I never cared for the Smart. Reviews always derided it for its herky-jerky transmission and surprising lack of fun. I always thought you were paying a premium over a conventional B-segment hatch and getting a raw deal. I also thought the uncapitalized brand name was moronic. However, I did see the appeal of the car in big cities where space was at a premium. You were pretty daft to buy a Smart in, say, Des Moines but shrewd to do so in Rome. Well, it looks like the residents of New York City are finally warming to the diminutive hero of parking.
Maybe it’s rental companies like car2go that are inflating the number of Smarts (ugh, no, I won’t do the lowercase letter!) on NYC streets, but I’ve noticed a sharp uptick in Smarts since I was last in NYC two years ago.
I’ve tried to find street parking in Manhattan on a few occasions. It is a gigantic pain in the ass. You end up parking blocks from your destination, and that’s after sometimes 30-60 minutes of driving around fruitlessly looking for a space. The one time I found a spot right in front of my building, I spent the afternoon fretting I was too close to a hydrant. Incidentally, if it’s so important to keep the space in front of hydrants clear, why are NYPD officers allowed to park their private vehicles in front of them?
Speaking of the NYPD, they’ve started using the Smart in their fleets. They are replacing the old three-wheeled scooters which actually cost $6k more, required the driver to have a motorcycle license, and were limited to 35 mph. Jeez, I give the Smart grief but it sounds like a much smarter purchase than one of those scooters!
I thought maybe it was time to soften my stance on the Smart, considering their merits as a city commuter. But sadly, according to reviews, the car’s dynamic flaws remain. The ride is stiff, the transmission shifts roughly, and the car lacks the tossable, fun-to-drive character you would expect something looking like this would have.
It’s a pity. Just look at how it slides into that tiny parking spot…
(Editor’s Postscript: In a major shift of strategy, in the US and Canada all Smarts will be EV only, after the current inventory of gas-powered cars are sold)
Related Reading:
COAL (COJL): 2005 Smart ForTwo Passion – A Friend Till the End
COAL: 2008 smart fortwo passion cabrio – A Small Car with a Passion for the Open Road
When the Smarts first debuted, it was my understanding that they were short enough to be parked sideways into parallel spots, so you could just back in at a 90-degree angle and leave it at that.
But then I heard that our federally-mandated bumpers gave the car just a teeny bit too much length to fit, and that most municipalities would probably just ticket you for it anyway (on what I don’t know, they always think of something).
I think if I had one, that’s how I’d like to try to use it anyway, just for kicks
I’ve always felt that DaimlerChrysler missed an opportunity to capitalize on the Smart brand name as an eco friendly brand to tackle Toyota Prius. They could have sold the diesel version of the fortwo, and at the time, DCX owned the Gem brand, which was mostly glorified golfcarts, but they did sell some for campuses and retirement communities. If they had given the Gem vehicles some style and rolled them into the smart brand, IMHO it seems like they could have gained some eco traction.
The Smart car is 8.8ft long, which makes it about 2 inches too long to legally park head in.
The Diesel models like Canada could get at one time was the one to own, looks like it still had the poor shifting autoshift manual trans, though, great MPG. EU rated for 71.3 US gal MPG (800 CC 3 cylinder Turbo Diesel).
The 3rd gen from 2014 is available with a 5 speed manual transmission.
I have noticed a marked uptick in the number of Smarts in NYC over the last 5 years or so, particularly in some of the posher areas of the Upper East and Upper West sides, and the Villages. I really wanted one while we lived there, but alas it ultimately wasn’t justifiable to own ANY car four our purposes at the time. Additionally, back in the Winter of 2013-14 there were several news items about rowdy groups of vandals turning Smarts and those little Mitsubishi things on their sides or turning them upside down completely as a prank. Considering that the Smart, despite its diminutive size and lack of guts still stickers at or over $15k I’d think if I came down to the street intending to drive off in my Smart and found it upside down I’d be pretty miffed.
I’d imagine that the EV only sales approach to all future Smarts will start to cause its numbers to dwindle in the 5 Boros, as EV charging stations are hardly plentiful there. Although I could be wrong on this one too.
That Smart would end up in the crosswalk if it parked behind me like that.
+1 I was just thinking that if the CR-V doesn’t have any space in front of it, that there was going to be contact! I’d NEVER, and would probably have a fit of road rage if someone parked that close to me! 🙂
Parking like that is a fact of life in NYC. If you had road rage every time it happened, you’d need psychiatric help soon. People around here either grow a thick skin and completely disregard scraped bumpers, or use those rubber protectors, which makes their cars look like they’re wearing a soggy diaper, and doesn’t really help. Back in the day, I used to be able to parallel park my Olds Delta 88 with approximately 1.5″ to spare, and if the space was 1.5″ too small instead, the car behind me just had to move a bit. This was normal. Things are actually more civilized today than they used to be.
