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negotiating a smart diesel

SHOCK! HORROR! 7-year-old cars cost less than nearly-new ones.

Not really, I was more amazed at just how 'expensive' Smart cars are brand new.

For some reason, I always thought that they were a lot cheaper....:o
 
I've got to be honest, although I can see the appeal of an economical car for commuting, £10/11k buys an awful lot of petrol! :o

I know the Smart should hold it's value fairly well, but even so it's still going to depreciate, plus maybe the loss of interest on your £10k (if applicable), plus addition insurance and other such costs.

What about getting the 190E back?

Will
 
why not buy a used one? Couple of years old? You will save a bundle on depreciation surely..
 
I spend £500 per month in fuel in the SL commuting.
or
I spend £360 per month in fuel in the 190E commuting.
or
I spend £320 per month on the bike commuting.

I recon I'll only spend £175 per month in the Smart (conservative estimate), the PCP deal is £115 and road tax is zero, insurance is dirt cheap and maintenance should be much less than a 20 year old 190E. So I'll be running a new car and still be saving money.
 
Id go for the 190 every time... couldnt face driving a smart every day - the novelty soon wears off.
 
I spend £500 per month in fuel in the SL commuting.
or
I spend £360 per month in fuel in the 190E commuting.
or
I spend £320 per month on the bike commuting.

I recon I'll only spend £175 per month in the Smart (conservative estimate), the PCP deal is £115 and road tax is zero, insurance is dirt cheap and maintenance should be much less than a 20 year old 190E. So I'll be running a new car and still be saving money.

How about a 190D, or even something with a gas conversion?

You could even look at running on WVO/biodiesel etc.

Just some ideas :)
 
I spend £500 per month in fuel in the SL commuting.
or
I spend £360 per month in fuel in the 190E commuting.
or
I spend £320 per month on the bike commuting.

I recon I'll only spend £175 per month in the Smart (conservative estimate), the PCP deal is £115 and road tax is zero, insurance is dirt cheap and maintenance should be much less than a 20 year old 190E. So I'll be running a new car and still be saving money.

~1500miles a month on a bike can't be fun in the winter and will also be taking its toll on the SL, so those two would be off my list. The 190 would make more sense if it was diesel I agree.

As I'm sure you know, each of those options has their own depreciation and repair/servicing costs, which might shift things a bit.

If saving money is the name of the game then a second-hand small diesel car should beat all the above. Factor in a warranty if you're looking for peace of mind.

£6k should be something nice enough, sell after two years with the extra 36k miles and you might only loose £2k if you're lucky.
 
Out of interest, what sort of mileage are we talking here? Gotta be quite a lot - 100 miles a day?
 
I too did exactly the same calculation.

I worked it out that it was cheaper to buy a brand new smart on a PCP and run that than pretty much any other car.

It costs £162 per month plus £60 a month in fuel. It returns an average of 54MPG and thats commuting ~ 20 miles a day in stop start traffic. Road Tax is zero. This was a major consideration as Im fed up with having to apply and pay for tax each year.

Plus I managed to get a great discount on the car (email me Sp!ke and ill give you the contact details) which was built to my spec (fully loaded).

The only thing I wish I had done different was to get the diesel and not the MHD. Purely because it would return even more MPG.

Advantages are; Very cheap to run/insure, warranty, keep dry in winter, access to previously unavailable parking spaces/gaps. Keeps with the marque (just).
 
Ill be following this, im toying with getting a couple as courtesy cars.
Most likely ill go for low mileage used cars...


Our local indy uses a selction of older Mercs, which I always like to try,

C180 estate 51plate
C200K sport saloon 06 plate
CLK200 think it was X reg?

So far even though it was the oldest the CLK was really nice. We both liked it. Just not good with kids.

I would rather drive that than a smarty? they just look wrong, too narrow and too tall. Wifes parents have a Brabus one its just an odd looking thing.
 
I've nothing against the Smart, I used to have one. But there are plenty of other cars out there in the £0-95 tax bands, which is ultimately small fly compared to your fuel costs and required comfort and practicality. What I'm saying is, if you're after a bargain new or newly new car you might want to cast your net wider than just one marque. :)
 
That sounds like the one at Smart of Sheffield (JCT600). If so, their advert on Autotrader shows a price of £10,590, which is £600 off list (excluding any options it may have fitted). However, although it's a "61" model, it doesn't have the DRLs that the latest-spec models have.

If it does not have DRL`s,then it was built prior to 1 Jan 2011.
Regards
John
 
I've nothing against the Smart, I used to have one. But there are plenty of other cars out there in the £0-95 tax bands, which is ultimately small fly compared to your fuel costs and required comfort and practicality. What I'm saying is, if you're after a bargain new or newly new car you might want to cast your net wider than just one marque. :)

I've been looking at all marques but I cant find anything that has such a low pcp that gets anywhere close to the fuel consumption of the smart diesel.

I've looked at the Fiat 500, the Panda, the IQ, etc etc and the maths doesnt stack up nearly as well. Maybe my figures are flawed but.:dk:
 
Without working it all out in too much detail, £360/month seems quite a bit on fuel for the 190E? Would've thought you'd get 30mpg+ on a run?

My old W202 C200 years back always used to see 30mpg+ on little runs, and quite a bit better on longer journeys :)
 
Broadly speaking 60mpg = £0.10 /mile.
 
Surely at £360 a month, and if 10p a mile is 60mpg, that means even if Sp!ke was using the 190E every single day (including weekends) for sixty miles a day it's doing no better than 30mpg?

I know it's not unimaginable, just surprised it wasn't a bit better than that - even the 2.5L 16vs I had used to do about 35mpg or so on a run :)
 

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