'll have Congressional Investigations costing millions or even billions of dollars into them, the insurance rates on them will skyrocket worse than it did on muscle cars in the 70's, the personal injury lawyers will sue everyone invovled in making or importing or repairing them, then they'll be banned from the hiways like Austin Mini's are( the three-wheeled British version). The people that buy them will think they're driving a Formula One race car and pull-out in front of you on the freeway at 35MPH, and never down-shift. I'll probably "punt" one down the expressway here in town...I even know the entrance ramp. They'll feel funny with those rear wheels up their asses. Better have a good proctoligist on-call at the ER's.

[bjoehandley]

Here's a crash test of one, I'm not too sure how many cars out there would have done this good in teh same situation, especially some of the extended cab F/S pickups.
Smart
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ju6t-yyoU8s
Ford F-150 Extended cab with jump door, just glad Dad has the reg cab for a company truck!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lB0araA0T_k

[Stoga]

A fellow had one at the hardware store today. One thing I noticed in person that was more obvious than when looking at photos is how short the rear end is.
I think I'd be more worried about getting rear ended at a stop light then a front collision to be honest.

[DanL]

When I walk to work here in Rome (it's maybe a half mile each way), there must be at least 15 or 20 of them along the street every day. Some are parallel-parked, others are backed or nosed into the curb and don't stick out much more than a "big" car (like a Fiat, Mini or the like) that's parked normally.

The more I look at those little kiddie cars, the more intrigued I am with them. Looks like the U.S. version is going to have a 1L, 71HP gas engine with a 5-speeed manual/automatic transaxle.

[beepbeepsrule]

It looked like to me in the crash video that the Mercedes came thru the Smart's firewall and into the lower part of the Smart cab quite a ways, while the Mercedes only got monked up to the firewall. That can't be good for the Smart driver's legs.

[RedRyder]

Originally Posted by beepbeepsrule

It looked like to me in the crash video that the Mercedes came thru the Smart's firewall and into the lower part of the Smart cab quite a ways, while the Mercedes only got monked up to the firewall. That can't be good for the Smart driver's legs.

That's what I was thinking. If you have tiny crumple zones or areas to draw out the deceleration, all that force gets transferred into your body. Otherwise we may as well make all cars out of full tube chassis' They will hardly deflect at all. As a side note, that F150 crash was pretty scary.....like an accordion.....

[bjoehandley]

That's why I'm glad Dad has the only regular cab from that gwn F-150's from his employer! I've heard that the Super Crews are just as bad even though they actually have a B-Pillar

[ehostler]

What gets me, is the fact that a dealership in Leesburg, VA has been selling the SMART for at least 5 years.

They'll only be good in closed communities. Imagine one of them getting rear ended by a 3/4 ton pickup.

[Stoga]

Originally Posted by ehostler

Imagine one of them getting rear ended by a 3/4 ton pickup.

I've been thinking more along the lines if that same 3/4 ton or larger truck cuts across the line on the inside in a sharp corner and clips one on the driver's side.
We've got lots of sharp corners in hillbilly land, also, I wonder how they do when hitting a deer?