Is this a Smart decision?

[messerschmitt owner]

Smart=Gay. A bloke a t work has one and his boyfriend has a 206CC. Mate's missus has a Brabus one and he would rather drive his diesel VW van

 

A car trader mate has yet to sell one to a man. I drove one once less than quarter of a mile and refused to drive it any further and caught the bus home. They are fucking horrible things.

true autoshite then!

 

hang on, what am I thinking - I must pop round and roger you up the bum, seeing as I am obviously ghayer than a ghay thing!

[dollywobbler]

You get a lot of gay people driving 2CVs. Perceived sexuality has never bothered me when it comes to choosing cars! Gay people tend to be quite nice, so I'm happy to be perceived that way if people are going to judge me by the car I drive.

 

Certainly seems a car that splits opinion. Very interesting.

[TheScrapman]

I bought one new in 2000, a Smart Passion, black/black. Quite an unusual car on the roads back then.

 

It was something like 62bhp new, I got it up to around 95bhp (and no speed limiter) with a remap, airbox, naughty exhaust etc. 195 tyres all round. Was really good fun once you got used to the gear change.

 

I guess as a new car, I didn't suffer the gremlins since reported, but someone t-boned me in a Peugeot 405 or 6. 405/6 had smashed front and radiator, smart had scratches and a bent rear suspension control arm. Very impressed.

 

Sold car, took insurance money, bought a '74 corolla with AE86 engine and put the rest of the money as deposit on a flat. Happy days.

[dollywobbler]

Sadly, I think it's academic now. Insurance is going to be the issue. Definitely liking the Cappuccino idea for some tiny-blown-three-pot thrills though... (who mentioned rust?)

[meggersdog]

I owned one for ten days about three years ago.Bought it to sell on and the chap who bought it flew in from Ireland and drove back.It was an early 2000 lhd in bright yellow but had only covered 19k from new.

It had the little button on the side of the gear lever for fully automatic or use the lever sequencially.When in auto mode it was forever changing gear,third to fourth then back again.Even in left hand drive it was a blast nipping into town and back.The longest trip I took was 35 miles to collect it.I'd have another one if it was cheap enough.

[mattblack]

I think my next vehicle really must have three cylinders though.

 

[dollywobbler]

Oh yes. That'd do. Was brill when our Stondon Autoshite meet got invaded by Berkeleys!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Why don't you diversify your shite options and get a Smart fourFour. All the key shite boxes are ticked - overpriced when new, cynical marketing exercise, canned halfway through its life and now too obscure to be on anyone's shopping list. Probably got a few key parts that are really hard to find too now. I saw one today and immediately realised it would be the perfect car for me in a few years.

[scooters]

The scim looks like it has had a hard life on the outside BUT the interior looks reasonably tidy and they are notoriously poor wearing - you'd want to check the chassis - thick iron but it does rust eventually - considering a sorted scim would cost you upwards of 3k this could be a good option if the fibreglass is as good nick as he says it is - I personally think the auto is a good idea - whilst it is a bit more thirsty than the overdrive version the manual gearbox can be a bit fragile.

 

one thing to watch out for is that the clock only has 5 digits - anything 'under' 40k is likely to be 140k or even 240k - the combination of rust free motoring and tough ford engines means these babies can go for ever - there are a lot of sheds out there.....

 

Mechanically the only thing to be wary of is the cooling system - make sure you flush it out often and it is usually a good idea to fit a kenlowe.

 

get the Scimitar - its a proper car

 

Smarts are crap

[scaryoldcortina]

Hotwire drives a fourFour. Can't get a better endorsment than that

[dollywobbler]

There are a few Scimmies on my Ebay watch list, along with Cappuccinos, a couple of MGBs, a Fiat 126, that Peugeot 204 Coupe and a knackered Traction Avant. Bit of an eclectic mix, and they all finish long before the Landy sells and I actually have some money to spend. Who knows what I'll actually end up with!

