Prius or Smart car

Im getting rid of 2 ICE cars..A Avalon and a Miata and Im thinking of buying either a Prius or Smart car..

I owned a 2005 Prius for 95000 trouble free miles and gave it to my sister 2 years ago ..

The Prius was amazing on gas and a great daily driver but sometimes its just nice to drive something different..I really love small cars so if I decide against the Smart car it will be a Prius again..

Anyone here drive a Smart car or want to give some input on it ?

I had a Smart car for a few weeks in Europe as a rental car. It is bigger on the inside that you think it will be, and it handles and drives nicer than you think it could. However, in the states, the ability to park in very small spaces is not really that much of an advantage and it doesn't get the gas mileage necessary to justify the price and size. Overall, I don't think I would recommend it....

Get the Prius. If you want something different - look at an Insight or CR-Z. The transmission is horrible on the Smart from what I understand. You can get a great deal on the Insight with a bit of shopping - they aren't selling as well as Honda hoped.

Only reason to get the Smart is if you really want/need the tiny foot-print. And then - Toyota will have the Scion iQ available soon which blows the Smart out of the water.

There is one other (at least) smart owner within this forum (actually a new buyer) so we should see if they post as well -- we've owned a smart fortwo passion coupe since they came out in April '08. It was mainly my wife's short commuter (7 mile daily trip) but I also drove it every few weeks to give it a longer run, we also took it on one long trip (Chicago to Mich U.P. and back) and now my son uses it on a daily 48 mile work commute -- they both love it. On the longer commutes it averages low to mid 40's MPG (running AC on high drops it 1-2 MPG), on the short commutes only mid 30's MPG. On the really long trip (mix of mostly highway and lots of rural roads) we got very close to 50 MPG. Smart however does recommend premium fuel (as do most of the MBZ based products; the smart uses a Mitsubishi 3-cyl 999cc engine) so we use it to get the best mileage. As one poster mentioned, it is surprisingly spacious inside -- ours has heated leather seats, automatic headlights & wipers, plexiglass sunroof (it's basically the entire roof on the car) and auto temp control (rather a mis-nomer; it's semi-automatic). Even fully loaded (the coupe not the convertible) it would be about half the price of a fully loaded Prius (if that matters) and right now MBZ isn't selling all that many so you could probably find a good deal. As it's so small, the ride is not as good as even a Prius -- on smooth roads it rides fine but any rough pavement it just rides rough and choppy. The semi-auto transmission does take some getting used to (actually about 6 or so months in when we first took delivery MBZ issued a TSB to reprogram it -- helped a bit in my mind) but once you do, you can anticipate shifts so it won't pitch. It has dent resistant poly body panels and a special steel infrastructure that actually protects the occupants very well for a car of its size (it's only 8' 8'' long -- the Scion iQ is actually bigger at 10' long). We actually bought it due to it's size (we actually sold an old freezer which was in our garage so we could tandem park it on the one side behind a Miata). Only word of caution, the maintenance as anything unique should be done at a MBZ dealer is expensive but 'routine' service work (oil changes, etc.) can be done at your local mechanic. Your best bet would be to test drive one to see if you could live with the auto-trans (no other option available currently) and go from there -- smart is looking at the next gen for EV but not sure how far away it is or the cost -- their ED 'test' lease at $599/mo is just too expensive, even though the ED version shifts better, it's even slower than the gas version (which isn't all that quick to begin with). Lastly, the smart is a two passenger vehicle with room for groceries, etc. behind the seats --- if this is really what you're looking for than the Honda CR-Z or even a Volvo C30 or Lexus CT200h might be worth checking out (no price range mentioned)

drees said:

Get the Prius. If you want something different - look at an Insight or CR-Z. The transmission is horrible on the Smart from what I understand. You can get a great deal on the Insight with a bit of shopping - they aren't selling as well as Honda hoped.

Only reason to get the Smart is if you really want/need the tiny foot-print. And then - Toyota will have the Scion iQ available soon which blows the Smart out of the water.

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Funny I was thinking about the Insight as a more cost-effective alternative to the Leaf. Looks like they can be had for around 20k.

Re the Smart it always looked to me like there are larger cars (civic, corolla etc) that get about the same mileage and can be purchased for the same or less money.

I've wanted to like the Smart, but I always end up with the same complaint...It's too expensive for what you get. It would either need a much smaller price tag, or to get much better economy. The Prius is a much better choice, IMHO. The only thing that might change that equation would be if you lived in a very dense urban area and valued the small size very greatly.

