smart car (1 Viewer)

[PeteH]

Cara-tow frame (E-Bay) £120 plus £35 Freight. pull bar kit from Caratow circa £180. plus £40 For a Brake cable. and they send fitting instructions!!. Days work in the garage, Remove front end and fit. Used a Trailer lighting board. Up and running for £375-00 +or-?

Pete

 

[Phill D]

i have a 600cc smart passion on a 52 plate with 65k on clock and it runs and drives like clockwork no issues.
the main problems i have seen is with noisy suspension creaks and groans, and that is fairly common as the way the suspension is set up is mainly on rubber bushing.
easily sort though.
love it.
use it as a local runabout and taking the dog places if needed.

he is not allowed in the "NEW" smart4four with only 489 miles on the clock,

 

[MJG1959]

We don't have a motor home but I can't imagine a better vehicle than a Smart car to trail behind. Anything bigger and you are getting into thinking about towing a caravan with a car anyway surely, especially if you trailer one rather than use an A frame. It strikes me they are perfect. It is something we would have done if we had got a MH rather than a caravan.

Lots of cars have 'common' issues, to me it's about buying eyes open doing your research and getting the best one you can afford.

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[Charlie]

Cara-tow frame (E-Bay) £120 plus £35 Freight. pull bar kit from Caratow circa £180. plus £40 For a Brake cable. and they send fitting instructions!!. Days work in the garage, Remove front end and fit. Used a Trailer lighting board. Up and running for £375-00 +or-?

Pete

And a blue peter badge ? ....

 

[PeteH]

And a blue peter badge ? ....

If you wish? (Lots of Sticky back Plastic tape?)

Pete

 

[Charlie]

We don't have a motor home but I can't imagine a better vehicle than a Smart car to trail behind. Anything bigger and you are getting into thinking about towing a caravan with a car anyway surely, especially if you trailer one rather than use an A frame. It strikes me they are perfect. It is something we would have done if we had got a MH rather than a caravan.

Lots of cars have 'common' issues, to me it's about buying eyes open doing your research and getting the best one you can afford.

A Toyota Aygo weighs little more than a Smart.. Has no character but a reality check says the wee Toyota is by far the better bet.
Still prefer a Smarty though .

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[TheBig1]

i have a 600cc smart passion on a 52 plate with 65k on clock and it runs and drives like clockwork no issues.

yes and the bloody great big key on the roof explains the clockwork part

 

[Minxy]

A Toyota Aygo weighs little more than a Smart.. Has no character but a reality check says the wee Toyota is by far the better bet.
Still prefer a Smarty though .

Why is the Aygo 'a better bet'? Unless you NEED 4 seats then IMV there is nothing better than a Smart ... they really should have called them "Smilies" as that's what you do when you're tootling around in them ... in our case we're usually grinning from ear to ear! Nothing comes close to the fun driving experience of a Smart and it goes like a blooming rocket to boot!

 

[Charlie]

Why is the Aygo 'a better bet'? Unless you NEED 4 seats then IMV there is nothing better than a Smart ... they really should have called them "Smilies" as that's what you do when you're tootling around in them ... in our case we're usually grinning from ear to ear! Nothing comes close to the fun driving experience of a Smart and it goes like a blooming rocket to boot!

I've already said I prefer the Smart but it's not hard to recognise the frankly very poor reputation they have for build quality and reliability. My sister was after one some months back and when I asked our garage what they thought they fell about laughing . The humoured me by phoning the local Merc dealer and talking to a chap who was a master tech there and he said you have to love them to live with them.

You will of course disagree and likely tell us how great yours are and how you have never had problems but sadly the track record for these cars ain't great.

Take an admittedly boring Aygo and it's almost unheard of to hear of problems. The MMT versions are horrendous but that's a French gearbox and yes they have problems but I would not buy one of those.

As I said heart says Smart head says Toyota Aygo or IQ if an automatic is desired as the IQ does not have the MMT gearbox ..

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[icantremember]

Nothing comes close to the fun driving experience of a Smart

Oh yes it does!........

......Broken Link Removed

 

[Jaws]

Poor build quality ?
I have had ONE breakdown in 11 years of ownership, they have a higher safety rating than a Ford Focus, those made from 2008 on have the Mitzi engine and box which is shared with cars like the Aygo, the C1 and many more..
On top of that all the panels on a Smart Car apart from the tridiun ( the actual frame ) can be swapped out in minutes

 

[Judge Mental]

I like them as well, had a ride in one once and was surprised. think I would not bother as seem a bit complex. C1 more practical...