Smarts are not that much smaller than a 1st Gen Chevy Tracker or a ’75 Civic Hatch. And the fun to drive factor is much higher and the mileage is the same. I’d say is is a Deadly Sin.
The smallest entry in the current crop of hideous, organic car designs – soon to add lower power and shorter range to it’s other mediocre qualities. Parking may be it’s forte, but not in my driveway.
I’ll grant that it should make a great parking enforcement vehicle – especially compared to those stupid trikes that cost 6K more!
Happy Motoring, Mark
Wow, that Smart is parked rudely, however, why did the CRV leave all that space behind itself. I need to research Oregon law in regards to distances from hydrants and crosswalks you have to park.
And why is everyone assuming the CRV was there first, not the Smart? As is normally the case, we forgive the familiar over the strange. Perhaps the Smart parked first, and the CRV driver rudely nudged themselves into a spot a wee bit too small.
The Smart never made much sense to me. If I’m driving somewhere it’s because I need to carry cargo, say on a shopping trip, or else I’m going to take public transit when the destination lends itself to it, or a cab when it doesn’t. The Smart is the worst of all worlds- a car payment and need for parking, but no room for groceries or other goods.
Exactly.
Living in NYC, I’d rather rely on services like ZipCar (and of course, public transport) than have something like a Smart.
Especially because sometimes you want to get out of town and I can think of few modern cars worse to drive than a Smart.
Is having the advantage in parking really worth the other sacrifices? I’d much rather a Chevrolet Spark.
Years ago I had a Smart ,the 1999 version called city-coupe, and you won’t believe how much stuff actually fits into this vehicle! And it was quite fun to drive, only “problem” is the short wheelbase, which results in a kind of rickety ride in stop-and-go traffic. Right now I’m looking for a used Smart as a fun car, but couldn’t find a good one yet. While on search, I realized that the plastic body panels are pretty cheap, making it is easy for sellers to cover accidents or body repairs. Buyers should be aware of this.
P.S. I live in Italy and Germany and the Smart is a very common city car.
Desmo, good to know in regards to cargo space. Didn’t know that!
Smart cars remind me of a two hole outhouse on wheels.
Steve Lang has been selling ex-Zip Car SMARTs for six grand and they’ve only got 8-12,000 miles on them. I agree with most of the negativity, but for that price for a second car, why not? Put turf tires on it and pull a lawn cart around when you don’t have to take it anywhere!
You know ow how much bumper damage these things and their drivers do to others? As a doorman that sees these things all day on trying to squeeze in every spot on Manhattan streets all day, I feel they should be outlawed. I also see a couple of these with front and back bull bars which add about 3 to 5 inches in overall length. Defeating the purpose entirely.
As for the picture, it doesn’t matter how much room you give, a smart will squeeze in. If he backed up slightly it would have squeezed in front of him. It’s what they do. /end rant
I would prefer The TOYOTA IQ.more smooth& it’s a pleasure to drive with manual.
Unfortunately(?), the Toyota/Scion iq was never sold in the U.S. with a manual transmission.
For that matter, the smart was never sold in the U.S. with a diesel engine which was the only way it made any economic sense.
As has been said in other smart write-ups, the fortwo was the 1st smart model, but not the only smart model offered. There was a smart roadster and now there is a forfour (?) model with seats for 4.
Folks that use a smart in a large city even though it has next to no room inside probably don’t care. They want to travel alone, in private, and consider a smart a step up from a public taxi and most importantly a step or two above a subway car.
A friend of my wife’s used to have a 2 door Tracker … replaced it with a Smart. I think the Smart is significantly shorter. Here’s a picture I took last week in Portland, Oregon. There are a lot of Car2Go Smarts there, many with rear bike racks. This one had some interesting company.
Nice photo, I like the bug.
BTW, in a case of semi-CC Effect, I noticed a 3 wheeled parking enforcement Interceptor in our town the other day which sported a Ford blue oval on the back. An automotive in-joke … a Ford police Interceptor. Anyway, that sighting plus mention of the Interceptors here made me look up some info on them just now. Made in Canada, and claiming 69 horsepower from their 1.0 liter engine. Wow! Not only could a Smart be cheaper and more versatile, but probably much safer than 69 hp 3 wheeler.
Major asshole parking in the top shot. Oncoming cars have no way of seeing if someone is about to cross the road. Stuff like that makes me mad.
The smart is such an impractical and embarrassing car. A motorcycle IMHO would be a better choice.
I’ve become an avid fan of car2go, for the ingenious amalgamation of smartphone, GPS, and tiny city car technologies. I use it infrequently, but it always amuses me when I can rent a car instantly, for, say, 12 minutes, park it and walk away. They’ve found the sweet spot between public transit frugality and taxicab convenience.
It’s also an ingenious way for D-B to recoup their investment in developing these cars. Because, simply put, they’re horrible. I would NEVER own one.