Car Tipping

[wizard of ahs]

Maybe you can enlighten me (us). I have often wondered what kind of gas milage those things get? As you say, not toting around the weight of a 3000lb box like most cars, one would think the milage would be awesome, but posted specs are just not THAT impressive. Do they do much better than spec in real world driving? The price tag seems awefully steep, and you have to give up a lot of the typical car's convenience. What makes it worth it if not great mpg?

Here's my stats from day 1 :



My smart has ALL the bells and whistles, most of these miles are with 2 adults, 1 dog (small), back full of sh...stuff, 75+mph and lately..MAX AC

 

[Music Man]

My Elio will be protected the same way my smart is:

Light em up wizard, and let God sort em out. Been my philosophy too, ever since Vietnam! ( still saving my Dixie Cups too).

 

[imageon]

Can you get a NRA motorcycle plate.
If not what happens to the Purps. will be a complete surprise.
MK

 

[dgruis]

Over 90,000 miles of combined city/hwy driving, I have averaged 43 mpg. My wife also has a smart convertible, and compared to the mileage of my previous Lincoln Continental and her Jeep Patriot we have saved roughly $300 per month on gas the last three years.

Inconvenient/convenience are somewhat irrelevant terms, smart fortwos were not designed to be aerodynamic and fuel efficient, rather they were designed for tight Europe parking and 90% recycleable. They sit taller than a typical car, and are much easier to get in and out. They just happen to get better mpg's than typical cars because they have a 999cc engine an an automatic manual transmission.

A new smart convertible is about $18,000, but I bought two used smart cabriolets each with under 10,000 miles for $10,500 and $10,700. We still have the Jeep Patriot and a 1/2 ton PU,but we "use" them when needed; we never "drive" them when we do not need their extra abilities.

Too many people pay for extra comfort and space they do not need/use 90% of the time. I care less about my personal comfort today than the future discomforts we are causing future generations by WASTING fossil fuels which were developed over millions of years.

 

[BBGeer]

I think I would mlike this option.

 

[carzes]

Over 90,000 miles of combined city/hwy driving, I have averaged 43 mpg. My wife also has a smart convertible, and compared to the mileage of my previous Lincoln Continental and her Jeep Patriot we have saved roughly $300 per month on gas the last three years.

Inconvenient/convenience are somewhat irrelevant terms, smart fortwos were not designed to be aerodynamic and fuel efficient, rather they were designed for tight Europe parking and 90% recycleable. They sit taller than a typical car, and are much easier to get in and out. They just happen to get better mpg's than typical cars because they have a 999cc engine an an automatic manual transmission.

A new smart convertible is about $18,000, but I bought two used smart cabriolets each with under 10,000 miles for $10,500 and $10,700. We still have the Jeep Patriot and a 1/2 ton PU,but we "use" them when needed; we never "drive" them when we do not need their extra abilities.

Too many people pay for extra comfort and space they do not need/use 90% of the time. I care less about my personal comfort today than the future discomforts we are causing future generations by WASTING fossil fuels which were developed over millions of years.

I'm with you on saving fuel for all of the reasons it's a good idea. apparently those SMART's do get better than adv. mpg. I wouldn't have minded having one in Europe. I guess for me the added expense of having two vehicles in place of one would add so much to insurance/registration cost it would negate any fuel savings, not to mention the cost of the second ride. I have long maintained that if the govt was serious about saving fuel/energy independence/polution reduction they would have free registration for second econo vehicles and get the insurance companies to cover drivers instead of vehicles so it wouldn't add so much expense to have an econo back-up to the bigger family/work vehicles.

 

[2.ooohhh]

I have long maintained that if the govt was serious about saving fuel/energy independence/polution reduction they would have free registration for second econo vehicles and get the insurance companies to cover drivers instead of vehicles so it wouldn't add so much expense to have an econo back-up to the bigger family/work vehicles.

What insurance do you have? My liability and umbrella policies already follow the driver to all of my cars, the only insurance that doesn't is the actual vehicle coverage on my collector cars, which I want covered whether I'm driving them or not.(essentially full coverage agreed value) When I added a second nearly liability only daily driver I think it was like $9 a month extra.

 

[carzes]

What insurance do you have? My liability and umbrella policies already follow the driver to all of my cars, the only insurance that doesn't is the actual vehicle coverage on my collector cars, which I want covered whether I'm driving them or not.(essentially full coverage agreed value) When I added a second nearly liability only daily driver I think it was like $9 a month extra.

not sure what state you live in, but in Michigan each car has to be insured under the policy holder. If I had 12 cars in the garage each one would cost the full price of whatever coverage i put on them, minus a small 'multi policy' discount. That is a rip-off since I can only drive one at a time so only one car is at risk of collision at a time. Essentially the insurance company is collecting money to insure against a zero risk factor, and the state MANDATES it. Is that like a tax paid to the insurance company, or just outright THEFT?

 

[dgruis]

Interesting discussion, we have the best govt. that money can BUY. I assume auto insurance company would fight changes which might shrink their profits.

Free registration? Not many but a few people have told me that smart cars should be required to pay higher registration fees; because road repairs are paid by taxes collected per gallon. One (a trucker) told me," You are not paying your fair share of road repair through registration and gas taxes."

 

[JDub]

Interesting discussion, we have the best govt. that money can BUY. I assume auto insurance company would fight changes which might shrink their profits.

Free registration? Not many but a few people have told me that smart cars should be required to pay higher registration fees; because road repairs are paid by taxes collected per gallon. One (a trucker) told me," You are not paying your fair share of road repair through registration and gas taxes."

The weight of the Smart car is doing very little damage to the roads compared to a 80,000 lb. semi. Any highway heavily traveled by trucks is marked with pot holes.