Hello, my 1.5 year long wait begins... my smart thoughs... - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

ramborocc · 08-07-2008, 08:27 PM

Not long ago I went to Knauz auto park in Lake Bluff IL, a smrt dealership. The dealership staff were extremely friendly and promptly told me that there was a 1.5 year back log of orders and it was a "city car". IMHO, not a city car, but a suburban car. grocery getter. commuter car. MY thoughts while on the smart test drive.

1Very cool, without being a "cute" car. I really dislike calling cars cute. I'd call it a sharp car.

2Extremely roomy, and one of few cars without a center console. I would say that would be a plus for long legged people.
3Can't they smooth out the transmission!?!

Using the floor shiftter, helps out alot.

However for a driver used to a stick shift car, the floor shifter seemed so unnatural. Using the paddleshifter made me feel like "Speed Racer" driving the Mach 5"

4Hybrid MPG without the hybrid price tag.
5No rust pody panals.
612 seconds to 60mph, who cares?

I plan to tool around the burbs with it, not race it. I did take it to 90mph, but it seems comfortable at 70ish or 80ish tops.

7The dealer called it a "city car". What is he smoking?..

..I drove it though a construction zone rough road, smarty car really beats you up. Chicago is a city full of rough roads, the josteling would be confomfortable. Again a surburban car.
8wow, just 71 hp on 3 cyl, sounds weak.

On the other hand, the old vw beetle was about 30 something hp with a 4 cyl.

Again, i remind myself, it keeps up with the general flow of traffic.
9Looking at this site, the Smart shoul be easy to mod up. Bolt on a performence air filter and bolt on a DTH cat back system, seems like an easy 10 hp.

10I like it, so i dropped down 99 bucks and wait for 1.5 years.

DFWehman · 08-07-2008, 08:47 PM

Hi, and welcome to the forum! I put down my $99 10 months ago, and my wait ends in 19 hours.. Delivery at 5PM tomorrow. You should compare notes with others in your area to see what the current wait seems to be. Alternately you can get on the orphan list at your dealer if you are flexible and possibly willing to pay for a few options you might not have chosen. Anyway, there are a lot of threads here you can learn from. Some heated "debates" too, but mostly worth the read!