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[Wilderbeast]

We had a 451 passion on an 11 plate never had an issue we trailered all over Europe came into its own in the gorges region in France really came into its own on the narrow steep roads,didn't like the neck jerk gear shift too much but once used to it okay.
We have a 453 now a lot more modern with a conventional 5 speed manual gear shift and lots of toys, panels are no longer colour impregnated so not as robust as the 451,fits on the trailer okay a tad tight as its 10mm wider but okay so fits us fine and great around town particularly due to the new tighter turning circle better than a cab !!

 

[barista]

Why is the Aygo 'a better bet'? Unless you NEED 4 seats then IMV there is nothing better than a Smart ... they really should have called them "Smilies" as that's what you do when you're tootling around in them ... in our case we're usually grinning from ear to ear! Nothing comes close to the fun driving experience of a Smart and it goes like a blooming rocket to boot!

I certainly agree with the fun factor and they have as much passenger space as other small cars. I have had two and they were great however I would disagree with the goes like a rocket comment. They are not quick by any stretch of the imagination, not even the Brabus, hence my toad now being an Abarth. Ok it's a bit heavier than the Smart but not an issue for my van. I missed the Smart after I sold it and bought a new model as a runabout!

 

[Judge Mental]

Poor build quality ?
I have had ONE breakdown in 11 years of ownership, they have a higher safety rating than a Ford Focus, those made from 2008 on have the Mitzi engine and box which is shared with cars like the Aygo, the C1 and many more..
On top of that all the panels on a Smart Car apart from the tridiun ( the actual frame ) can be swapped out in minutes

how do you recognise that car has this engine/box when buying a used one please....

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[barista]

I certainly agree with the fun factor and they have as much passenger space as other small cars. I have had two and they were great however I would disagree with the goes like a rocket comment. They are not quick by any stretch of the imagination, not even the Brabus, hence my toad now being an Abarth. Ok it's a bit heavier than the Smart but not an issue for my van. I missed the Smart after I sold it and bought a new model as a runabout!

The W451 is the Mk 2 as such and was introduced in 2007, this has the Mitsubishi naturally aspirated engine with 71 bhp whereas the 84 bhp has a turbocharged engine with power steering.
To answer your question though the easy way to differentiate is that the 451 has horizontal door handles and the 450 has vertical ones. There are loads of other visual differences but that is a quick spot.

 

[barista]

We had a 451 passion on an 11 plate never had an issue we trailered all over Europe came into its own in the gorges region in France really came into its own on the narrow steep roads,didn't like the neck jerk gear shift too much but once used to it okay.
We have a 453 now a lot more modern with a conventional 5 speed manual gear shift and lots of toys, panels are no longer colour impregnated so not as robust as the 451,fits on the trailer okay a tad tight as its 10mm wider but okay so fits us fine and great around town particularly due to the new tighter turning circle better than a cab !!

Do you find the paintwork more prone to chipping?

 

[Jaws]

how do you recognise that car has this engine/box when buying a used one please....

From the headlights, the air vents at the back but probably the easiest is the dash.
The ones with the Mitizi engine has a dash and centre like this ( with variations on what radio / bps unit is used )

While the earlier versions have this:

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[Phill D]

From the headlights, the air vents at the back but probably the easiest is the dash.
The ones with the Mitizi engine has a dash and centre like this ( with variations on what radio / bps unit is used )

While the earlier versions have this:

both of those are NEW!!! compared to my 52 plate

 

[Jaws]

Barista, are you talking about Smart Cars ?
Most of the 'paint' ( apart from that on the tridiun ) is impregnated in to the plastic..

And with a 0 -60 time of 10.2s for the 84bH Passion ( not the Brabus which is a bit quicker at 9.9s ) I would hardly call them a slug

They are restricted to 94 mph but just a bent up paper clip will remove that and then they will top out at around the 105 mark
Spend a couple of bob and you are up to 115mph..

 

[Wilderbeast]

Aye Barista the paint work does chip easily!! Not a step forward ,see how things progress if the paint is particularly fragile they can have it back to sort ..

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[barista]

Aye Barista the paint work does chip easily!! Not a step forward ,see how things progress if the paint is particularly fragile they can have it back to sort ..

