1000 mile review

[JD10367]

Our '09 just went over 1000 miles. We got him right after Thanksgiving.

Gas mileage so far: 32-34 city, 42-46 highway.

Not a single engine light, triple-bar, or limp-wrench sighting. Thankfully!

Checked coolant: at the MIN level but I think they filled it that way.

Checked oil: around 3/4s but, again, they probably filled it that way. Oil looks nice and clean.

The transmission is REALLY smoothing out. Most of the time it just seems like a "normal automatic" transmission now. He still gets a little confused on uphills (stays in 1st a while before shifting), and sometimes when you come to an almost-stop-and-go he gets confused (mainly 'cause it shifts back into 1st). But, by and large, he seems to be handling things well. I only override with the paddles when I need to downshift to run a yellow light, or I want to manually upshift my way through a turn. 90% of the time he stays in D, though.

Suspension: my one beef. It's God-awful. If they ever come up with a mod for that, I want it. Every pothole feels like a crater. But we love the rest of the car, so we deal with it.

What we love: the height, the panoramic roof, the light and airy cabin from the large windows, the ease of parking, the attention.

Minor irritations? Very few. The rear window is hard to latch unless you close it firmly, so I end up trying to close it three or four times. Same goes for the doors. The seatbelt is sometimes troublesome to reach around and grab hold of and insert into the receptacle. The tiny clock on the display is almost impossible to see during the day (especially if you wear sunglasses). The radio sounds tinny. Potholes make him downshift, LOL. Trying to lift the rug and get the "engine cover" off is a chore (that hook to hold the rug up is the worst-designed piece of junk I've ever seen). But these aren't big deals, really.

Drove him in a decent snowfall once, got traction-control a few times, and antilock brakes a few times. Truthfully, I don't think he slips-and-slides any more than my FWD car or my wife's FWD car; it's just that, it's been so long since we've been in a RWD car in the snow, it's a weird sensation to have your back end wiggling around trying to get traction (as opposed to having your front end doing it). No snow tires on any of our cars.

I can't wait for the warm weather to return, so we can take leisurely New England road trips with him!

[BigWarpGuy]

I have 4000 plus miles on mine. The only to go 'wrong' is the air pressure light to go on but that was easy to fix. The potholes might be a problem but I just drive around most of them. With heavy coats on, reaching around for the seat belt is not easy but no real problem in the summer months. We in central NJ have yet to have any snow stay on the ground; therefore, I do not know how well it handles in it. It has rained alot here but it is no problem for my Smart. March of 2009, my little car will be one year old (at least since I first bought it). I do not expect any problems till then. I really enjoy my little car.

[Henrisc300]

Wow, I got mine in March 2008 and have less than 600 miles on it. I need to drive more...

Since the smart have a shortest wheel base, you will feel almost every bump on the road. I hated it when driving over pot hole or little speed bumps. It just horrible.

[Wdhitch]

22,235 miles since May 27th 2008. No issues that we know of....

[bigcritter]

I've had mine since May 9th. 2008, and I have about 8500 miles so far, with no problems at all. I LOVE this car......even with it's little "quirks", I really love it! Got my cruise a couple of months ago, and foglights installed, and replaced the headlight bulbs (dim & bright) with Phillips Ultras (or whatever they're called), and I'm loving it. Will be going in for my 10,000 miles service in another month or so! :>)

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by Wdhitch

22,235 miles since May 27th 2008. No issues that we know of....

Wdhitch. Some of us at 20,000 miles are seeing tire damage. We are getting cupping on the fronts and ridges on the rears. This has been Confirmed by the tire techs at Discount Tire. It is on the inside edges of the tires. The tread still looks new.

The first signs appear as road roar. One can feel the tire damage by hand.

This may be a precursor of other problems to come. I wonder if you can see this on your car? A2Jack

Ignore this post Wdhitch. I see you answered on the other forum. Thanks anyway. :O) A2Jack

[Wdhitch]

Originally Posted by a2jack

Wdhitch. Some of us at 20,000 miles are seeing tire damage. We are getting cupping on the fronts and ridges on the rears. This has been Confirmed by the tire techs at Discount Tire. It is on the inside edges of the tires. The tread still looks new.

The first signs appear as road roar. One can feel the tire damage by hand.

This may be a precursor of other problems to come. I wonder if you can see this on your car? A2Jack

I actually took the car to the dealership yesterday as a result of your original post on the subject. All 4 of my tires look fine... my tech allows me to stay in the maintenance bay so I can get up close on the car. I personaly examined all 4 of my tires both by sight and touch. Tread depth and appearance on the 3 tires that are original are almost like new... we had to replace one rear tire about 2 months ago.

[Kermit]

I've got 20k+ on Kermitt and just the other day my uncle mentioned it looked like the fronts were cupping. I crawled down there and it looked even with no cupping, I 'm going to get a gauge and check and make sure I wasn't seeing things. My car has been through some serious off-roading to include some nasty bumps/potholes. About 700 of those miles are off-road in my car - bad thing about living in the country.

[wenglish]

Originally Posted by JD10367

...
Checked coolant: at the MIN level but I think they filled it that way....

Unless the Fortwo is different from other water-cooled cars, it should be at MIN when cold, and at MAX when hot.

Ours is at ~4000 miles (since August). No significant issues and it's much more fun to drive than our other cars.

We had the check engine light come on once, but concluded my wife was only closing the gas cap to the first click instead of at least 3 clicks (she also tops off the tank tsk tsk).

One of the tires seems to have a slow leak (maybe 4psi per week). I don't know if the dealer has the equipment to find the leak or if we have to take it to a tire place.

Mike

[tgobie50]

I picked mine up in April, just hitting 10,000. This is my little rocket ship, can't help crusin the LIE at 70 -75, 3500rpm. No problem in the snow, I've got snows on and he plows right thru. Gas! who cares, $16.00 to fill up every week and a half, are you kidding!
This is one of my best buys over the last fifty years. Great Car!