2008 smart fortwo: Perfunctory Praise And Brutal Honesty

if this was indeed candid, that's awesome! :D

What about Hindenburg and Bismarck? They are Germans too.

haha
sars infected hk bus... can you be a bit more specific? ;)

you guys should make top 10 t-shirts

The SARS-bus beat the Aura?? LMAO!

I honestly, honestly don't understand the pure hatred for the Aura. Sure it isn't particularly exciting, but it seems that while it is perfectly acceptable for Toyota to make something that just gets you from A to B, God forbid American manufacturers make anything that isn't the most involving car ever. Of course then it will be flamed for not being more efficient than a Prius. Its had the steering problems sure, but I think the failure to properly resolve that can be explained by Edmunds' insistence on only using the worst dealerships available (which is at least non-biased, as they use only the worst dealerships for each brand). Yes its interior trim is not flawless, but its no worse than the current Camry's interior. And it is mechanically identical to the Malibu, which is so good even the car media finds it hard to be biased against it. So what gives?

Now we know,

The ForTwo is worse than walking and the Aura is better than the Smart but below walking with a good pair of shoes, and possibly catching SARS.
Gotta love it

For all the people who love to critize the Smart, how many of you have even driven one?

I have and it's much more interesting then any other econobox for city driving. It's not perfect but it avoids the mortal sin that the Yaris, Accent, Aveo and Rio all fall victim to... it's not boring.

...can I get a reality check on aisle 1

paging firstwagon on aisle 1... reality check...

yeah, reality check is in. The Smart 4-2 sucks.

So you've driven one?

stovt001, I think that sometimes a joke is just a joke. People on here love to get their panties in a bunch about the Aura so I can only imagine how entertaining this must be to the Edmunds editorial staff.

firstwagon, the smart's transmission, in my experience, is every bit as bad as they say. If it didn't matter to you, great, but few people feel the same way.

"So you've driven one?"

PhillyCarShare (http://www.phillycarshare.org/cars.php) has a few in it's fleet....yeah, the smart 2-4 sucks!!!

My Fav car to drive in their fleet? The Camry hybrid......I easily get 35MPG around town, and I don't go easy on the go pedal either. Plus the car seats 5 people comfortably.

To answer the question about ever driving one, yes.

I posted most of these comments (see link) back on an earlier blog entry here, but decided later to do a blog in Straightline, in which I added and/or refined my original comments.

http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2008/07/smart-test-drive-an-eye-opener.html

Holy crap that is a small parking space! It looks like even with the narrowest car in the US, you'll have to be careful opening the doors (especially with a passenger). How on earth did you get stuck with that space? They don't make you actually PAY for it, do they?

i've had mine over 6 months and love it. in mixed driving i get mid 40's MPG and have clocked 53 MPG on the highway. it happily eats up the freeways at 70mph and more (i just drove to the next state this afternoon to get powerball tickets, 74 miles on a bit over a gallon of gas)

as for parking, me and some smartie friends got 4 smarts into a standard parking space.
http://www.451s.com/photo/photo/show?id=1912846%3APhoto%3A25369

a smart fortwo competed in and finished the 2008 One Lap of America (aka Cannonball Run), that's over 4000 miles in a week, 2 passengers and all their gear (no support vehicles allowed).

you clowns that say the smart sucks need a reality check, cuz the one you just cashed BOUNCED!

That's not a parking spot - it's a yoga mat.

ok, we got 4 smarts on a yoga mat! LOL!

and we all love our smarts and wouldn't sell them for a few thousand over cost on e-bay! (people are selling new smarts for $3-6000 over cost on e-bay, just look!)

you just have to have a "smart attitude" to appreciate a smart. expecting a hot rod or a tank from a smart, you won't be happy. if you expect a smart from a smart, things will be fine.

i bought mine without a test drive. now everyone has the chance to test drive a smart before ordering, if they don't like it, don't order/buy it!

i'd have bought the first model 10 years ago instead of my Metro, if i had the chance. but i waited 10 years for this bloated version. i'm still happy!

mrbadexample

hmm, using your name, we shouldnt buy the smart.

Also, a few thosand people bought the aztec, doesn't mean it was good car.

No I haven't driven one, sat in one many times, but from just about every review of the gear box on the the car means I would never bother wasting my time,

plus for the amount of money smart wants, I can get a car thats 1,000,000 times more usefull, and less full of hollywood ego.

"you clowns that say the smart sucks need a reality check, cuz the one you just cashed BOUNCED!"

I don't understand this comment.

"i bought mine without a test drive."

I wish I had enough money to spend $15,000 without a test drive.

that list is awesome.

Has no one ever heard of that phrase about poking a bear with a stick? It's all fun and games until a Saturn Aura owner claws your eyes out.

So... how is water boarding a form of transportation?

lvranger: Isn't it where you get towed behind a boat while standing on a plank?

Whereas prisoners of the CIA are wakeboarded until they finally talk. **shudder**

Drive the Smart cross-country or submit to interrogation with waterboarding? That is the Sbtrue dilemma.