Thought so, I have a bonnet chip already and don't tow it whereas my previous Smarts' bodywork stood up well to flat towing. To prevent this happening to my Abarth I have had the whole front end and sills protected by Paintshield so no chips!

 

[barista]

Barista, are you talking about Smart Cars ?
Most of the 'paint' ( apart from that on the tridiun ) is impregnated in to the plastic..

And with a 0 -60 time of 10.2s for the 84bH Passion ( not the Brabus which is a bit quicker at 9.9s ) I would hardly call them a slug

They are restricted to 94 mph but just a bent up paper clip will remove that and then they will top out at around the 105 mark
Spend a couple of bob and you are up to 115mph..

I was referring to the 453 model which is different.
I tend not to rate performance by top speed but more by how quickly it attains it and by present day standards they are pretty slow.

 

[Jaws]

Compared to my usual transport everything short of a Veyron is slow to me, but compared to a good many other cars I do not think the performance is that bad .. And what about the way they corner ? A smarty in standard trim will get round a corner a whole lot quicker than ( about ) 80% of all other non sports oriented motors !

Just checked the 0 -60 times of my present Smarty agin what I am replacing it with on Friday, an Auris.. The Smarty is 10.2 in standard trim, the Auris 10.9..

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[barista]

Compared to my usual transport everything short of a Veyron is slow to me, but compared to a good many other cars I do not think the performance is that bad .. And what about the way they corner ? A smarty in standard trim will get round a corner a whole lot quicker than ( about ) 80% of all other non sports oriented motors !

Just checked the 0 -60 times of my present Smarty agin what I am replacing it with on Friday, an Auris.. The Smarty is 10.2 in standard trim, the Auris 10.9..

I wasn't meaning to knock the Smart but when I'm away with the car I tend to do quite a bit of country, not town, driving which is why I like a bit more overtaking ability.

Like you if I was to compare it to my everyday transport most cars would feel slow.

 

[Jaws]

The Smarty we had a few years ago was the mk 7, 2004 .. Woman and I used to regularly to do Lake Garda in ! Will happily cruise at 80 ( all the models ) due to the incredibly long stroke engine config
Both the Mitzi driven ones we have had seem happy at virtually any speed ( they are capable of ) though mpg tends to get in to silly regions if you cruise at 85+ for extended periods..
We found that out on the A7 / A8 in Germany a couple of years ago !!

 

[barista]

The Smarty we had a few years ago was the mk 7, 2004 .. Woman and I used to regularly to do Lake Garda in ! Will happily cruise at 80 ( all the models ) due to the incredibly long stroke engine config
Both the Mitzi driven ones we have had seem happy at virtually any speed ( they are capable of ) though mpg tends to get in to silly regions if you cruise at 85+ for extended periods..
We found that out on the A7 / A8 in Germany a couple of years ago !!

Certainly great cruising ability and can stay with or even ahead of the general flow so long as the crosswinds aren't too severe!

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[Charlie]

The W451 is the Mk 2 as such and was introduced in 2007, this has the Mitsubishi naturally aspirated engine with 71 bhp whereas the 84 bhp has a turbocharged engine with power steering.
To answer your question though the easy way to differentiate is that the 451 has horizontal door handles and the 450 has vertical ones. There are loads of other visual differences but that is a quick spot.

Are you sure about power steering ?? PS is Extremely rare on a Smart. We considered buying a late one which would have doubled up as a runaround and a tow car. My wife's disability means she cannot manage the steering on a Smart even though it's not heavy. Easy for most but the disability meant it was a non starter. Worcester Mercedes could not find one of the original shape Smarts anywhere with power steering.
It was we were assured an extremely rare option. This was confirmed when I enquirer on the Smart car owners forum .

 

[Phill D]

mine has aircon etc but no power steering

 

[barista]

Are you sure about power steering ?? PS is Extremely rare on a Smart. We considered buying a late one which would have doubled up as a runaround and a tow car. My wife's disability means she cannot manage the steering on a Smart even though it's not heavy. Easy for most but the disability meant it was a non starter. Worcester Mercedes could not find one of the original shape Smarts anywhere with power steering.
It was we were assured an extremely rare option. This was confirmed when I enquirer on the Smart car owners forum .

I was lead to believe that it was standard on the 84bhp version but I stand to be corrected. My 71bhp MHD certainly didn't have it and with the Brabus alloys it loaded up a lot during enthusiastic cornering and my wife found it heavy to manoeuvre.

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