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42,000 miles, no issues yet. If one high dollar one comes up, good bye smart car!
Just wondering if you've decided on a replacement yet, the odds are stacked against the smart for any low cost repairs. Thanks soley to having to deal with MB dealers for most parts. Repair costs vary depending on where you take your car but parts are most likely to come from an MB dealer regardless!

Even the so called smart enthusiast site you all know and drink the kool-aid from will scalp your butt and not even give you the benefit of a reach around while doing it. :eek:
 
Just wondering if you've decided on a replacement yet, the odds are stacked against the smart for any low cost repairs. Thanks soley to having to deal with MB dealers for most parts. Repair costs vary depending on where you take your car but parts are most likely to come from an MB dealer regardless!

Even the so called smart enthusiast site you all know and drink the kool-aid from will scalp your butt and not even give you the benefit of a reach around while doing it. :eek:
We really want the 2008 smart car to last, for one more year, without $$$$ service cost. My daughter has been commuting to college, and back with it. She loves the gas milage. We own a Fit, and 500 too. My wife really wants another 500. I'd like to get a larger 4 door car, when we all go out together. Something comfortable, and gets good gas milage. Been looking at the new VW Passat.
 
Now there's a car that will break the bank when it's out of warranty. VWs have awful electrics.
 
have 09 convertible..... $48k+ miles. normal maintenance only. no tires, no brakes. just windshield washer fluid, wiper blades, filters, key battery (1), etc. only "undesirable" cost was blower motor. best car ever drove. most fun car on rode. i am in the auto business for 30+ years and have "driven them all."
 
Just wondering if you've decided on a replacement yet, the odds are stacked against the smart for any low cost repairs.
The sky is falling - NOT!

The odds are stacked against most smarts ever needing any high cost repairs. It seems that the vast majority of smarts have proven to NOT need any high cost repairs and many have required NO REPAIRS!

Personally, we are too busy enjoying our repair free 2008 smart cabrio to worry about a "what if" replacement. The Fiat 500 Abarth might be nice if only it had more headroom or came as a cabrio.
 
The sky is falling - NOT!

The odds are stacked against most smarts ever needing any high cost repairs. It seems that the vast majority of smarts have proven to NOT need any high cost repairs and many have required NO REPAIRS!

Personally, we are too busy enjoying our repair free 2008 smart cabrio to worry about a "what if" replacement. The Fiat 500 Abarth might be nice if only it had more headroom or came as a cabrio.
As usual you skipped the important part of my post because you don't like to hear or see that a smart isn't what you think it is.

"Thanks soley to having to deal with MB dealers for most parts. Repair costs vary depending on where you take your car but parts are most likely to come from an MB dealer regardless!"

Lets see if I can get you to wrap your mind around this!

My smarts last oil change which consisted of 3.5 qts of Mobil One with a no name filter run me $300 and some change, Now an 8 qt Mobil One oil change with a Mobil One filter in my 8 cyl Camaro runs me a whopping $89 including disposal fees and taxes!

But wait there's more!

Here's another example for you, the trans that was replaced in my smart was $6000 installed NTM the car was down for almost a month, and the 6L80E in my Camaro at the most will be $3500 installed if it ever needs to be replaced PLUS the part can be obtained in 24 hrs! Unless of course I want the tricked out B&M 6L80E which comes to $5500 installed but it has a seven day wait!

Now can you sit there with a straight face and tell me how the cost of repairs and maintanance are better with a smart now that I've shown you the difference?
 
When you take your smart for the oil change/ 10k, 20k, 30K, 40 (whichever) they are doing much more than an oil change. Depending on which 10K your at.
We have not had them do the oil change/maintenance check since the 10K one. We do our own now, on the smart and our other vehicles.

Did you take your Camaro to the dealer for the oil change? I can get our full size GMC pickup's oil changed at our local oil & lube place done for $35.00.

The last part we needed for the Dodge minivan I had to go to the dealer for and it was not inexpensive. Several years ago they charged almost $600.00 to install a $40.00 part. Point is that all parts and labor performed at a dealer are expensive it really doesn't matter what brand of car it is.

So glad that my hubby can do most of the work on our cars and when he can't I've got a good local mechanic who will work on any of them including my smart.
 
I always go to the dealer for service, I spent more that 20 yrs working on other peoples cars! (GM, Chrysler, VW, Ford....the list goes on) so I'm not about to do the grunt work on my own car! My Camaro service schedule is the same as the smart for the most part except it doesn't have a timing belt, no valve adjustment needed, it actually came with iridium plugs, four wheel disc brakes (no clean and adjust) yada yada yada.

I make enough that I don't care what it cost to have it done at the dealer but there are others that see a large estimate or bill from the dealer (because the part that broke can only be done by a dealer) and start to wonder what they're going to eat until the end of the month because they need their car or they just can't afford to have the car fixed!

My point is that what you think you save in gas is eaten up by the high prices of service and maintenance especially if you actually drive your car like I did (two oil changes a year), but some don't drive their car much so they just can't see it!

I will get another smart but not until the style is changed and I'll drive it once in a while but not all the time like I did with my Brabus, my other cars are far more comfy!
 
My smarts last oil change which consisted of 3.5 qts of Mobil One with a no name filter run me $300 and some change, Now an 8 qt Mobil One oil change with a Mobil One filter in my 8 cyl Camaro runs me a whopping $89 including disposal fees and taxes!
Apples to oranges - American made mass produced parts to include aftermarket readily available to Euro with limited N.A. distribution and few aftermarket parts. But most of us knew that going in and obviously, smarts are not for everyone?

No one requires you to pay the smart Center $300 for an "oil change." My last Mobil 1 oil and filter change cost less than $45.

