Competitor ads bashing smart

[fmaxwell]

The Kias are very well-made cars backed up by great warranties. They consistently do well in the JD Power initial quality surveys. So let's not sink to bashing them just because they dared try to compete with smart for consumer purchases.

There's more to any vehicle than a list of features or tables of numbers. If the average Ducati or Aprilia motorcycle buyer were to buy solely based on prices, numbers, and checklists of features, they'd be on different bikes. Like us, though, many of them bought what they did because it spoke to them. They appreciated the engineering, attention to detail, and the overall user experience. I think that we're the same.

But even their oversimplification is easily countered:

First, the 2008 Kia Rio list price is $10,890, so the price that they are showing is probably a model year closeout price, not the regular price. The base model has NO RADIO and no speakers vs. the fortwo passion's AM/FM/CD stereo. Unlike the fortwo passion, the base model Rio has no AC, no power windows, no power door locks, no electronic stability control, and no ABS brakes. Rather than the automated manual trans that we get, the Kia Rio buyer gets a five-speed fully manual transmission. Sure, the Kia has 110hp. It's also weighs 500lbs. more than a smart fortwo, so it better have a good bit more power.

The Kia Rio has EPA ratings of 27/32 while the smart fortwo has ratings of 33/41. Six MPG around town and 9MPG on the highway is a huge difference. With gas prices at $4/gallon and a long-term likelihood that they will rise, the cost of operation really favors the Smart.

Ever try to change the color of a Kia Rio? You're not going to get all new body panels for $900 and be able to do it in your driveway in a couple of hours.

Bottom line: Don't get wrapped around the axle about ads like this. We're smarter than the Ford/Chevy guys with their endless bickering. Besides, when is the last time that you saw a one-year-plus waiting list for a Kia Rio?

[gbryers]

Not to bash KIA or any other (Suzuki, which is pulling out of the US at the end of the year, or Hyundai, etc, etc.) - They all fill a niche, or they go out of business (the exception to that rule is the Big Three, who seem to perpetually be on the edge of going under...)
What I found with the smart that I didn't find with the others, even at a much higher price, was comfort - I am a big guy (6'2", 270lbs), and I don't fit with comfort in many vehicles. That's one reason that, until I got my smart, I drove a Dodge Dakota (which I traded in for the smart) and a Saturn station wagon - two of the only vehicles in the last 5 years that I have been able to drive without major back-pain. (And yes, I have tried $25000 vehicles, from Nissan, Toyota, Chevy, Ford, etc.)
The smart, somehow, manages to leave me in GREAT shape, even without a cruise control, after driving from Columbia to Charleston (which I can't really say with the Saturn, but it is a close thing). And when I get all the other added bonuses of driving a smart, both tangible and intangible, it is hard to beat it at ANY price.
Like the ad says:
New Car: 14000+
Good Gas Milage: Included
A certain notoriety and noticeability: Included
Arriving without severe back-pain: Priceless...

[Evilution]

Originally Posted by SmartCard

110 HP, 4 seats, 4 speaker stereo <-> 71 HP, 2 seats, 2 speaker stereo

If you wanted/needed a 4 seater car, you wouldn't even consider a smart.

4 speakers for 4 people, 2 speakers for 2 people, that's still an average of 1 speaker per occupant. Anyway, tweeters are speakers so many smarts have 4 speakers.

110 HP for 4 people = 27.5 HP each
71 HP for 2 people = 35.5 HP each

Rio = 2365 lbs + 4 people
smart = 1808 lbs + 2 people

As said before,
Rio = starting at $12,145 to $16,865
Smart = starting at $11,590 to $16,590 and for that you get a cabrio!

Rio doesn't look so clever now.

[Black]

only thing I agree on that is the warranty...

[jediknight36]

Originally Posted by Evilution

If you wanted/needed a 4 seater car, you wouldn't even consider a smart.

4 speakers for 4 people, 2 speakers for 2 people, that's still an average of 1 speaker per occupant. Anyway, tweeters are speakers so many smarts have 4 speakers.

110 HP for 4 people = 27.5 HP each
71 HP for 2 people = 35.5 HP each

Rio = 2365 lbs + 4 people
smart = 1808 lbs + 2 people

As said before,
Rio = starting at $12,145 to $16,865
Smart = starting at $11,590 to $16,590 and for that you get a cabrio!

Rio doesn't look so clever now.

I have delt with KIA before and they are shady. The comercals are misleading.

DO YOU HAVE A JOB?
DO YOU HAVE $99?
DO YOU WANT $3000 MINIMUM FOR YOUR TRADE?
YOU WILL BE APPROVED AT CENTRAL KIA!

That was the ad when my girl friend at the time and I wanted to trade her car in. She was upside down by $1500 on her Geo Metro. They WOULD NOT take her car. Why? because they said the adds were not meant for any car, and that she was upside down by $1500. Three months later, and to this day, the ads are different. Now they say COULD instead of WILL. And all the prices they quote you are after any discounts. Their a better car now than they were when Isuzu owned them, but I'm sure not by much. Then again, you could do worse to buy a used car for that much.

Not to bash it, but our old insurance agent said when they would get into wrecks, the norm was to total the car, since it was cheaper than to pay for major repairs.

[RedDogInCan]

Originally Posted by tcollins648

A young married couple may buy a smartfortwo as their first fun car, and then have to sell it and get the Kia when they start making babies. From a practical stand point, the smartfortwo is somewhat limited in it's application. I am amazed at the people who apparently buy the smart as their primary mode of transportation and can't figure a way to get a family of four into it for a trip to see grandma.

That's what rentals are for.

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by RedDogInCan

That's what rentals are for.

Good point, same one I used today when someone asked me what if I needed to haul something big. I rent a pickup for $30 out of the thousands I'm saving by driving the Smart.


And as for Kia... any company who regularly advertises "buy one get one free" just reeks of desperation. That's the standard summer ad here in Abalayma. I think it's Pensacola Kia or something. I've never sat in a Kia, but owners have described them as "a simple way to get around." If I'm spending 10-15 grand on something, I'll choose the more interesting drive over simple. I don't want to feel like the car payment is just getting me a way to pay to the next car payment.

[fmaxwell]

Originally Posted by RedDogInCan

That's what rentals are for.

Thank you!

How many people are commuting to work in pickup trucks and SUVs because, twice a year, they buy mulch or some lumber? How about the people who believe that every vehicle owned by every family member must be capable of transporting every family member -- with luggage? I see these morons on the news filling up their passenger-free Chevy Suburbans and Hummers while while telling the reporter how $4/gallon gasoline is forcing them to cut back on expenditures for food, clothing, and shelter.

I've got a GMC Yukon to tow my boat, haul things that don't fit in the Smart or Miata, and to drive in the snow when 4WD and ground clearance matter. But I don't commute to work in it every day or drive it for local errands to the grocery store!

[Orphan-Beggar]

Car-Share is another alternative
PhillyCarShare

[2smartArizona]

[quote=SuperGeek;137182]Good point, same one I used today when someone asked me what if I needed to haul something big. quote]


That's what trailers are for. I paid my way through collge delivering furniture for a used furniture store with trailers. Don't need a truck. You can put even bigger things in a trailer and still tow it.