I'm a 1206 reservist in the Los Angeles area who's been drolling over the smart car since I spotted my first one in London in 2003. I've been anxiously awaiting some news since deliveries began, so you might imagine my shock and surprise this week when the DDE came online and gave me a window of July-September 08. This, after just spending a decent chunk of change on repairs to the aging car the smart was to replace (which I doubt will last until September either way), was just enough to send me into a panic.
Which I did. Spectacularly.
Even called smart center Universal and vented my frustrations to poor Todd (who, I might add, handled it with tremendous grace). Before I finished my meltdown, though, I checked with the West Covina smart center to see whether they'd made progress on their orphan list, as I'd been on that list since sometime early February. Not enough cancellations, it seemed. Ugh.
So I made my YAGE post here and resigned myself to the idea of either the Honda Fit or the Toyota Yaris. My RT commute to work is about 90 miles, so fuel economy has to be a priority. We'd considered a hybrid, but I just couldn't force myself to like the Prius (could you possibly give a car LESS personality?), and the Civic hybrid has been about as easy to find around here as the smart. Tuesday, I figured, I'd start looking.
At about 4:45pm that same day, I get a call from Luis at smart center West Covina, asking me if I liked yellow. After being stunned for a few moments, I told him that I could certainly learn to like yellow (my reserved car was blue). About 2 1/2 hours later, I'm driving home in a yellow/silver passion, and boy... is it cool.
A few impressions after the first 400 miles:
1. It only took me a mile or so to get the hang of the transmission in manual mode, though I suspect that having driven stick-shift cars almost all my life made it about a thousand times easier. I habitually drive it in manual now, and usually use the shifter knob instead of the paddles. It has plenty of pick-up for around town, though it's kind of a dog on hills at freeway speeds. So far, I'm getting about 41 mpg on the first couple of top-offs.
2. The handling at highway speeds is, well... unique. Tracks a bit on grooved pavement, and because of that it's a car you have to really DRIVE; no steering this with your knees while you eat a sandwich. I'm sure this won't be for everybody, but it's fine for me.
3. The "smart effect" is a kick. I've gotten the stares, waves, thumbs-up... you name it. Happened to be driving by the Toluca Lake Bob's Big Boy this afternoon, and pulled up to the classic car drive-up. And what do you know... in this environment of super-customized muscle-cars, my little smart was a major attraction.
4. Washing it is super-easy (first bath today), though I've noticed a tendency to be positively anal about streaks on the ROOF. Yikes.
5. One bit of odd trivia... the yellow color appears to attract bees.
Anyhow, I'm having a great time with Tweet, which also happens to be the first car I've ever named. I've been feeling pretty guilty about my meltdown, though, so today I stopped by smart center Universal with an apology and thanks for Todd. He was ever the professional, and when my blue Passion does decide to come in, we may well take delivery on it anyway... my husband has been dropping hints about how the garage will probably hold one more. If we don't take it, however, I'll make sure people here are the first to know.
BTW, thanks to everyone here for your encouragement. Yes, the car is worth it. But to those who are still waiting and losing patience (especially here in SoCal), really.... get on orphan lists and stay in touch with the dealerships. I'm still annoyed with the way the reservations have been handled, but I'm hoping this is a really ugly growing pain that will resolve to something better.
Cheers,
Leanne
1976 Rover Mini
2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (SOLD)
2009 smart Passion (Gone)
2011 smart Passion
Today
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