Owner since July 2008. And as the brand becomes settled and it's flaws and features exposed/hashed over/resolved I think it's just inherent that you'll see participation/posting drop off. New owners will post their concerns, of course and get them adequately answered/resolved in most cases.
Does this mean that the site is less relevant? No, not in my estimation. It's still the number one smart owners site on the web IMHO.
And I know that if I have a problem I can't resolve, I can post it here and will get some feedback on the problem. . . after I search for it, of course. Sometimes folks are just looking for an opinion, or verification that they've made the right choice . . . SCOA can provide that too!
Do to tire problems we have parked our smart through much of this winter, thus, not much in the way of new experiences to post about. We do however try to comment often on what others have to say as we do enjoy our group.
This is an interesting time for this site with the 09s coming in and the trans re-prog to talk about, as well as the new micro-cars coming on stage to offer completion to our beloved Smarts.
Yes, most of the old guys and gals have fled, but there will be new, interesting posts to read in the future, (as long as this site doesn't get too heavy handed with moving/deleting, posts and our mods can refrain from drinking of the cooperate Kool-Aid). A2Jack
BTW. I post the details of the tire issues next week. In short we ran out all four tires in less than a year (20k). (Jan 08)
Do to tire problems we have parked our smart through much of this winter, thus, not much in the way of new experiences to post about. We do however try to comment often on what others have to say as we do enjoy our group.
This is an interesting time for this site with the 09s coming in and the trans re-prog to talk about, as well as the new micro-cars coming on stage to offer completion to our beloved Smarts.
Yes, most of the old guys and gals have fled, but there will be new, interesting posts to read in the future, (as long as this site doesn't get too heavy handed with moving/deleting, posts and our mods can refrain from drinking of the cooperate Kool-Aid). A2Jack
BTW. I post the details of the tire issues next week. In short we ran out all four tires in less than a year (20k). (Jan 08)
A2,
Very interested in hearing about your tire experience. Hope you find a solution for this year.
As a relative new poster to this board, I can see that it is a really good source to get some background information.
HOWEVER, after I search a given subject that has been posted on previous threads, and discussed. I just might post a NEW thread, simply because the last date of the subject I am interested in is six, eight, ten or more months old.
It seems that the Smart car has updates and/or information that is changing from time to time and I would want the latest information available from the current owners on any problems or accessories that I may want to get and install on my Smart.
Even though this is the first discussion board on cars that I have joined, I have been a member of many others of different subject mattters. I like the idea that you have a catagory for vendors, and None of the others that I am on have that feature!
Perhaps more threads on the social aspect of driving the vehicle. (and if I read enough, I may just go buy an orphan, rather than wait for my smart!!)
First, let me state that I visit this site multiple times a day, and more often than not, participate in discussions daily. I belong to most of the other smart sites (non-club-oriented, that is), but only occasionally visit them.
Personally, now the the "new car smell" is fading a bit, and there is more than ample subjective and objective information posted about most anything, I think the site might start to evolve a bit in the following ways:
1. Club support: As a central point for keeping club activities posted, facilitating inter-club activities and communications, and maybe even to be the seeds of a national organization (not just a site, but an actual car club). I understand the the current club software "plug-in" is flawed, perhaps this could also be remedied.
2. Technical forum for mod-ers and vendors. We have seen a bunch of this already, between Genius taking the time to do user polling on exhausts, and the gazillion aftermarket installs people have done. Perhaps a bit of a re-org, to tie things together better?
3. Event planning/sponsoring/organizing: This sort of ties in with #1, above, but specific to organizing events of more than a local nature. Bringing together the various clubs and potential sponsors, making everyone better aware of events, etc. To this end, I would LOVE to see the inter-site mail system beefed up, so that you could opt to send "bulk" mail out, by region, if nothing else. Obviously, this would be something that would have to be restricted, to prevent spam, but would be a major help in getting word out to folks.
4. I have asked for this before, but I would love to see a download section, where something other than graphics, or very tiny PDF's, could be posted and exchanged.
5. In the vendor realm, be able to sort/search out supporting vendors by what they offer: exhaust, maintenance components, etc - Not sure how this would happen, but perhaps getting vendors to post a high-level inventory in an otherwise read-only section, to allow searching, would help.
Reserved on . May 22, 2007
Joined SCOA March 4, 2008
Took delivery July 12, 2008
As others have noted, the pre-delivery period was a time when I was eagerly seeking information. And, in the months between joining SCOA and taking delivery, the recycling of topics had begun. There's still new stuff rising periodically, so I am still checking in daily.
One of the things which makes it worthwhile to hang around is to find out about events and gatherings. I just don't see where else I would find some information without SCOA.
IMO, the search function is almost totally worthless. This is a real problem which, if corrected, would likely reduce the number of duplicate posts tremendously! More than once, I've found information I was looking for ON SCOA by using Google! Yep, Google searches SCOA better than the built in search function. That's just sad.
We're a bit stagnant, but that's not necessarily bad. The old geezers can use the search feature (ok, it does need fixing) to find a relevant thread that they remember seeing months before, and the noobs can keep bringing up the same issues that always resurface. That's how fora always seem to work, and I think that's ideal, really. This is by far the best smart car forum for my money. I don't think there is much I'd do to change it
Maybe a section for issues that typically arise at different mile markers, like some have already mentioned.
I discovered SCOA the day I got my orphan, and it's been mad helpful ever since.
The search function is admittedly not too robust. But original thread posters (OPs) have added to the problem by including nebulous, comedic and catchy titles instead of plainly indicating what the post is all about.
S'pose I added a thread whose title read "Does yours work ....." What would I be talking about - a coupe sunshade; a transmission shifter; your DDE; or maybe selling blue pills?
Such titling is not at all helpful. When you see threads with amendments in parentheses, it means that moderators are trying to add some clarity to the titles. My own amendments begin with "(Re:...).
Stagnant for the most part and the insider site seems to have dried up also.There seems to be a "core" group here and on insider and that is it. Don't even get me started on 451s.com.Seems everyone is off doing their own thing. I was supposed to meet up with some locals todays and no one showed up.
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A2Jack
(Jan 08)
smart - aka Smurf
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