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[smartYsmileS]

~ Did we run out of women? I hope not

[Springlering]

I'm Melinda, from a suburb west of Atlanta. Springlering is a dance that Hobbits do. I am a huge Lord of the Rings movie fangirl.

We saw Smarts in Europe and swore we'd get one if ever they came to the US, so when we saw the article in Popular Science in early '07, we immediately reserved two.

Our first one,the Yellow Peril was mine, and arrived in March. Everyone in the house loved it. The white one arrived a month later, and went to my oldest daughter. (It was intended for the youngest, but she was freaked out by all the attention the Yellow Peril got everywhere, and for a while refused to even go out with me in it. She eventually got a motorcycle, instead.)

We couldn't help but notice that my husband was constantly making excuses to drive them. "Honey, I'm going to go fill up the cars!" "I'm going to take them up to the corner to check the air in the tires." "I think we need some milk. Back in a 'sec."

So we put him on the orphan list, but within a week found a resale here on the forum by a guy who just didn't like(!!!!) his new Smart. We bought his on the spot, and became a 3-Smart family.

Deciding to take the plunge, and since the kids are off at college now, we sold all our "grownup" cars. It hasn't been a problem, unless the five of us (including one everpresent fiancee) decide to run up to the corner to dinner, in which case we take all three cars, much to the amusement of the neighborhood.

Thankfully, most of the really overwhelming attention (my daughter and I had wonderful experiences, other than a few borderline scary encounters) has died down, although it still seems to come in odd little spurts. We each have about 10k miles on our cars, and have had no mechanical trouble whatsoever. All three run like tops.

I absolutely adore my car, and til the weather cooled off last month, did 80-90% of my driving with the top down. The Ipod jack simply rocks. How did we ever live without them?

As far as girly Smart influence, I decided I was embarrassed being a big chick in a tiny car, so now most evenings, my car is to be found parked in front of Curves, and next week I will get my 100th visit tshirt. So my Smart definitely made me smarter, and I have actually developed a fashion sense I never knew I had.

One of the best compliments I ever had in my life was when a lady stopped me at Publix the other day, and said I "dressed like I belonged with that cute little car." I took it to mean she meant we were both funky. I hope.......

And I manouevered my first U-turn the other day. Unremarkable you say? Inside my garage, to the astonishment of my daughters, who were looking slackjawed out the window. Erm, girls, don't try this.....at home.

[Suze]

Hello sister-smart-Springlering! I love your smart story! It's so wonderful to hear about the lives smart touches and how it changes us.

Have you got any pictures of the three smarts parked in front of the local restaurant? Or better yet a vid of that garage U-turn? Sounds fantastic!

Suze

[ShoshTrvls]

Love this thread.

I'm Shoshana, 47, a single mom of 1 living in Philadelphia. I've had "Zebra" since June. Since my daughter was born, 10 years ago, I've been an Outback owner, which was as close to my "perfect" car as possible (well, short of an antique Jaguar).

Over the past 15 years that I've lived in my Center City neighborhood, parking has gotten tighter and tighter. I think I was single-handedly paying the salary of 2 or 3 Parking Authority workers. And while there is a relatively inexpensive lot just a few blocks away, it's a few blocks I really didn't want to be walking through late at night. So when a friend of mine e-mailed me the website for the $99.00 reservation program in May, 2007, and knowing that my current Subie would be paid off by 2008, I made my reservation. And then forgot all about it.

By the time I got "the call," my daughter was well out of the booster seat in the car, gas was at $4.50 a gallon, and the rate for parking tickets in Philadelphia had increased 25%. And so it was -- I moved the Outback up to the Poconos and haven't looked back -- or had to park more than a half a block away from my house -- since. (Indeed, much to my detriment, as last week I had to buy a new battery for the Subie because I had forgotten to run it every so often).

And the funny thing is -- having two cars is cheaper than one. My insurance is exactly the same amount, since the Subie is now registered in the Poconos, where rates are much less than in Philly. The savings in parking lot, parking tickets, and gas (even with the price drop) is more than making up for the relatively small montly loan payments.

Plus, my daughter loves the car, particularly since she can sit in the front seat.

[smartiePrincess]

Mary, 51, living in southern Ca.
Still waiting for my smart. DDE: 12/26/08-3/26/09!

smartiePrincess