[trigger]

I looked into buying a Forfour a few years ago for Mrs T, I had a good look over one and quite liked it, They seem well put together and used Mitsubishi mechanics IIRC.

 

This one's only £1995 which is very cheap.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Smart-Car-Forfour ... 3a5e699a58

[scooters]

there's an uber nice Toyota Crown for sale on ebay just now - I think you need some luxury in your life!

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOYOTA-CROWN-MS11 ... 33648fe1c7

[dollywobbler]

That really doesn't do it for me Scooters. A Vauxhall Senator is more my kind of barge. And there don't seem to be many of those about at the moment. Apart from a limo, which has already been firmly vetoed.

[messerschmitt owner]

many of the forfours are three pots!

 

they've sod all space in them - I tried and failed to fit not two, but only one mobylette scooter inside!

[Pete-M]

I do the odd bit of work on a Brabus ForFour.

 

Other than having had the suspension replaced with granite, and 22 mpg in town, it's actually not bad.

 

The cooking one the owner had previously was tedious in the extreme.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That really doesn't do it for me Scooters. A Vauxhall Senator is more my kind of barge. And there don't seem to be many of those about at the moment. Apart from a limo, which has already been firmly vetoed.

 

There was a lad selling a cracking red sentor on RR not so ong ago, about a C-reg and he wanted a grand. Looked absolutely lovely

[dollywobbler]

Oh yes! Spotted that one.

[Shep Shepherd]

That really doesn't do it for me Scooters. A Vauxhall Senator is more my kind of barge. And there don't seem to be many of those about at the moment. Apart from a limo, which has already been firmly vetoed.

 

There was a lad selling a cracking red sentor on RR not so ong ago, about a C-reg and he wanted a grand. Looked absolutely lovely

 

There's a red Senator for sale in this month's Car Mechanics. I wonder if it's the same one?

[trigger]

There's a cheap Senny for sale on the VODC site at the moment, It was posted yesterday.

 

http://www.vodc.co.uk/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=248023

 

Chap seems genuine he has sent me the details below. Please phone him direct if interested. I have put it on ABS as well.

take care brian

 

Hi Brian - following your guidance' date=' I supply the attached photos as well a spreadsheet showing details etc.

 

Again my thanks for your help.

 

Malcolm Earney - 01526 322283 - Metheringham, Lincoln

 

Vauxhall Senator CD 24 A - Red - Automatic Drive

H678 DAV - 2969 cc

VIN W0L000029M1067079

First Registered 29/11/1990

Mileage at last MOT 144088

Purchased 1st September 2008 from Karline Garage, Metheringham - Karl - Garage Owner- had this as his personal vehicle for 10 years previously.

MOT expires 29/8/11

Road Fund Licence (£205.00 ) expires 31 August 2011

Since purchase, the following has been undertaken

01/09/2008Fully Serviced & MOT

10/09/2008Front Window replaced by Autoglass- creeping crack

£60.00Excess

23/12/2008Senator Distributor

Turns out for a Carlton£37.95

21/04/2009Supply & Fit New Battery£80.01

31/07/2009Electric Ariel Purchased and installed£43.57

12/08/2009MOT Test and Service + Oil + Air Filter + Oil Filter + Aerial fitment£260.00

16/09/20094 New Tyres - Firestone 205/65 R/15 94V£310.59

05/05/2010Rotor Arm£9.87

25/08/2010MOT Test and Service + Oil + Oil Filter + Replacement Brake pipe£232.07

27/09/2010Refurbishment of Distributor£94.75

18/12/2010RAC recovery - local - distributor failure

awaiting bill - approx £200.00

21/02/2011Distributor returned from Ignition Car Parts and minor technical hitch to be sorted this week.

Problems

Rear Passenger door does not lock centrally but does manually

Minor dent on rear bumper - as shown in photo.

Otherwise not aware of any other problems

Looking for £650 o.n.o.

Reason for selling - grand daughter and her equipment which needs to be carried around

 

[img']http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f375/gsi3000/Engine013.jpg[/img]