New forum member with questions

vschaos · 05-03-2008, 11:32 PM

I have been looking around and have not decided on a vehicle yet. My situation is that I live in Mississippi and drive round trip about 125-130 miles every day for work. I currently drive a geo metro that gets in the 30-34mpg range. Mainly due to it only running on 3 cylinders and well its just on its last leg. So to replace it I need a nice daily driver and I have been looking for something to replace the car I drive now. I was thinking of the Smart Car so thats why I am here. My only problem is that the nearest dealership that sells them is over in Houston, TX which is around 6 hours or more from me. So if anything needed to be worked on I am pretty much out of luck. I think this would be an excellent car to replace what I currently own right now, but the distance from the dealership is what makes me think twice.

So after posting this I will continue to look around here on the forums and maybe elsewhere to see what I can find. Things I guess I am looking for are reliability, maintenance that needs to be done, etc. Mainly if something breaks how hard is it to come by with parts? Is there anything specific on the car that another dealership could work on or do I have to bring it to houston? I would bring it to the dealership I got it from no problem, but thats 6 hours away....

Things like that so if people can answer them in here that would be great, but thats the kind of stuff I am going to be looking around for.

smarticus · 05-03-2008, 11:56 PM

There is supposedly going to be a dealer in Jackson. I don't know how far along they are in getting the place ready to go, but they seem to be moving kind of slowly.

vschaos · 05-04-2008, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smarticus

There is supposedly going to be a dealer in Jackson. I don't know how far along they are in getting the place ready to go, but they seem to be moving kind of slowly.

Hmm that would be nice for sure. I also read in another thread maybe on in shrevport, la which would be nice also. As long as the dealerships are not too far away I will think more about buying one. I am ready to dump the metro.

Karl Roth · 05-04-2008, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vschaos

Hmm that would be nice for sure. I also read in another thread maybe on in shrevport, la which would be nice also. As long as the dealerships are not too far away I will think more about buying one. I am ready to dump the metro.

with a year plus wait for a smart you may want to think about an other make that is more available if your current driver is not long for this world...
karl

vschaos · 05-04-2008, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Roth

with a year plus wait for a smart you may want to think about an other make that is more available if your current driver is not long for this world...
karl

Any other recommendations? There are not many cars out there that get great mpg.

2smartArizona · 05-04-2008, 12:09 PM

I drive about 140 miles round trip each day for work myself, and I currently use two different cars and a motorcycle for commuting. My 325i wagon gets 34 mpg at 70mph. I also use a 4 cyl Dakota pickup that gets 30 mpg at 70 mph. My r1200gs gets over 50 mpg at 80 mph. I have been doing this commute for 11 years now and anticipate doing it another 11 before I can retire. If your Metro was only getting less than 35 mpg, I can think of lots of cars that can match that. A person I used to carpool with got over 40mpg in her Civic coupe. I work with another guy now that gets over 40 mpg on the highway in his Corolla. I also know a guy with a Beetle Diesel that gets 42 in the city and 55 on the highway. Your Metro should be getting at least 42, but perhaps it IS on it's last legs.

If you have not placed an order yet, you may not be able to wait. Also, I am not sure that this is the car for such a long commute either. It is a city car, but I have seen them on the highways alot. You see them in Paris with Swiss or German or even Italian plates on them all the time. I was going about 135Km/h on the freeway once and one went blasting around me no problem. I don't know how often I will actually do my commute all the way with this car. I meet another guy halfway and carpool half of it. My intention is to use this car for the first half commute days, and use the BMW for days I drive all the way.
Quite frankly I am dissapointed in the fuel mileage ratings I see people getting with the smart, but I am convinced I will do better than most, as I get 6mpg more than what my 2003 BMW is rated at by the gov't. My big thing is that I always wanted a microcar, such as an Isetta, and this is a fun opportunity to try a micro car.
I would study all the vehicles out there that meet your needs before making a decision and also go to a dealer and look at the smart before ordering. It is a buyers market out there for new cars too, as sales are really in the toilet for all brands. You can get serious discounts on some cars, as well as some interest rate offers. smart will not offer any of this, and as such you will pay full pop for the car and pay whatever the interest rate at the bank is. My brother in law just bought a new Altima and got 5,000 off and 2.9 for 5 years, and things have gotten better for buyers since then. It gets 37 on the highway too.
So shop. Look at the cars, look at the deals, get in a smart somewhere, and then decide.
If the smart did not have the emotional control over me that it does, I might be looking to buy something else. Maybe it will have that effect on you too, maybe not. Go find out and good luck.

Bum-bling-B · 05-04-2008, 12:37 PM

I used to have a Metro that got 45-52mpg running on 3 cylinders. Sounds as though you have a four cylinder with auto though - am I right?

My dealer is 5 hours away so I'm in the same boat for being scared, that being said there are some comparable cars out there for mileage. They fall short in the fun to drive neat quirky styling department but as far as quality goes they're probably equal or even better - some to look at are Yaris and Accent. Another plus besides the dealer being close is you can go out and buy one tomorrow if you wanted with no 1+ year wait. I still love my Smart over the others mentioned.

vschaos · 05-04-2008, 04:42 PM

Thanks guys. My metro is a 3 banger, but only 2 of the cylinders work. One of them has a bad exhaust valve and I am just too lazy to pull it all apart and fix it. I average around 30-35k a year on the car, pulled a junkyard tranny and put in it since the stock one went bad, and also have a bran new alternator on it.

I have not put a smart car on order....so suppose I will go with something else. Maybe a civic hybrid or something....I will just keep looking.

Bum-bling-B · 05-04-2008, 05:36 PM

Oh yeah, that's horrible for a 3cyl. Time for you to be in a new car now! Civic Hybrid is a premium price over a Smart but a nice highway cruiser - I've had one of those too. Yaris sedan is decent and with a Scanguage you may be able get close to Civic hybrid mileage. Your conditions may vary though - roads - traffic etc all are a huge factor.

vschaos · 05-04-2008, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

Oh yeah, that's horrible for a 3cyl. Time for you to be in a new car now! Civic Hybrid is a premium price over a Smart but a nice highway cruiser - I've had one of those too. Yaris sedan is decent and with a Scanguage you may be able get close to Civic hybrid mileage. Your conditions may vary though - roads - traffic etc all are a huge factor.

Yea the civic hybrid is all I can think of that gets in the 40-45mpg range. Its pretty much a straight shot to and from work everyday....maybe a few miles on the job site to park, but other then that its a straight shot on the interstate.