I'm going to chime in like most of the other posters here, 30K on my smart and only two issues, at 1500 miles, p0410 air injection valve fault(know defect from supplier), and they replaced my broken sun screen at about 10K. Other than that, the car has been flawless. Since my 2.0 update, I've been averaging about 45mpg, and I love my car more today than when I bought it new a year ago.
My question to the OP, why would you expect anything different trying to get rid of a $19K car after 12 months? That's the problem with a lot of people in the USA today, they think they can buy something like this and they shouldn't have to take a loss on it a year later. Unless your into rare and collectable cars, NO CAR TODAY HOLDS IT"S VALUE. I'm amazed at how many people post this crap and expect us to feel sorry for them. I've been driving for over 20 years, and have yet to ever come close to breaking even on a car. Maybe I live in the wrong area? Maybe I need a new job that would let me afford to buy a new car every year? My plan is to put at least 200,000 miles on my smart, and then possibly pass it on to my son for his first car.
My experience is quite different on the earlier Canadian diesel smart. Bought my wee fortwo CDi in summer of 2005, changing over from a 1986 Celebrity wagon. It is just rolling over 73,000km (45,000 miles)So far it has saved me approximately $4800 in fuel vs the wagon.
Only had a couple of small issues that were repaired quickly and under warranty. I do most of the standard maintenance myself or through favored independent garages so comparative maintenance costs are really a non-issue.
With all the safety and comfort features this car has for the price vs any other small car on the North American market, I would buy another diesel (or electric) smart in a heartbeat.
I have had my fare share of issues with my smarty.. bought in 02-08 and now have put 17k+ on it. Most of the issues have been resolved either by me, Evilution (UK)s website or at the dealer. I love the car and would only trade it in for yet another one. I'll be the first in line for an electric one. and hope to have enough saved to not have to sell this one.
Some of you have forgotten that while we gripe about a faulty this or a noisy that.. we are truly passionate about smarts and I for one would question the intentions of someone getting rid of an 08 with 19k on it...in 09 mid year! yet he states how many add ons he has installed... also 19k in about a year? seems he liked it quite a bit!
Guys I think we are be a bit unfair. The person has the right to express their opinion as it relates to their car and experience. There have been many frustrating issues with the Smart. Having said that they are neat cars but I also question long term reliability. Either way the only thing that matters is the value of car to the person that owns it.
I think the problem is he is not just commenting on his car but all Smarts in general. If he was just talking about his car, I doubt there would be commnents like the ones that followed his post. I have had my little car since March 2008 and have not had any problems with it. I really enjoy my little car.
Just my .02 but.... what did the OP expect posting remarks like that on a site that is dedicated to the enjoyment of the car??? How can anyone put negative remarks on a site and expect there to be total agreement??? Sounds like he got a car he didn't want and when he tried to trade it in, there was a lower market value than he expected so now he is bashing every problem and issue. Hey whatever floats your boat.
The fact remains that these cars are assembled on an assembly line by bodies that do make mistakes. Check with any other manufacturer and you will see the same issues with a few of their products. They would like to think Quality Control will find all the problems but that rarely gets them all. The problems he had with the car are between him and the dealer. Listing them here will not make them go away and does no one any benefit. Sounds to me like he is just trying to stir up some controversy. I've already wasted too much time on this.
Like it or not, extensive testing and gobs of research cannot exactly duplicate day to day actual use of a car. We are all test dummies to some degree. Had mine a year and three months, and the shifter stuck once, and now the drivers door creaks like crazy when opening or closing. Still getting 40 mpg, still happy with it. Have not had the trans update, and only will if it's forced on me.
i make no apologies for the smart.
mine is OeM stock and has given me no issues in 15K+ miles.
i have a 97 Jeep TJ however, which more money put into modifications than the original purchase price. it's got 160K+ miles on it. i doubt i could get junk scrap pricing for it. but it's worth probably $25K to me.
if you modify the vehicle, it doesn't just depreciate the vehicle by the cost of the mod, the depreciation could be substantial.
personally, i think spending nearly $20K on a smart is foolish, then turning around in 12 months time and complaining about it's value is even more so. what has become of this gee-whiz instant-gratification culture we have? does no one take personal responsibility for their actions anymore?
The problem is with the locations of dealerships. IL is over 400 miles long and the Only two dealers are less than60 miles apart next to the lake.
I know smart is thought of as an Urban vehicle but I think that is so misguided.
Folks in the city have the option of using public trasportation. Folks in the country have a larger potential for gas savings per day than someone who lives in the city.
20 mile a day commute vrs 70 mile a day commute. Who is going to save more gas
Their is a lot of area in this country that is not serviced by dealers.
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