I guess everyone is entitled to an opinion. I sent a message to Mr. Burgess indicating I thought he missed the mark with his review. He got back to me right away by e-mail and he stands by his review. No big shock.
I sure don't agree with him but here is what the exchange of messages said:
Mr. Burgess,
All I can suggest is that you are wrong about the smart. I am an owner, picked it up Feb 1 and now have 2000 miles on it. I happen to love it and I happen to love the transmission. Your complaint has been frequent after a brief intro to the car but driving it for 500 or so miles you find out it can be driven quite smoothly in either auto mode or standard mode. I have owned lot’s of Detroit Iron and my previous car was a Mini Cooper S which I also greatly enjoyed. But this car is more fun than any I’ve ever owned. I actually believe the trans is a plus now that I am used to it and I think that is also the finding of 90% of the people currently driving them.
I will grant you it’s not an all things to all people auto. It wasn’t designed for 1000 mile road trips and illegal speeds. But for what it was designed for which is a commuter car and run about it is outstanding.
I appreciate that different people will have differing opinions but your rant makes you appear to be a puppet of the big three in Detroit and a lover of SUVs and Tanks rather than an objective evaluator of the automobile industry.
Hi Ken,
Thanks for you note, despite you accusing me of being a shill for Detroit ** which merely suggests you haven't read many of my reviews. I can assure you, I am not and my review of the smart fortwo was kind. As a columnist, my job is offer my opinion on a vehicle and if you were able to gather that I don't have a very favorable one of the US smart fortwo, then I have done my job effectively.
I could be from Hambach, France, and the smart fortwo brought to the U.S. (which is significantly inferior to the one sold in Europe) would still be a performance embarrassment. It is by far the worst vehicle I have ever tested.
I do not mean to take anything away from you or your preference for the vehicle. My opinion is just that, but I evaluated the smart car on its merits and compared it to other sub compacts. I agree completely that the smart car is not intended for road trips and think of it as the kind of thing many people would own as a second or even third car. As a primary vehicle, it's very limiting. To suggest the fortwo is more fun (I notice you don't say to drive, but rather to own) than a mini cooper S is more outrageous than my suggestion that smart cars were built to fit inside a dumpster.
All told I put about 500 miles on the two vehicles I tested. I like their size, I like their handling in the city, I like how much space is inside them (though there are some very cheap materials in there as well). I'm not sold on its exterior, but realize lots of people like them. I did not care for its performance. All of that is in the review.
Again, thank you for writing. I don't expect you to agree with me, but you do deserve a reply.
"... but I evaluated the smart car on its merits and compared it to other sub compacts."
He missed the mark on that one; it's not a sub compact, but as there's no other micro car in the US now (excluding the 450 smarts) he's really got nothing to compare it to. At least you got a decent reply.
I was able to go in during slower hours and take an extended test drive during a Twin Cities rush hour... I was able to drive in everything from smooth new pavement to old broken pavement. bumper-to-bumper stop n' go and 70 mph free flowing traffic. both modes of the transmission were used. When I was done with the drive, I was convinced it was the car for me based on that drive. It was about a 20 mile circuit. The only time I wasn't able to fluidly operate the car was at a ramp meter. Light turned green and I floored it and it wasn't the smoothest shifting job by yours truely. Other than that, it was flawless.
This gave me the confidence that I'd actually like the car instead of their pre-programmed test drive route (which is decent for curiousity drivers, but not quite long enough for final decision people). Anyway, might want to ask your smart center what time would be acceptable to take a slightly more extended test drive.
****************************************-
Excellent News...regarding your test drive experience! I'm glad you finally worked it into your schedule - and that hopefully we'll have another smart onwer (er..."driver") in the Twin Cities/MN area soon.
I agree that a quick, pre-determined test drive is not the best 'test' for sure. Having more tme and a self-selected route gives one a much better idea of the car's capabilities for YOUR type of driving...plus you don't have a salesperson telling you to 'turn here' and 'try this way.'
- FRED "2 MUTCH"
Is it a car? Is it a mind set? It's BOTH!
sounds to me like he couldn't get use to the shifting so he bashed the rest of the car as well.
Just goes to show that the smart isn't for everybody, but we already knew that.
It seems more like our bias is showing. Only really gung ho smart cheerleaders are going to be on this site. We are a small minority. We don't want to believe all the negative things that are being reported EVERYWHERE.
It seems more like our bias is showing. Only really gung ho smart cheerleaders are going to be on this site. We are a small minority. We don't want to believe all the negative things that are being reported EVERYWHERE.
Not true, I am perfectly willing to recognize shortcomings and issues when it comes to vehicles I own, I am anything but a cheerleader blinding ignoring things. I never said the Smart was perfect or suitable for everyone or everything.
However, anyone who makes skewed remarks like "as more drivers realize that the fortwo was built to fit into most Dumpsters for a reason. This is not a car, it's a fashion accessory, and will go the way of flared jeans and puffy skirts. Hopefully sooner, rather than later" or that it is "joyless to drive" is clearly just spouting off vapid statements that really have no merit.
I know that there are lots of people like us who most definitely do not buy things as fashion statements and only laud them if there are solid reasons to. And if someone thinks this car is joyless to drive then they are jaded and simply incapable of recognizing fun when they drive it, or haven't given it a chance/never went in intending to be open minded about it.
(And apparently quite a few reviewers have that weakness - I never let them pick my cars for good reason.)
As someone originally from Michigan, I realize that this reveiwer is going to have some (subconcious?) pre-conceived notions of ANY non-US made car. I also drove a smart forfour in Germany for more than 2yr and loved it - and yes, the US version is a little less peppy. BUT - and here's the big but, I drive 104 miles a day roundtrip to just get to work - not counting dropping my daughter to school, etc. AND - Houston is the most driving-intensive city I have EVER lived in - and for these specific reasons, the smartcar is ideal. Its not a long trip car - we'll use the Honda for that - but for my everyday travel, this is a terrific car at a terrific value TO ME.
Last edited by Trubluesue; 04-02-2008 at 05:30 PM.
Bias-I suppose that is fair. The fact of the matter is that the smart is neither the second coming nor is it the car from hell.
It's an option, a choice, something a little different to be considered.
I love mine because it meets my current needs, fits my lifestyle, and is an attention getter. It's OK with me if others have other opinions.
However the "trash talking", references to fitting into a dumpster and trashing a transmission because it is different tends to go too far.
Reasoned reviews whether positive or negative can be helpful to all. Rants that get out of hand aren't helpful to anyone but sure are a sign of the times. I don't understand why everything comes down to love it or hate it when there is so much room in between.
But bottom line is I like the car and don't much care what others think unless I have some other experience or basis for respect for that person.
How would you like to be Penske or Schembri having to read and react to some of the stuff that is out there?
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2008 Smart 
2008 Smart 
1976 Rover Mini
2003 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2007 Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec (SOLD)
2009 smart Passion (Gone)
2011 smart Passion
At least you got a decent reply. 
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