And as the majority of owners have not had major failures, the high cost of parts has not been an issue for most owners.

Life is about choices, perhaps you should make a choice to rid yourself of that money pit?

Sorry that your smart glass is half empty. Our smart glass is half full! :D
 
I always go to the dealer for service, I spent more that 20 yrs working on other peoples cars! (GM, Chrysler, VW, Ford....the list goes on) so I'm not about to do the grunt work on my own car!

I will get another smart but not until the style is changed and I'll drive it once in a while but not all the time like I did with my Brabus, my other cars are far more comfy!
Apples to oranges - American made mass produced parts to include aftermarket readily available to Euro with limited N.A. distribution and few aftermarket parts. But most of us knew that going in and obviously, smarts are not for everyone?

No one requires you to pay the smart Center $300 for an "oil change." My last Mobil 1 oil and filter change cost less than $45.

And as the majority of owners have not had major failures, the high cost of parts has not been an issue for most owners.

Life is about choices, perhaps you should make a choice to rid yourself of that money pit?

Sorry that your smart glass is half empty. Our smart glass is half full! :D
Read my post above sport!

And I didn't get rid of my smart because it was a money pit I got rid of it because it no longer fit my needs.
 
CB? What model smart do (edit: or did) you have? Mine has a timing chain, not belt. It's just under 80k miles and I've been patiently waiting for the transmission to explode, along with the clutch, shifter as well as the fuel pump (in all honesty I picked up a new fuel pump around 50k miles ago awaiting failure).

So far this car has really yet to heavily disappoint me so my Kool-Aid must be really strong. I do question why they didn't spend the extra few dollars for 4 wheel disc brakes but there isn't a doubt in my mind it will be on the next generation smart. (that could be the Kool-Aid talking :p). My biggest problem was the roof crazing and to be honest it doesn't really bother me anymore.

As far as your Camaro, yes apple-orange comparison but to be honest - Chevrolet has come a long ways in quality, especially since the last gen Camaro. I've dodged parts falling off them driving down the road before. It should be a good car.
 
CB? What model smart do (edit: or did) you have? Mine has a timing chain, not belt. It's just under 80k miles and I've been patiently waiting for the transmission to explode, along with the clutch, shifter as well as the fuel pump (in all honesty I picked up a new fuel pump around 50k miles ago awaiting failure).

So far this car has really yet to heavily disappoint me so my Kool-Aid must be really strong. I do question why they didn't spend the extra few dollars for 4 wheel disc brakes but there isn't a doubt in my mind it will be on the next generation smart. (that could be the Kool-Aid talking :p). My biggest problem was the roof crazing and to be honest it doesn't really bother me anymore.

As far as your Camaro, yes apple-orange comparison but to be honest - Chevrolet has come a long ways in quality, especially since the last gen Camaro. I've dodged parts falling off them driving down the road before. It should be a good car.
Sorry, I got the smart confused with my Nissan for the timing belt. My trans did explode as explained in previous post also the cost of repair was not an issue for me but for most other smart owners it would be.

I don't get the apples and oranges that you and MB DNA are refering to when it comes to parts since MB has been in this country for many years and they do have a very large parts distrbution network so it sounds like a piss poor excuse to me! As for your dig at the Camaro that's your opinion and you are entitled to it, but I've had no issues with any of the 5 generations that I've owned over the years but I take care of my cars. There's only been two cars I've owned that left me on the side of the road, my smart and the GT500 that ate itself leaving the dealer! That car was in fact Found On Road Dead!
 
As for your dig at the Camaro that's your opinion and you are entitled to it, but I've had no issues with any of the 5 generations that I've owned over the years but I take care of my cars.
:confused::confused: Was not a "dig". At the last gen = yes, current = NO. Everyone I know who had one had multiple problems. I take that back, one friend kept one of his that didn't give him any problems, an '02 SS I believe. Being a car guy and having family that is in the business it was dozens of friends that had them.

Since you had a problem with your smart I can see how your glass is half while those of use who haven't had a problem have a half full perspective. :wink:
 
I agree it goes through windshields and light bulbs. The repairs cost no more than my other cars. Yes dropping the engine to get to the spark plugs is odd, but hey the space they squeeze it into is amazing. The software fixed the early model shift issues and was free for me.

We just bought the 2011 to replace the 2008, Okay you caught me ... we kept the 08 too, as the trade in was low. The 2011 rides better, shifts better and cost less that the 08 orphan. Despite two accidents it has no dents ;-). No door dings either.

I will admit we did sound system/GPS and such upgrades right away. My wife commutes to Los Angeles and San Francisco with alarming regularity. She only complains about the ride and stupid questions. Still she just bought a second one. I think that means she likes it.
 
My point is that what you think you save in gas is eaten up by the high prices of service and maintenance especially if you actually drive your car like I did (two oil changes a year), but some don't drive their car much so they just can't see it.!
We've had our smart for 2 1/2yrs and 60,239 miles. We have changed our oil 2 to 3 times a year. We do it and the maintenance ourselves because we're are one of those owners who don't have lots of extra money. I'm still not worrying about an expensive repair bill with our smart. If it happens we'll deal with it. I'm not selling the car because I think there may be a high repair bill sometime down the road.

We also own a 1994 Nissan Pathfinder 4X4 with 185,000 miles on it, a 1994 GMC pickup with over 160,000 miles and a 2005 Dodge Caravan with 130,000 miles(I haul kids 5 days a week). We've had to have the transmission on the pathfinder @ $1800 several years ago. It's engine is still in good shape & it's still our go to vehicle for bad weather. My point is we tend to keep cars/trucks until they croak.
Our smart was our first brand new car in 36 years of marriage and I plan to keep it a long time! When I'm done hauling kids I plan to get my own smart.
 
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