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Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time

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Saboth
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
I honestly wouldn't mind a smart car. I just like how little they are, but 2 problems. They only have automatics, and apparently the closest dealer is now about 150 miles away. Nevermind the crazy dealer markups. If I could actually get one for less than 11k...maybe.
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Paul Y. can't get in the club; gotta parking lot pimp
06/16/09

@Saboth: Actually, they're not even automatics -- they're clunky sequential-shift things. Supposedly, a software upgrade makes the transmission less-bad, but from what I gather, it's basically the worst of every world with that transmission.

I'm sure finding a base model is nigh-impossible. Half the problem is that until now, you had to order them basically sight unseen, rather than buying them off the lot, because the dealers wouldn't carry cars that didn't have (refundable, $99) deposits put down on them, which is pretty stupid.
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Novaload
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
Smart is just too extreme in some ways--appearance and size--but not extreme enough in others -- mpg.

If it got 60 mpg or so you'd have an incentive to put up with the weirdness.

It will be interesting to see how the insurance rates go on it as well. The part that bothers me is how much and how far it bounces after impact, i.e. into oncoming traffic lane.
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blogsdo
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
This photo gives me a great prank idea for roving gangs of pranksters. Maybe I shall suggest it next time I'm at the bar.
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Paul Y. can't get in the club; gotta parking lot pimp
06/16/09

@blogsdo: Yes, destroying others' property is so cool.

On that note, I think I'm gonna get drunk and set pickup trucks on fire.
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P161911 probably shoudn't have
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
The bigger question is going to be who will buy a 5-10 year old Smart in the US? Assuming gas stays below $10/gal, these will be the same people cross shopping 10 year old Dodge Calibers and Kias. Eventually the smug will go away, there is NO enthusiast base to keep this car alive. Does the Smart have a space saver spare, because the people that buy these used will probably drive around for 6 months with two of them on the car.
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Braff
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
Saw a SMART yesterday with a great plate on it...

(this was in proud USC country too)

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pauljones
06/16/09

@BrAff: What the picture doesn't show is the owner lying in a pool of his own blood in the next parking spot fro driving a car with that license plate in downtown LA.
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
Free fuzzy dice? But wouldn't that overload the front end, besides completely blocking all sight of the windshield? Or maybe it's a cost-cutting measure - they plan to do away with the airbags, and in case of an emergency, you just grab hold of a die.
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skaycog
06/16/09

@Leeeeena, a Jalopchick: Howdy! ;)
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
06/16/09

@skaycog: Good morning! You were up early, I see.
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pauljones
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
LOOK MA!!! NO-WHEEL DRIVE!!!

Oh, wait...
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skaycog
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
Interesting....another exposed undercarriage.
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pauljones
06/16/09

@skaycog: Somehow, it's just not quite the turn-on I was expecting it to be.
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Flathead Smith
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
I've seen four of these "Smart" cars in about the last six weeks, before that I don't think I've seen any except in pictures. Every time I see one, the first word that comes to mind is,… death trap. As more of these cars hit the road, we'll be seeing more pictures of these cars in the position shown above, as this is the natural resting position for these cars after an accident.
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Paul Y. can't get in the club; gotta parking lot pimp
06/16/09

@Flathead Smith: I live in a small college town about 50 miles from the nearest Smart dealer, and I've been seeing these regularly since they came out.

However, this place is full of vehicular weirdness, as I've never seen daily-driven beater 928s, Bertone X1/9s, Ford model As, Chevy Vegas, and Mercury Bobcat wagons all in one place before. Oh, and everyone and their dog drives a beater Subaru here in the winter.
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IN THE FACE!
06/16/09

@TV's Paul Y.: Do you live in Lawrence Kansas? I swear I need to go for a walk tonight snap some pics and submit it as a "Down on the Street: Mid-West Hippie College Town Edition"
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SirNotAppearing
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
Oh, I thought you meant incentive like they were going to build a better car. Never mind, uninterested again.
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FormerlyPreferredCustomer
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
You know, maybe if these cars got fuel economy even remotely commensurate with their weirdness, they would sell better.

Actually, they probably wouldn't.
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Paul Y. can't get in the club; gotta parking lot pimp
06/16/09

@FormerlyPreferredCustomer: At least Canada and Europe get the diesel -- those get something like 70mpg, and sound hilarious.
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My X-type is too a real Jaguar
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
The problem isn't the high price of gas, the problem is the high possibility of getting hit in a Smart Car by a F250.
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drakino
06/16/09

@My X-type is too a real Jaguar: In that case, I'm all in favor of banning evert F250 on the roads unless it is actually hauling something.

Soooooooooo tired of the idiot truck drivers around here that feel the need to blast down the highway left lane, get right up on peoples bumpers, pass on the right, then get back over and slow down below the speed limit. Oh, and of course you never know when one of them is going to bolt across 3 lanes of traffic, nearly taking out your front end because they absolutely have to get off the highway now. Where are some faulty firestone tires when you need them?
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tekamul
06/16/09

@drakino: It's never gonna happen. You know what they keep in F250's? Gun racks. You know what they put in gun racks? Guns. You know what gun totin' F250 drivers put in people who come for their trucks? Bulletts.

You go first
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Novaload
06/16/09

@tekamul: Well, it's not the bullets that kill you. It's the holes they make.
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TimTim
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
60 months... I'll do the math for you, that's 5 friggin years folks. For a Smart car? How long do you expect one of these to last? Gee wiz, I wonder why we're in an economic crisis.
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
06/16/09

@TimTim: Do you expect it to conk out after two years or something? Five years isn't THAT long to have a car, sheesh.
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mytdawg
06/16/09

@Leeeeena, a Jalopchick: At the very least you'll need to get the spring rewound...
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tekamul
06/16/09

@mytdawg: And buy fresh hampsters
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
06/16/09

@tekamul: True, although as Nibbles can attest, it's probably more economical to buy food to sustain the ones you've already got.
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GasGuzzler
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
FOR.TWO% financing.

I see what they did there . . . smart, Smart.
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Leeeeena the Jalopchick
06/16/09

@GasGuzzler: Brilliant!
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IN THE FACE!
06/16/09

@GasGuzzler: That makes me want to beat people with a twofour!

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PetroSapien
06/16/09

In reply to Smart To Offer U.S. Buyers Incentives For First Time
If only they would make the small fuel efficient cars that Amreicans are demanding ... Wait? What?
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IN THE FACE!
06/16/09

@PetroSapien: The ForTwo gets terrible MPGs for its size/weight... And it is also terribly overpriced, you could get a NEW base civic with a few options for the same price, and IIRC the civic gets better mileage... What would you buy?
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