About a year ago, a friend of Tom’s called me during the workday to confess he’d just put a deposit down on a Smart Car. He sounded both excited and sheepish. No one was a greater supporter of the idea than me. I first fell in love with the Smart Car in London nearly 8 years ago. At that time, you could not get them here in the U.S. Now you can. While I personally cannot afford one, I’m so excited to know someone who can and does. A full TWO months after our friend’s car arrived, we finally got to see it AND drive it.
While it looks tiny, it honestly doesn’t feel overly small when you sit inside. The biggest adjustment for me was the transmission, which can be either automatic or manual … except the manual transmission on this one is done with levers on the steering wheel, with no clutch.
I only drove it up the road and back, but it was a hoot.
Our friend ordered a Smart Car Brabus, which I guess means it has some additional neat stuff, including some very smart airbags.
We explored the cargo options, and it looks doubtful you could get much more than a small soft dog crate inside, with the passenger seat folded flat.
While I LOVE my Toyota 4Runner, even though is quite old and has nearly at 200,000 miles, I’ve started socking away a “pretend car payment” in months when I can so that when the time comes I’ll be able to put a bunch of cash down and finance the rest of whatever I buy.
Right now, the front runners are these:
Suzuki SX4 (Crossover with AWD)
It is still smallish, but I think we could get a crate in there with the back seat folded down. Plus, you can get it with all-wheel drive, which would be great in the snow (as long as it wasn’t too deep). A few people here in our canyon have these, and from what I’ve seen, they do fine on our steep, windy roads. BUT, I was bummed to look up the fuel efficiency and see that the numbers aren’t stunning (21 city, 28 hwy). I’d really like something in the 30s or even 40s, if possible.
I haven’t driven one yet, so I don’t know if I’d like it or not.
I have driven one of these, an older one, and I liked it a lot. We’re pretty sure we could get a crate inside. We’d have to measure for sure. The non-turbo ones, if online reports are right, can get high 30s or even low 40s in mileage. I also like that they’re a bit more stylish.
Considering I recently went six weeks on one tank of gas in my 4Runner, I’m looking forward to having something … some day … that gets killer mileage. With as little as I drive, I could probably stretch one tank for a long time.
More than likely, I’ll drive my current car for many more years, but after seeing the Smart Car, I had tiny, cute car lust.
love the smart car, im sure it is economical as well when it comes to fuel consumption, eh?
I read about those govt. rebates in a recent TIME magazine. It is tempting, but I think I’ll have a hard time giving up my 4Runner. Ideally, I could get something smaller, more fuel economical for most days, but keep the 4Runner for those days up here when we need it.
The gas mileage thing that bugs me the most is that with where and how I drive I get about 20-22 miles per gallon in my OLD 4Runner, but when you look at newer cars in a similar vein, they don’t beat that by much. You’d think there would have been improvements since 1994.
My husband keeps blabbering about a ‘clunker rebate’ ($4500) that the government might be giving if you turn in a car that the EPA says gets less than 18 mpg. Our 4runners are slightly newer than yours (only slightly) so I’m not sure that they qualify but yours might!
The problem is that 4wd and high clearance is essential where we live, limiting our options.
I just love the little Smart Cars! I think they look like leather baby shoes from the 50′s. And, I think when the owners have ‘used them up’, they could bronze them and put them on their mantles…what do you think?
Good luck with deciding on a new car. I like your choices.