Comments on: Is 41 Miles per Gallon Enough to Justify Buying a Smart?

By: Ewell

Ewell — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 22:19:19 +0000

If you have ever been in a severe accident and were fortunate to walk away, a smart car or similar sized car would never enter your mind. Saving a few mpgs is simply not worth severe injury or your life. I was very fortunate in a heavy car when rear ended by a large commercial truck, somthing to be said for raw physics…

By: jason

jason — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 00:15:03 +0000

The crash test ratings are not so good for the Smart. However, after viewing pictures and reading testimonials from smart car owners who have been in actual real life crashes, my wife and I now own two Smarts.

She is averaging 42 mpg mixed driving. The new Civic is rated at 36 mpg hwy. To buy a civic new with a/c and cd player would cost me around $16,000. I just bought my Smart with a/c, cdplyer w/ mp3 adapter, heated seats,power steering, and a few other things for under $15000. Granted, the civic seats five, but it’s just the two of us…

The lurching that people complain about may depend on your driving style and where you live. We live in Kansas City, Missouri. We get alot of mixed driving in,but not much rush hour bumper to bumper traffic.

If you have a large family and haul alot of groceries, this may not be the car for you. We can fit the ttwo of us and three small dogs in mine and still have room for 2 bags of groceries.

Another complaint/ concern I’ve heard is the lack of power… I drive mine in manual mode – yes, you have the option with this vehicle- and have no trouble getting up to speed on the highway. top speed is 90 mph, by the way. Is that fast enough?

By: dawn

dawn — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:57:39 +0000

I would echo what everyone else is saying, that for such a tiny car you'd expect much better mileage. My 99 Civic averages 38 mpg.

What no one here has mentioned is that given the new fuel efficiency mandate, my guess is there wil be a LOT more choices, be they conventional gas engines, hybrids or all-electric, by 2010. My advice would be to just wait one more year.

By: KCS

KCS — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 03:43:49 +0000

There is a Mercedes dealership in my town that sells these so there are quite a few around town. My first impression is they are incredibly small. Now you tell me they only get 41mpg. No thanks…if I want to die I'll just buy a motorcycle – it gets better mileage – or a Kia cause its full sized and a few thousand less! My Acura TL (6 cyl, large enough for 5 people, and a very safe car) gets 32 mpg.

By: grberry

grberry — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:29:16 +0000

I do live in a major city. I’d never buy it. As a vehicle for doing anything other than commuting and going out to dinner, it fails to meet the needs for space inside. So a family will always have a second car so that they can do things like go shopping. For commuting, the bus and subway work as well at a better price point. For going out to dinner, just use the first car.

By: BigEd

BigEd — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:20:42 +0000

I am glad you asked. I went by the dealer in Austin. I expected the vehicle would get 75+MPG. I was shocked when they told me the expected MPG. On a positive not, I am 6'4" and weigh 350lbs. I was surprised that I could get in the car and drive it. It was not uncomfortable for someone my size.

By: Hyper

Hyper — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:45:39 +0000

Another important consideration. The Smart ForTwo requires 91 octane. At roughly 20 cents per gallon more for 91 versus the 87 for the Civic the Smart's miles per dollar increases nearly 10%.

By: Finance Junkie

Finance Junkie — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 23:43:56 +0000

Watch the crash test videos of the smart car and most people would immediately discard the idea of getting a smart car.

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:40:45 +0000

I would never buy a car that while driving I would be scared to get hit by a bicycle in.

By: ladygoat

ladygoat — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:04:28 +0000

Wow, I thought they would be closer to motorcycle range mileage, since they're closer to that size than full size cars.

Definitely not worth it!