The Smart thing to do is take this private. It's no longer Friday.:-)

Regards,

BenT
Mod

On May 5, 2012, at 7:43 AM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

>  It seems to me that Smart cars are sort of like I-pads or I
> phones....trendy and their main advantage is as the "Latest" thing, an "in"
> brand....not because they are actually better than other 'units"  that
> perform similarly.  The Smart cars are expensive like an I-phone, when you
> can get a similar or superior performing "unit" for very much less money.
>
>  One car that has been around for ages, the CRX Honda, those sell for
> about  a grand u$ed and get 50+ highway mpg. They last ~500,000 miles with
> ease.  I have a friend who drives these, carries his bicycle inside,
> carries his tools, even sleeps in there at times when on road trips.
> My Canadian buddies who used to own a diesel Westie...they replaced that
> with some kind of newer Honda Civic (?) 4 door generic sedan.  That one,
> too, gets right at 50mpg, has a trunk and four doors and might even be
> likely to survive an encounter with a full size vehicle.  It will probably
> still be running  fine when Smart cars are curious collector vehicles like
> the Isetta.
>
>  Those Smarts....cute little things, but really outrageously overpriced
> for what you get, as far as I am concerned.  I guess you  might
> occasionally stick one into a parking spot that wouldn't fit any other
> vehicle, but you can do that with a cheapo scooter or a touring
> motorcycle.  Probably carry more, too, on a big BMW or a Goldwing.  Putting
> a transportation device into an unconventional parking space is often
> "rewarded" with a citation or an impound, so there's not much advantage in
> the Smart's short footprint there.
>
>  The Funded RV crowd seems to like them, the ones who want to appear
> "green" by driving an Eco-friendly second vehicle and don't consider cost
> to be important.  Other RVers seem to often favor the Suzuki small 4X4s or
> the Chevy Tracker because they can go driving around the "wilderness".  I
> guess it would be an advantage for the Smart that if you got stuck, you
> could just lift the thing out of the ditch or hole or sand, but those tiny
> wheels....
>
>  Don Hanson