Edmund's sarcastic attempt at a long term review

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Permalink Reply by SATO on May 5, 2009 at 12:15pm

If you have the time leave the guy some comments.. his email is linked in the article..... ;-)

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Permalink Reply by mr bad example on May 6, 2009 at 12:24pm

edmunds is almost as bad as "consumer reports"... for starters... "With $99 of our own money laid down early, we fully expected to be at the front of the list. We weren't. When cars started funneling into dealerships, we were told that ours would be here late in 2008. That wasn't going to work for us. We decided to go to a different dealership and see what we could manage." hmmmmm.... what is early? i got my smart in january 2008, so it wasn't earlier than me.

"Volumetrically speaking, the Smart's 70 hp/liter nearly matches the Chevrolet Corvette Z06's 72 hp/liter. Yeah, it's a stretch, we know, but even our used 2005 VW Jetta makes more power than the Smart." the first sentence was ok, the second is a firm slap at the smart (these guys aren't that bright, they capitalize "smart").

"Air-conditioning, a radio, power door locks and heated seats. Just like in big people's cars! ".... "big people's cars!"? are smart drivers liliputians? i'm 5'8", am i a midget? i can see what's on top of the fridge without standing on something. pures come without radios (as standard), i got a new type 10 for $80 on ebay, not the $325 smart wanted for the type 9. this is a slap at smart owners.

"A surprising amount of space behind the rear seats, but best used for items that you 1) want cooked by engine heat and 2) want lobbed at you when you stab the brakes." it doesn't get hot enough to cook anything back there, and how often do you "stab the brakes"? if you're a tailgating buffoon, maybe you stab the brakes a lot...

"One liter of fury. Use it wisely." this one speaks for itself...

"Best Fuel Economy: 43.4 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 25.7 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 34.8 mpg"

hmmmm.... my worst (first tank) was 37mpg, my best was 61.6mpg (so far)

this guy does get the facts right, but he's got a large magazine of ammo which he uses to take "pot shots" at the car and people who choose to own it. wonder what he said about the Chevrolet Corvette Z06?

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Permalink Reply by SATO on May 6, 2009 at 1:32pm

all I know is that my smart takes off at the lights as quick as anybody else. I usually find myself passing every one on the highway... My wife tells me I'm a little blue lightning bolt on the road. I've gotten a couple of SPEEDING tickets in my smarty... so I don't get the rant that the car is too slow. anyway anyone caught going over the ridiculously low speed limits in this country in ANY vehicle can and usually gets a ticket... Drive a Bugatti, a Sherman tank, a Hummer or a mini over the posted limit, its all the same ticket.
0-60mph times are as useful as methane percentages of a fart! WHO cares!... well maybe guys with chewing tobacco in their gums do when they come to a stop light and just have to show off their big block V20 with 26 liter capacity. yeah that is really intimidating.UNTIL... I just run into them at the gas station and I put my 18 dollars to filler up WITH premium as they fill it up with regular for 45 bucks and go half the distance I can........................who's laughing now!

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Permalink Reply by SmartGurl on May 14, 2009 at 3:20am

I miss ya SATO! Great to see you going strong and mighty on here.... I may be quiet but I'm not gone from this forum! Glad to see that you are a blue lightening bolt my friend, break the stereotype and remember, there's a little lady doing the exact same thing on the West Coast. I did it this morning in fact with an S class, well I "tried" to keep up but when we got to the next line I could tell he was staring so I broke the ice by rolling down the window and yelling with a smile... "YOU KNOW YOU WANT ONE! ADMIT IT!" He smiled and it broke the ice and he wanted to know where the shop was so he could stop by! So as long as we are out there, our little efforts (without endangering others) will change the stereotype. I will tell you this... every person we meet due to the business, they always tell us "you know! I see these car little cars PASSING ME on the freeway.." and I simply smile and say "yup, because that's how we roll." And I know you are smiling and saying "yup"!

Be well and safe driving my friend,
SmartGurl

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Permalink Reply by SATO on May 15, 2009 at 11:51am

Thanks Rachel.....

