Smart Car

badbob1 wrote:
I seldom need to go that fast but our Smart can do it no problem and rides very well and handles fine. Just glad I have no need to be in that big of hurry.
BadBob

Yepir. If you ever want an eye opening experience stand on the brakes in a smart car at 75 mph and see how fast you stop. Make sure THERE IS NO ONE BEHIND YOU. Also make sure you have nothing loose in the car.

Performance wise the electrics are King and will happily blow off many muscle cars in the first 40 miles per hour.

Most fun cars we have ever owned.

I seldom need to go that fast but our Smart can do it no problem and rides very well and handles fine. Just glad I have no need to be in that big of hurry.
BadBob

Bordercollie wrote:
You go 80mph in a Smart Car, I'll just watch.

Not sure I follow. They were built for European autobahns and are considerably more solid on the road at that speed than any SUV not mention they stop in a considerably shorter distance.

Maybe I misunderstood.

You go 80mph in a Smart Car, I'll just watch.

Howdy!

I can well understand what you are saying. You know what you want, what fits you needs and have made a dissision. When we purchased our first Smart Car of corse it was from a Mercedes-Benz dealership. When finalizing the deal the person was kind of quirk about the purchase. I told him they had no other car that would fit our needs, which he didn't seem to understand. When I went on to explan to him what we did as fulltime RVER'S and the car had to fit into our RV he that it was a niche car. I almost walked away from the deal. Then he asked how we would be financing the car I told him it would be cash. Some folks we meet still don't under stand why we drive a Smart Car, but we enjoy our lifestyle and don'the mind telling them about it

"Happy Trails"

w3ozwizard wrote:
Thanks everyone but I was not asking about OTHER options as far as cars to haul around behind my MH I was specifically asking about experiences with Smart cars. I have gotten a lot of help on SUBJECT. But for those telling me how dumb I am to want a "dumb" car here it goes.

I was looking at about the 2012 year of car. Yes a used car. I know some of you very affluent folks don't worry about shelling out 20K for a car that you may only drive a few miles a year but to me that is important. Lets look at the suggestion of getting a Civic instead of a dumb car. I can get a 2012 Smart car here local for about $8,500 with less than 22K miles. I used Cars.com for shopping. I looked a Honda Civics and they ran from a low of $18,000 to over $22,000 and the millage on most was around 45K. So to me to spend 10K more for a NOT-DUMB car seems kind of dumb to me, but then again I am not that smart in the first place. But thanks for your opinions anyway.

I ink the other thing that one must take into consideration when critiquing someone else decision is the very things that you would want and put value in may be a liability to others. I constantly get asked why we would buy a smart car when you can get a honda or a toyota or whatever for the same price. I like the Honda Fit. There are a couple in our extended family. I would consider buying one of they come out with a model that has two less seats and no roof. Until then I can't imagine buying something with a useless back seat that is four feet longer than it has to be not to mention having a roof that doesn't fold down. Plus they are kind of boring...of course all in my opinion and in my taste. Variety is the spice of life. I have no problem with cars that have roofs, I just don't want one. :)

Other things that influenced our decision were ease of entry and regress, ground clearance etc. We like the back roads and a lot of them are gravel and full of holes.

Thanks everyone but I was not asking about OTHER options as far as cars to haul around behind my MH I was specifically asking about experiences with Smart cars. I have gotten a lot of help on SUBJECT. But for those telling me how dumb I am to want a "dumb" car here it goes.

I was looking at about the 2012 year of car. Yes a used car. I know some of you very affluent folks don't worry about shelling out 20K for a car that you may only drive a few miles a year but to me that is important. Lets look at the suggestion of getting a Civic instead of a dumb car. I can get a 2012 Smart car here local for about $8,500 with less than 22K miles. I used Cars.com for shopping. I looked a Honda Civics and they ran from a low of $18,000 to over $22,000 and the millage on most was around 45K. So to me to spend 10K more for a NOT-DUMB car seems kind of dumb to me, but then again I am not that smart in the first place. But thanks for your opinions anyway.

jfkmk wrote:

larry cad wrote:
Honda Civic is cheaper, has more room, rides better, gets better fuel mileage, and can carry 4 people and is towable. Why anyone would drive a "dumb" car is beyond me.

X10. Add to that the horrific resale of a "smart" car. Although no one pays msrp, it's almost 20k. Just checked, there's 4 of them for sale in my area. Less than 10k miles, selling at 10k. To each their own, but I don't get it.

Sounds like you're making a pretty good argument for buying a Smart car. Quite inexpensive used. I've never carried more than two people in my toad so it might be the perfect car for some folks with its size and lack of weight.

We agree with the last poster. We tow our Smartcar on a trailer to keep wear & tear down on the Smartcar. The best part is if you get in a tight spot you can back up.

Towing on a trailer is not for everyone for various reasons. There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to each method. The cost is probably close either way depending if you use a supplemental brake. If you don't use a supplemental brake then the 4 down method. If you use a supplemental brake then the set up time is probably close both ways. We tow both ways so have the advantage of comparison. We prefer to tow on a trailer as we have an A class motorhome and all but about 5 feet or so of the trailer stores underneath the rear of the motorhome so storage is not an issue. If you have a 2 axle trailer though it will stick out another 3 or 4 feet. The biggest advantage of course is no wear and tear on the car and of course the ability to back up or park anywhere you want as you can literally parallel park the combo anywhere...and we do.

Here are a couple of pics. The first one is ours. The second is a friends. Home this helps those in the decision process. There is no one correct way. Pick what suits your needs.