Hello From Texas !!

[Mud Pie]

New owner here, 2009 Cabrio, blue metallic.

I got to say I'm loving the car, but I've only had it a week.....

I have a bit of trivia that I just experienced on my way home from work today:

How much ground clearance does the smart have ?

Oh sure, you can look it up, you can even have it memorized.

I can tell you from first hand experience.

The smart is just high enough to clear a 16' extension ladder than some clown dropped off the top of his work truck.

It was in the middle of the road, and the two or three SUV's in front of me cleared it with no problem. I had no time to manuever, turn, nada. All I could do was straddle it !! Never saw it coming.

As I drove over it, I heard a slight "braaaap" like something was dragging on the steps. Not too loud, not jarring, just a low noise.

I pulled over at the next exit, passing cars on the shoulder that DIDN'T clear the ladder, and looked underneath my brand new smart still wearing paper license plates.

I had an ever so light scratch on the front belly splash guard.

So THAT'S how much ground clearance a smart has !!

[jim123]

Welcome, had mine 3.5 months and almost 6000 miles. Love it more and more each day... Hello from Austin..

[sberger]

Welcome to the site. I have had my Cabrio since January and still love it. Have not dodged ladders yet, but have had a cut tire. First thing you do is get a bag for the rear storage and put in a sissor jack and a good plug kit for your tires, along with a socket to take your wheel off. Remember there is no spare. The Smart pump is really pretty good. In the next six months you will enjoy learning more about the Smart. This site is very informative. From another Texan in Rockport.

[fpage77]

Welcome to the forum!

[seadave]

And greetings from around the corner in Spring, TX. You will LOVE your car, especially the smiles it puts on the faces of anyone who sees it. I've had my White Passion, Mr. Bean, since December and LOVE it!! Almost have 8000 miles on it.

In the hot weather it is great since it is easy to flush out all the 130+ degree captured air by opening windows for only a minute or so. The AC then takes over and can cool the car to comfortable levels in 5 - 10 minutes. The only down side is the AC is a bit of a fuel consumer - I'm getting 33.5 - 37.5 now, vs. 37.5 - 42.5 in the winter with no AC. However, in Houston it's a small price to pay.

Parking is a blast too! Our first time to Rice Village I spied an impossibly small parking space and (wisely) decided to parallel park rather than nose to. No problem for Mr. Bean - but it resulted in several pedestrians stopping to watch!! (Nose to may have legal problems - something about the two right wheels have to be so many inches from the curb).

On reliability my expectations were that being such a unique car the reliability would likely be similar to a Yugo. Happily the car reflects its Daimler-Benz heritage - very well engineered machine, excellent assembly, and so far absolutely no problems.

Enjoy! you bought a GREAT car!!

dave

[Mud Pie]

I'm really glad I got it, so far.

I already cut my weekly gas bill in half already. Gotta love that !!