1000 mile round trip this weekend

mdfortwoguy · 10-14-2008, 09:39 PM

Well, I just got back from a 1,000 mile round trip back to Ohio to see my dad in the hospital. I took the smart, and I have to say, it did great on the trip.

The trip from DC to Southern Ohio goes over several mountain ranges, reaching up to about 3,200 feet. There are several passes that are a 3 or 4 mile constant climb, and I had no trouble whatsoever maintaining 70 MPH up most of them with about 1/2 throttle in 5th. I did have to downshift on one or two of them, but still could tackle them at 65 MPH.

Overall, I averaged 32MPG for the trip. I'm not going to complain at all, as my smart had 940 miles on the clock when I left, and I am not a conservative driver. The transmission is heaven in the mountains... the paddles were awesome for downshifts pass if needed. The seats are comfortable for hours on end, and the heaters help keep things from getting stiff.

The trip was not all good though...
I am probably going to be replacing my front passenger side fender sometime in the future, however. On the return trip today - on I-70 East, about 1/8 mile from the Pennsylvania visitor's center, a newer Dodge Caravan in front of me struck a full cinder block laying in the middle of the lane. It busted into a few good sized chunks, one of which came straight at my car. I swerved to the left to miss it, but it was bouncing down the road and I wasn't able to turn fast enough and hit hit my front fender. I was on the brakes as hard as I could during all of this, and I saw my ESP light flashing in the corner of my eye as I swerved.

Everyone behind us was slamming on their brakes at this point as there was concrete flying everywhere, and I was trying to get out of the way of whatever might be coming, so I floored it and got over on the exit ramp to the visitor's center, behind the guy in the Caravan, which was hissing and steaming. The block took out his radiator and condenser, and mangled his front air dam.

The front of my smart is plastered with bugs, but I have several large gouges and scrapes, about a 4 inch scratch up towards the rearview mirror, and several chips in the clearcoat. The fender liner type thing was knocked loose and hanging down as well (it snapped back into place) I got down to look at the underside, and it looks like nothing (oil filter) was hit by debris, but my fender definitely got one of the chunks full force and has the battle scars to show it.

Does anyone know off of the top of their head what a white front passenger side fender retails for (part only, no installation)? I'm going to call tomorrow and see... I'm going to wash the smart in the evening and see how bad it looks and if there is anything I can do with it... I might wait until spring to replace it.

babybenz · 10-14-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdfortwoguy

Well, I just got back from a 1,000 mile round trip back to Ohio to see my dad in the hospital. I took the smart, and I have to say, it did great on the trip.

The trip from DC to Southern Ohio goes over several mountain ranges, reaching up to about 3,200 feet. There are several passes that are a 3 or 4 mile constant climb, and I had no trouble whatsoever maintaining 70 MPH up most of them with about 1/2 throttle in 5th. I did have to downshift on one or two of them, but still could tackle them at 65 MPH.

Overall, I averaged 32MPG for the trip. I'm not going to complain at all, as my smart had 940 miles on the clock when I left, and I am not a conservative driver. The transmission is heaven in the mountains... the paddles were awesome for downshifts pass if needed. The seats are comfortable for hours on end, and the heaters help keep things from getting stiff.

The trip was not all good though...
I am probably going to be replacing my front passenger side fender sometime in the future, however. On the return trip today - on I-70 East, about 1/8 mile from the Pennsylvania visitor's center, a newer Dodge Caravan in front of me struck a full cinder block laying in the middle of the lane. It busted into a few good sized chunks, one of which came straight at my car. I swerved to the left to miss it, but it was bouncing down the road and I wasn't able to turn fast enough and hit hit my front fender. I was on the brakes as hard as I could during all of this, and I saw my ESP light flashing in the corner of my eye as I swerved.

Everyone behind us was slamming on their brakes at this point as there was concrete flying everywhere, and I was trying to get out of the way of whatever might be coming, so I floored it and got over on the exit ramp to the visitor's center, behind the guy in the Caravan, which was hissing and steaming. The block took out his radiator and condenser, and mangled his front air dam.

The front of my smart is plastered with bugs, but I have several large gouges and scrapes, about a 4 inch scratch up towards the rearview mirror, and several chips in the clearcoat. The fender liner type thing was knocked loose and hanging down as well (it snapped back into place) I got down to look at the underside, and it looks like nothing (oil filter) was hit by debris, but my fender definitely got one of the chunks full force and has the battle scars to show it.

Does anyone know off of the top of their head what a white front passenger side fender retails for (part only, no installation)? I'm going to call tomorrow and see... I'm going to wash the smart in the evening and see how bad it looks and if there is anything I can do with it... I might wait until spring to replace it.

First off there are no chips in your clearcoat since your car is white its not painted its molded white i believe its either 180 or 240

Karl Roth · 10-14-2008, 11:14 PM

Sorry to hear your dad is not doing well, the car should be easier to set strait I picked up a blue front fender in Ohio for $180 you should be able to sand out the scuffs and scratches on redo the clear coat for less than that.
karl

mdfortwoguy · 10-15-2008, 04:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babybenz

First off there are no chips in your clearcoat since your car is white its not painted its molded white i believe its either 180 or 240

There is still clearcoat on the non-painted panels. Thank you for the prices though!

mdfortwoguy · 10-15-2008, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Roth

Sorry to hear your dad is not doing well, the car should be easier to set strait I picked up a blue front fender in Ohio for $180 you should be able to sand out the scuffs and scratches on redo the clear coat for less than that.
karl

Excellent - thank you.

I'm going to see what winter brings... I may fix it in the spring if I end up driving the smart much - they sand the crap out of the roads around here, and it is really hard on the front of your car.

5 years ago, this would have had me bent out of shape and pissed at the world... on the totem pole of importance, it is near the bottom right now - I guess it shows how things change.... it just sucks regardless.

I will say this... at 60, this thing is pretty damn stable if you whip it across 2 lanes quickly.

Karl Roth · 10-15-2008, 05:13 AM

It really works rather well as a "real" car still makes me smile. My worst mpg's both on highway trips running hard. Back off just a bit and the mileage goes back up. What a great car.
karl

jediknight36 · 10-15-2008, 04:01 PM

Good to know it will hold up. Planning a 1000 mile road trip this spring in the smart, when it comes, with me and my wife. Sorry to hear about the damage. Wonder if it fell off a truck or what.

yellow-smart · 10-15-2008, 05:22 PM

Post a picture please, I'd let to see your battle damage.

Yellow-Smart

mdfortwoguy · 10-15-2008, 06:16 PM

Let me get the bugs cleaned off so you can see it... hopefully this weekend!

Trena · 10-15-2008, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karl Roth

Sorry to hear your dad is not doing well, the car should be easier to set strait I picked up a blue front fender in Ohio for $180 you should be able to sand out the scuffs and scratches on redo the clear coat for less than that.
karl

i don't know about that. i posted on a body repair forum about my keyed door panel, and a body shop owner posted that it would cost $300-400 to sand out and re-clear coat my door panel

my door panel was quoted at $240 from my closest smart center if i install it myself, and my body shop wanted $280 to buy and install one for me. hope that gives you more fodder for you to consider.

good luck with it, i know it's maddening, but glad you're ok. hope your dad gets well soon.