[Laila]

Hello! I am considering buying a 2009 fortwo Pure. It has 47,000 miles on it and seems like a solid car. I am having my mechanic check it out tomorrow. This would be my first smart car so I'm looking for advice, pros and cons, etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[smark]

Congratulations on your new smart car. Just keep up on the basic Schedule maintenance on the vehicle. It will be good to you and last you a long time of driving pleasure.

 

[Tiny-car-guy]

My suggestion is to please make sure that it has everything you would want. My smart is a pure and didn’t have electric windows, mag rims or the tach/clock or the cd/am/fm (just the Am/Fm radio). Soooo buying mag rims was $140 each for four, and $40 each to mount and balance each tire. Gages cost me $300 and $320 to have Mercedes install. Was able to get an OEM cd/am/fm for 1/2 price at $250 and it is probably going to be another $300 to install since the dealership has to put in new brackets and a wiring harness for it to fit. My point is i paid $7,000 for my car with $3,000 in upgrades and it is still worth only $7;000. Had I set that $10,000 aside to get a newer smart that already had everything i and the KBB was $10,000 I would own a smart worth $10k. So if the car you are buying is one you will just drive (assuming it gets a clean bill of heath from you mechanic ) that is great. In my case my insurance only covers the KBB of my car, so if i get in a wreck they will total my smart if I have $4,900 (70%in damages), so the additional $3,000 I spent turning it into the car I really wanted is money I have lost. I just see so many smart cars that come up. There was one that just came up on our Facebook marketplace for a 2015 fortwo for $6;500 with only 6;000 miles, so i would just make sure the smart you are looking at buying has everything you want on it.

 

[wahi]

I am opposite; I'd go barebones and cheap on the sale price, and then shop around for the extras. And DYI the installs...

 

[1stiski]

Drive it like you stole it . Don’t baby it . They seem to enjoy a good flogging and it keeps the mechanicals happy .. at least that’s what my wife says....with her 09 451 .

 

[PDXsmart]

That year and that price you better be under 5k.... if you want more of a DIY car go for a 451... if you want a car with a few less quirks get the 453.

 

[gtdump]

Not a popular opinion, but these are my thoughts...

They're nice little cars, as reliable as one would expect from a modern car and they seem to tolerate the years pertty well, but.......
With the brand dropped in North America, there are going to be longer and longer delays in getting parts and more parts will become NLA as the years go by. This can be a deal breaker for a car you need to rely on. All cars break down eventually, it's not a criticism of the Smart, but parts from the bigger players are more readilly available locally and there are more 3rd party manufacturers to support them for longer due to the larger number of vehicles on the road...

Plus keep in mind that a 2009 is 11 years old now, while that's not much for a modern car, it is coming up on the age where one can start to expect increased failure of some parts. You might get lucky and go years without a single failure or you might need to replace some of the more common items right away.

I think they're great as a second car, they're a blast to tinker on and in my limited experience they're reliable, but if my livelihood depended on a car being available for use, I don't know I would recommend a Smart for the aforementioned reasons. Again, it's not a knock on the car, but on the availability of parts in a pinch. If you can afford to let a car sit for a week or so while it's repaired, then go for it! They are fun to drive.

 

[Jeb Baker]

Keep looking, compare with other smarts for sale online. I had an 08 pure for about 10 years, but if it hadn't had a/c and heated seats, would never had it that long.

 

[twcom]

If you know a Smart car owner with the same type Smart they would be best to to give thumbs up or down on the value of this purchase. We backseat advisors need the three p's (Picture Price and Previous owners take on the car) to zero in better. Radiator fan, mufflers flex pipe condition and a spare key are focus points as they are troublesome potentially expensive repairs. The Smart car key is still high dollar to duplicate even worse if all keys are lost. So it it comes with only one key it's already 200 dollars less value the a car with two working keys.
Once you get one you are going to love it and we tend to trow more money at something we love so do exactly what you are doing to insure you get the mort sound one you can. Can anyone advise if an aftermarket warranty would be worth it for a 2009 Smart?. I personally have no idea.