looks like it would fit in the bed of that truck!

 

absolutely! Glad I can bring a smile to their faces. have you noticed my username?

 

Definitely, I was, and am concerned about that too. But, I basically view it as a motor cycle, and I just use it for around town trips. It's kind of like a toy car that I can just leave parked in the same place for 3 days and not worry about it - unlike the porsche.

As for the safety ratings, they are on par with other cars in it's class, such as honda fit, toyota yaris, etc. 5 star frontal, and 4 star side crash test rating I believe.

 

****s and giggles my man. That and I like the fact that it is somewhat eco-friendly being 95% recyclable, and also has good around town gas mileage. I think the prius is just horrid looking, and there are no good and cheap purely electric vehicles on the road today.

Ha! I actually tossed a suitcase full of clothes in there today and drove it over to the good will. Not to mention I also tossed my golf clubs in and hit the driving range this morning

 

[quote=jolly;2672651]****s and giggles my man. That and I like the fact that it is somewhat eco-friendly being 95% recyclable, and also has good around town gas mileage. I think the prius is just horrid looking,



If u had a prius, u would definetly be a tree hugger with an obama bumper sticker I would PM Chuck and ask him to ban u ! ROFL

 

Well, you're getting a bit beat up based on the first few replies I read and I don't want to pile on even though it sounds like folks are mainly just messing with ya, but I agree with the poster who was worried about safety in the event of a collision. T-Bone accident are typically a bit brutal, but God forbid you get T-Boned on the driver's side in the Smart.

I wanted a run around (and commuter) car as well, something I didn't have to really worry too much about getting dinged up or piling mileage on.

The VW Jetta TDI has an enormous trunk, reasonably sized back seat, 5 star crash rating all around and I'm getting 51mpg on my commute and 39mpg if i'm just running errands. Finding diesel is occasionally a drag....it's everywhere until I'm running low of course.......it tends to run about the same as premium unleaded these days and I usually wear a surgical style glove when pumping to keep my hand from reaking, but other than that I love the car.

For those looking for a second car strictly for a bit of a beater look at the TDI; it's a great car.......The interior even feels decidedly German with a great driving position and a snick, snick, snickity feel to the shifter (built in Mexico).

If you don't need or want 4 doors look at the new Golf TDI.

 

Crash tests would suggest that even when the other vehicle is an C class MB the occupants of the Smart do not fair well in a head on offset crash at moderate speeds. Anything larger than that hits it and it gets progressively worse as the other vehicle gets larger and heavier. If you Google it or just go to You Tube you'll see what I mean. With all the mammoth sized SUV's on America's roads and our "I'm so busy I can't pay attention to my driving" society I'd make sure you leave lot's of space between you and anything on the road bigger than a golf cart when you're driving it.

 

Regarding the crash concerns, hopefully this vehicle will be a "grocery getter" used for short-hop low speed driving not interstate travel. It has more protection for occupants than a motorcycle and is more visible to other drivers. Going on the roads is a risk in any car.

 

The crash test.... pretty amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8

 

Quite a video.
At 70 mph the car does pretty well (albeit impact was at a slight angle).
I guess those Smart Cars are relatively safe after all.

 

Actually, my mentality with this car is that it IS a motorcycle. I won't be driving it in the rain, and I won't be driving it long distances. Sure, it may be a bit safer than a motorcycle, but I plan on driving it like one. Short distances, around town, point A to Point B type trips.