2 years and 31,000 KMS wth my SMART car......

Took delivery of a new 2009 SMART Passion coupe back on March 28, 2009 as my daily driver........and since I posted a one year update here back when, I figured you'd all like to hear about year two and how it has ended.

Rather uneventfully I must say.......the damn car is spectacular and trouble free. Never went to the dealer once this past year for anything.

Still getting 50+/- MPG in the city and around 60 on the highway. The car pulls hard to the redline in all the gears and doesn't burn a drop of oil. The recent increase in gas prices is killing me though.......spending $35 on gas every two weeks is just too much of a sacrifice.........



Just had the schedule "B" major service completed at the local Mercedes dealer.......$385 total for an oil change (4 liters of Mobil 1), an oil filter, air filter, computer scan, road test and visual inspection. 2 hours labor plus parts..........had them blow out the climate control micro filter with compressed air for $20 versus paying $85 for the SMART replacement filter and another $20 to swap it out.....what a scam that is.......

Add another $135 to swap out my winter tires and then mount and balance all 4 summers.....my two front winter tires were toast, so I threw them away after by my estimate roughly 15,0000 KM of use (YIKES !!!!) and there is only about 40% remaining on the rears. We had a real 6 month winter full of snow this year, so it wasn't like I was running laps at the Ring with them......apparently my summers only have about 50% left as well........these cars eat tires like a Turbo Porsche. Although, it is unstoppable in the snow with winter tires.......went to the mountains a number of times this year without fear or a single problem.

An AC evac and recharge was free under the warranty ..........nice touch. Got cold air again just in time for summer.

Add $85 for a brake fluid flush........not bad. FWIW my brakes have 25% left on the front pads and 75% on the rear. Going to eventually replace the front pads with aftermarket units that do not throw off prodigious amounts of brake dust like the OEM units do. Every SMART owner complains about this on the SMART forums..........

Finally I paid $40 for two new headlight bulbs..........considered routine maintenance on the car after 2 years or 40,000 KMS..........the short wheelbase is so harsh riding that it eventually breaks the filaments in the bulbs from all the long term banging around.

So, total out of pocket operating expense not counting gas or insurance was $685 Canadian in year two and $145 Canadian in year one........and our insurance went down $200 this year as well.........FWIW I drive the living piss out of the car, redline shifts, hard cornering, using the manual F1 mode almost all the time when conditions permit......I treat it like a rental.

Lastly, the windshield finally got the magic BB........driving back on the highway I got hit hard last week and I now have a 2 foot crack across my screen......but I will wait another month until they totally clean up the streets of all the gravel that they use here before I spend $350 replacing it.

My only complaint thus far........?? I am getting tired of the harsh ride and constant reading of the road conditions that I have to undertake to have a comfortable commute. You've got to think far ahead of the car when motoring along. Short wheelbase cars are like that for the most part so I can't complain too much as I knew it going in, but still, it is becoming a real PITA as our winter here was sooooo brutal that our roads are the worst I have ever seen in my life. Think what the main drag in Baghdad must have looked like after Tazandjan was finished with it.

Would I buy another one when my lease is up next March ? Yes, but........I am getting a brand new yellow FIAT 500 base model instead for $16K.......as I want a real stick shift, 50 % more HP and it still gets 90% of the gas mileage of the SMART car.

Behold "Azulzinho"..........the road warrior.
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Our gallon is 15% larger IIRC but we always got the same engine as you did........a Mitsubishi 1.0 liter 3 cylinder gas unit from 2008 onwards........prior to that we had the diesel.

 

'Nuff said........doubters.....all of you.....LOL !!!
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There was a software upgrade for the transmission ECU that addressed that complaint. IMHO it is still a little slow in the auto mode, but my impression of the F1 shifting times and "crispness" is very good now. Sure, it's no F430..........