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Permalink Reply by smarttask on May 14, 2009 at 6:02am

"0-60mph times are as useful as methane percentages of a fart! WHO cares!... " I LOVE IT
SATO You have just taken the lead in the 2009 451's.com statement of the year, i never
thought i would be saying this to you but well done.
We are not driving a Porsche,Lamborghini or Ferrari we are driving a fantastic little plastic car that was
made for the city's of europe for driving in and out of traffic and easy parking. OK you could drive across the states in a Smart if you wanted and it would get you there no problem but that is not what they were made for, its a city car and
as of yet there is nothing to beat it............................................
Roger Italy

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Permalink Reply by Seumas Warren on May 20, 2009 at 11:16am

Wow, just read the Edmunds review. Seems I have heard this kind of one sided reporting somewhere else??? Oh yeah, the mainstream media. That was the most one sided biased review I have ever read and the comments from people who have obviously never driven a smart were even worse. I think the only positive thing they reported was the turn radius. Well, I just got my smart on May 2 and so far I am loving every bit of it. Is it as smooth of a ride as my Nissan Maxima? No, it is not perfect but what car is? As far as the mileage, even though I have not gotten the mileage I want to get (ex, Mr bad examples' kick butt mpgs) I am still getting a hell of a lot more than they are. 25 mpg???? I don't think I could drive my car bad enough to get that dismal fuel economy. I have yet to get less than 36 mpg and have already achieved 41 (it's hot in S FL and I run the A/C a lot, could get better if I also wasn't a lead foot) and my car isn't really broken in yet with just about 2500 miles on it. Guess there will always be naysayers no matter what. They could of at least gone in to the review with a true journalistic attitude. Reports the facts, all of them, both sides of the story. Again, something that article has in common with mainstream news reporting. Granted I will admit I wanted a smart initially because to me it looked too cool, but the mpg also got me hooked. I have driven big cars and small cars in my life time and out of all of the small cars I have owned and driven (74 vw bug, festiva, toy pickup) this one absolutely drives the best and has the most luxury features. It blows away my old festiva in fuel economy, acceleration, and top end speed. It just lacks the back seat lol. You can't judge a small car with SUV standards, which is what it seems they did here.

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Permalink Reply by Greg Ballantyne 1 day ago

I don't know where all these lousy mpg's come from, or the EPA ratings. I've never gotten less than 40 (first tank), and have gotten as high as 47, and consistently 42 - 44. I'm not using any hypermiling techniques, I'm not even careful about speed, acceleration, or shifting. I thought it perhaps was miles per cold start (I've got a long commute) but have seen others posting here that seem to refute that. I did drive a 2009 for a day while mine was in for the 10000 mile service, and it appeared to get lower mpg, but someone else had filled it and set the trip meter. In my car I'm averaging 43mpg 'over the life of the vehicle' which by the way is longer than Edmund's vehicle life to this point.
Perhaps they've changed the article some - I just read it today and didn't see all the quotes referenced here. I've gotten all the same dumb-ass questions like I'm sure the rest of you have, can you take it on the highway, one insisted I shouldn't be putting gas into an electric vehicle, comments about 'kiddie cars' and such, and the top repetition candidate - 'Do you feel safe?'
I'm sure we all like to 'feel safe' from time to time, but looking back over my life the times during which I was either having the most fun, achieving my best accomplishments, or making the memories behind the best stories I can tell, I was never 'feeling safe'.

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Permalink Reply by Seumas Warren 1 day ago

Last week I got my first stupid comment, "Hey, your not supposed to be putting gas in that" from some dumb arse. There was enough background noise for me to play it off like I didn't hear him. And so I did. And he drove off looking like an idiot lol. I might of responded with a witty comeback if he wouldn't of had such a STUPID comment. I have a good sense of humor and can laugh at myself with ease, but it's gotta be funny otherwise I just just don't respond like that. Just bought the Area 451 cruise control and will install it tomorrow in preparation for my next long trip to visit my mother in central Fla. I will then really get to see what kind of mileage I can get out of my 2009 passion for two. So far city driving in Miami (horrible place to drive) I have not been able to get over 40 in the city only the few times I have hit the highway.

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