2008 Smart Fortwo: Sales Wrap-up and Departure

good riddance indeed. I'm not sad to see this piece gone

"I hope you have the time of your life."--Green Day

Where is that awesome Amsterdam trend when you need it? You know, "Smart-tipping"?

"One young man wanted us to float him a loan"

I always love that. A bank won't give me a loan, maybe a complete stranger will?

Special history, meaning it was relentlessly beaten upon and insulted regularly. Not that it didn't deserve it.

A quick scan of the posts and it looks like the Smart has been completely reliable.

Not many cars can say that.

Carmax? Yuk!

Were you really in that big of a rush to get rid of it?

firstwagon, that's because no one drove it.

I'm having fun, but how many miles were really on this car?

Have you guys ever written an article/blog on the process and experience of selling a car to carmax?

On a side note, can you guys please get a 2010 mazdaspeed 3 now? :)

"A quick scan of the posts and it looks like the Smart has been completely reliable."

...as well as completely impractical and ill-conceived. Who knew - in this day and age - it would be acceptable for a 1.0L 3-Cylinder engine to have such terrible mileage, be linked to a transmission that seems to take a vacation in between shifts, AND charge a premium for it?

Yes I get it. Most Americans hate the Smart and cannot accept it has good points.

Even though it uses half the gas of the most of the fleet, it gets "terrible mileage".

Even though it's the cheapest car, it's too expensive.

Even though it will carry 2 people and a weeks groceries (which is all most cars do 90% of the time anyhow), it's completely impractical.

Yes it should have a better transmission but at least it's trans lasted the whole test unlike several other long term cars.

Yes it should have kept the diesel but then it have been slower and noisier and you would have whined about that too.

Truth is it's a clever little city car. That's all it was designed to be.

@firstwagon

The failings are too obvious to give it a pass as being good "for what it is". Maybe if they had addressed them by now it would be good, but no, they just keep selling it in its current crappy state.

agree with compliance. I can accept a lot of things about this vehicle, but not the package as a whole. I can accept it being a little city car with a crude motor and an annoying transmission, but not at the prices they charge. The average price at the dealer near me is $16K. For that, I need something with more apparent sophistication than my lawn tractor.

If they sold them for $9K, I'd be praising the vehicle.

lj182 makes two good points: an in-depth report on Carmax would be useful. they don't negotiate selling price and they low ball you on the trade-in. would love to see if you could do better.

and yes, a long term 2010 MS3 is a wonderful idea. you know your staffers would love it, too.

Hooray! Tis a glorious day for the IL Long Term fleet. I'd have preferred to see it shoved off a cliff and shot on the way down with various weaponry, Jeremy Clarkson style, but I'll take this too.

$20 says they replace it with another BMW or Audi.

Cars I'd like to see...

Kia Soul
Kia Forte
Jaguar XF (or XFR)
Porsche Panarama
Porshe Boxster
Miata
Odyssey
Fusion Hybrid
Camaro
Mazda3
Lacrosse
Lotus Evora (or if you can't get one then an Elise)

Pick anyone but no more cars you already have and no more BMWs, Audis or Nissans for now.

There are a host of small cars that are a lot more functional with similar fuel economy specs. Heck the Honda Fit averages within 3 MPG, and it is a better vehicle in every which way.

I'd really appreciate Edmunds adding some sort of relevant midsize to their fleet. You know one that folks can afford. Adding another high dollar lux/performance vehicle isn't necessary as they have enough of them in their fleet.

I'm with firstwagon. I'm glad the car's gone, but mostly because it's been so misunderstood and maligned here, by most of Edmunds' staff as well as the posters here.

The Carmax deal wasn't too bad. I think Craiglist is the best thing to ever happen to Carmax - once the dreamers, tire-kickers, and total morons are done with you, most people will take anything just so the selling process will end, and there's Carmax. :)

I second Firstwagon's list, except for the Camaro and LaCrosse. There's no way a GM vehicle would get a fair shot around here, so every post would be talking about how GM has never once made a good car, and while this one may be perfectly competitive to others in its class by any reasonable person's measure, it isn't better in every conceivable measure by a landslide and therefore it sucks. And all the comments will continue to pile on, lamenting the government giving GM money while conveniently ignoring all the money our government has given the transplants, and all the money the Japanese government has given their sacred, perfect, never done anything wrong ever manufacturers. Please, spare us.

"and yes, a long term 2010 MS3 is a wonderful idea. you know your staffers would love it, too. "

Agreed. You guys know you want one.

That, and a Kia Forte and a Fusion Hybrid and a Subaru Forester. But mostly the MS3 :)

How about a Kia Soul, or an Elantra Touring? Or a Fusion S? Or a new Taurus?

I'll second the nominations of the Forte, the Mazda3, the Evora, and the Camaro.

I've actually seen and driven the Smart...in Europe as well as the US, and I DO understand its mission in life. Unfortunately for the Smart, a 2-Door Toyota Yaris or 2-Door Hyundai Accent does the same job much better. I can appreciate the merits of a small city car, but there's simply no excuse for the Smart's fundamental flaws which aren't evident in most other cars that are 3/4 the price of the average Smart ForTwo.

If I had to hazard a guess as to why many Americans don't grasp the idea of the Smart, it's probably because of all the superslab we have in this country compared to overseas.

@tryan: no, you don't get it. A fundamental component of the Smart's design is its size, and people here consistently throw out larger cars as better suggested replacements, as if that factor makes no difference. A Yaris is THREE FEET longer than a Smart Fortwo, about the same difference as a Yaris hatchback and a Camry sedan.

If Edmunds were to replace the Smart with a comparable city car, they'd have to snag a new Fiat 500 or Toyota iQ. I'd be interested to see if they do the job better.

The only thing the Smart's small size is good for is fitting into small parking spaces, which it did receive praise for. You would assume it would also be good for exceptional gas mileage, but for giving up 3 feet of useful space from the Yaris you're rewarded with barely higher fuel economy. I'm all for smaller cars, but in this case the small size doesn't pay dividends.

Great idea, awful execution.

The Smart's size was its primary design parameter, and its primary purpose was parking and driving on narrow city streets. If you want to claim a car does the Smart's job better, it has to be as small and easy to park FIRST. To claim the Yaris or any other larger car is better than a Smart Fortwo is to miss the point of the car completely, like saying the Yaris is a good as a 911 turbo, except for not being as fast.

And "barely higher fuel economy"? The Fortwo gets the 36mpg in the city while the Yaris 3-door gets 27mpg, over 30% more.

Now, if there's a new car for sale in the US as small and easy to park as the Smart (so I don't spend 20-30 minutes/trip looking for a space) that *also* gets better mileage, drives better, holds more people and cost less, please, step on up; I'll swing by and trade mine in for this miracle car on Monday.

"The Smart's size was its primary design parameter, and its primary purpose was parking and driving on narrow city streets."

You have precisely stated why the Smart does not make sense for the majority of this country. Thank you.

The Smart is a great car for one, and only one mission: city driving. I don't think anyone has argued that it doesn't fit that role nicely. Anything else, however, and it starts falling apart at the seams. Edmunds proved this throughout their long-term test.

As far as being easy to park, it's not like owning a Smart allows you to park illegally. A 2-Door Yaris is JUST as easy to parallel park (speaking from experience here) in a tight, legally lined spot. That's what roughly equivalent turning radii will do for you.

Additionally, the Yaris and ForTwo are within 5-6" of eachother in terms of width - a negligible difference when it comes to backing or pulling into a spot (vice parallel parking).

I can appreciate your enthusiasm for the Smart since you own one, but don't confuse passion (no pun intended) with logic.