Any experience of SMART ForFour?

[Bobby Dazzler]

Had a bit of a crazy idea today...

Been offered a 1.3 SMART ForFour Pulse today for £99 deposit, plus £99 per month for a year, after which I hand it back - all including VAT!! Maximum of 10,000 miles and no need to service unless warning light shows when I hand it back (should still be between two and five thousand miles away). Seems like a cheap way of adding a third pseudo-MB to the Dazzler fleet.

Thinking of using it for my 21 mile (70 mins) round trip to work and back - mostly queuing. Doing 20mpg in the C32, so if a SMART can do twice the MPG it will almost cover the cost of the lease. Bonus being less miles on the C32.

Anyone got any experience of SMART, regardless of model? Good, bad or indifferent?

What mpg could realistically be expected for heavy town traffic?

PS Seems the ForFour is being dicontinued which probably explains the deal being so good!!

 

[kenwaic]

i had a diesel one recently as a courtesy car ,they are quite good to drive reasonably quiet and very good on fuel ,i think i managed just over 60 on a run from glasgow to edinburgh.nippy for a diesel too,BUT the model i had for a week threw up a few electrical gremlins ,on more than a couple of occasions it refused to start and the electric windows had a mind of it's own,though if you are not keeping it for long and you might get a better built example than the one i had, i say go for it ,you can lose that amount in depreciation in a week never mind in a year

 

[sym]

Not a crazy idea at all ... was thinking along similar lines myself (although would need to put a few more than 10k miles on the clock. Where were you offered the deal and was there the option to do a slightly higher mileage ?

Got to weigh up the cost of additional insurance too, I guess, and can't comment on the ForFour although haven't heard anything too negative about them .. its almost an M-B, after all

Where was the offer, just out of interest ?

S.

 

[BonzoDog]

Had a ForFour for two weeks in Italy last year. It was surprisingly good in terms of performance and comfort. We were sceptical when it turned up instead of the Punto we thought we had ordered but we were more than happy with it at the end of the hols. Economy was at small car levels but not brilliant.

 

[smartbrabus]

its almost an M-B, after all

You mean almost a Mitsubishi (Colt), but with the great aftersales support of M-B

 

[smartbrabus]

Anyone got any experience of SMART, regardless of model? Good, bad or indifferent?

I've had 2 (see sig). Wouldn't buy one again purely due to abysmal depreciation, but that sounds like a good value lease for a year. They are rumours of them stopping production of the 4-4 already, to concentrate on the 4-2. Roadster production stopped last year. They are desperately trying to work out how to turn a profit I think - haven't yet broken even since the brand was launched in 1998.

Don't know much about the 4-4, but should be as reliable as the Mitsi Colt it is based on. I seem to remember there was one or two recall items.

 

[Rose Chap]

I had a 1.5 auto h(d)ire car once and it was rubbish, but then so are most small engined autos.

That does sound like a good deal - I'm sure you'd miss the comfort of the C Class though!

And regarding economy, after absolutely thrashing the hideous little auto FourFour round the M25 and up the M11 to Kings Lynn, I managed an average of 19mpg...

 

[lil.smartie]

I love my forfour 1.5 95 bhp diesel. It's the best one to go for and I have the auto box not the manual so I got the paddles for changing gear too!

£99 pm sounds like a good deal as long as it's not a 1.1 manual! Also bear in mind you can pick up a year old Passion spec one for £6000 at the moment!

pm or email me if you want more info on a purchase!

Kate

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Where was the offer, just out of interest ?

MB/SMART Birmingham. I suspect all SMART centres will be keen to do a deal as they're finishing production it seems.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

You mean almost a Mitsubishi (Colt), but with the great aftersales support of M-B

That's probably a good thing. My wife had a Colt as her first car and loved it!!

Must say I have never never heard even a mediocre word said about them!!?? ...Mitsubishi Colts that is!!

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I love my forfour 1.5 95 bhp diesel. It's the best one to go for and I have the auto box not the manual so I got the paddles for changing gear too!

£99 pm sounds like a good deal as long as it's not a 1.1 manual! Also bear in mind you can pick up a year old Passion spec one for £6000 at the moment!

pm or email me if you want more info on a purchase!

Kate

£99pcm was for a 1.3 petrol Pulse. Said they should be able to do a diesel for an extra £40 (ish). I doubt I'd pull back the £40 in fuel savings though - that's effectivelys increasing the cost of the car by 40%.

KATE - Lease was attractive as it caps what I need to spend on it - buying means I have to find someone to buy it at the other end!! Not keen on selling cars!! Would you happen to know what's the cheapest a second-hand RHD FourTwo can be had for? Sister-in-law is 17 in a couple of months, and she loves them.

 

[lotusmark2]

I have a 4-2 and have to be very honest and say although its "quirky" its a damb good little car.
My biggest issue is it odd little gear box but you soon get over that.
As others have commeted, the 4-2 is a scratch build by MB where as the 4-4 is a mitubishi in Smart clothes.. I think your deal sounds a belter, even got me thinking about moving from the 4-2 to a year old 4-4!

 

[lil.smartie]

RHD fortwo earliest will be on a 51 plate and expect to pay around £4-£4500.

We were at auction on Mon and saw a LHD y-reg go for £3050 when it had no MOT and needed £300 of work at least due to a front end bash!!!!!

The 1.3 is a really nice car to drive, our mechanic has one in Passion spec with the auto box but it's really nice. 95 bhp too so not under powered either!
The petrol engines are mitsubishi ones, the diesel are merc.

Kate

 

[grober]

SMART forfour production definitely ending, see http://www.channel4.com/4car/news/news-story.jsp?news_id=14270
Smart brand to be incorporated into Merc. I would stay clear frankly.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I would stay clear frankly.

Stay clear because they're not going to be produced any longer or some other reason? On a 12 month lease I don't need to worry about selling it.

 

[grober]

I guess because its not going to be produced anymore. Fair enough if its just for a years lease but if its such a great car why are they stopping making it? Certainly in some dealers the separate Smart Showrooms/service reception are being closed as separate entities and relegated to a corner of the Mercedes Showroom. theres quite a good review here which backs up what others have said http://www.whatcar.com/car-review-full.aspx?RT=608#Road
I suppose I am slightly wary of taking on a low volume model which is ceasing production but as a short term lease should be OK. This from a guy driving a 10 year old Merc!

 

[Robby]

I've had a 1.1 4-4 as a courtesy car a couple of times, which is ok, just so slow.

Had a 1.3 or 1.5 colt as a courtesy car for a couple of weeks, it was awful. Didn't handle at all, no power, no traction, and the clutch overheated on me.

However, my day to day car is a roadster and I love it. Dodged the depreciation by buying it at a year old for 8k, and its cheap and fun to own.

 

[Ashley]

They tuned up at work once with a smart, I told the young lad to take it back and cancel the service.

 

[barrie013]

My next door neighbour has had a ForFour (passion) for about a year, and has had no problems with it at all. It was an ex-demo car, and apart from having to wait a couple of days for service items(which would not affect a lease car) the only other problem was the drivers seat 'sinking' over a short period of time. This turned out to be caused by the fact that he was sitting on the height adjuster, and after he turned it around...no more problems. Seems to be an excellent little car, and if I needed one I wouln't hesitate.

 

[lotusmark2]

They tuned up at work once with a smart, I told the young lad to take it back and cancel the service.

OK, I'll bite as I am in a bad mood this morning......WHY?