Ive had a smart for two years, and the transmission is actually an automatically shifted MANUAL . It has a dry clutch disc. That makes it lighter, and more efficient. I absolutely LOVE my smart, Brabus edition. I have a Leaf too. The Leaf is my Prius, and the smart is my ULEV..... which it is... an ULTRA Low Emission Vehicle.
People ask you lotsa questions about it, its GREAT to drive, and I smile the whole time I am in it. AND.... it is a Mercedes Benz product, with 5 star IIHA crash ratings. Go to www.smartusainsider.com and you will chat with the group and pick up all sorts of info. I also love the Prius. It gets better mileage than the smart, but, it is a different type of vehicle.

I drove one of the new Insights for a day and found it to be a remarkably unimpressive vehicle...

LTLFTcomposite said:

Funny I was thinking about the Insight as a more cost-effective alternative to the Leaf. Looks like they can be had for around 20k.

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davewill said:

I've wanted to like the Smart, but I always end up with the same complaint...It's too expensive for what you get. It would either need a much smaller price tag, or to get much better economy. The Prius is a much better choice, IMHO. The only thing that might change that equation would be if you lived in a very dense urban area and valued the small size very greatly.

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I agree 100%

i know someone with a smart car. she is single, rarely has more than herself in the car. i for the life of me cannot understand why anyone who take it over a Prius.

the Prius gets better gas mileage. its a TON larger and it is only a bit more expensive. she got it because she thought it was cute.

If you are looking for a small car - also consider the new Fiat 500.

Personally, I won't buy another non-plugin.

DaveinOlyWA said:

She got it because she thought it was cute.

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I rented a Smart for couple of weeks in the US and for couple of weeks in Germany. While they are a fairly common sight in Europe, it's quite different over here. People would ask questions, start conversations at a stop light, and everyone would go on to say how cute it looked. You won't get that with a Prius. It's fun to drive as well, but I wouldn't get the automatic version. It's awful, manual transmission is a much better fit for this car.

No need to rewrite what I wrote before. See http://priuschat.com/forums/freds-house-pancakes/74095-considering-smart-car-2.html#post1030695.

It also was very disliked by Consumer Reports and score very poorly (see http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/best-worst-cars-review/overview/best-and-worst-ov.htm). It also very slow, see http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/best-worst-cars-review/best-worst-acceleration/best-and-worst-acceleration.htm.

It also made it on http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/13/mercedes-gm-chrysler-nissan-business-autos-worst-cars_slide_13.html

Listed Among: Consumer Reports Worst Cars, Consumer Reports Least Reliable

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gkalexdc said:

with 5 star IIHA crash ratings.

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You talking about IIHS crash test ratings? If so, per http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=937&seriesid=632 "Important: Frontal crash test ratings can be compared only among vehicles of similar weight." This is true of all frontal crash test results I've seen (e.g. NHTSA and Euro NCAP), not just from IIHS.

Read http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr041409.html and look at the video in the upper right to supplement the Mercedes C300 vs. Smart ForTwo crash test.

How many other mass market cars are currently (or have been very recently) sold in the US have such a low curb weight (~1800 lbs)? None. Even a Honda Fit weighs over 2400 lbs (http://automobiles.honda.com/fit/specifications.aspx?group=dimensions). A Camry 4 cylinder automatic weighs 3307 lbs (http://www.toyota.com/camry/specs.html).

Although I'm not in favor of buying the biggest, heaviest vehicle or bloated ones, per http://www.epa.gov/oms/cert/mpg/fetrends/420s10002.pdf (from http://www.epa.gov/oms/fetrends.htm), the average curb weight of MY 2010 "light duty vehicles" was 4009 lbs.

Since almost every other 4+ wheeled vehicle is substantially heavier and larger than a ForTwo, in a multi-car accident, it's almost certain the ForTwo will lose, possibly quite badly.

Just like the Prius, there are some avid enthusiasts who have enjoyed it since it came to the U.S. (and Canada) so if it was as bad as some pundits say it simply would not have this level of support or really sold at all in ANY numbers -- it was unique to the U.S. when it first arrived; other mfg's seeing that at least SOME people will buy really small cars have brought us the Fiat 500 (still it's bigger than a smart by almost 3 feet! -- 33+ inches) as well as the iQ (still close to a 1 1/2 feet longer).

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/

Before listening too much to all this negativity, just drive one and decide for yourself!

This thread reignited my Smart interest. I love small cars and my
main gripe with the Leaf is that it is larger and more common looking
than most of my vehicles.
I found that the "local" (70 miles) dealer has gone out of business so
that might be something to research. With a better tranny I would
already have owned one......

redLEAF said:

Before listening too much to all this negativity, just drive one and decide for yourself!

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....that it's a piece of crap. :lol:

Maybe that's a bit harsh. Without the auto transmission.....maybe. But with....no thanks.

hodad66 said:

This thread reignited my Smart interest. I love small cars and my
main gripe with the Leaf is that it is larger and more common looking
than most of my vehicles.
I found that the "local" (70 miles) dealer has gone out of business so
that might be something to research. With a better tranny I would
already have owned one......

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This was due to MBZ taking back the 'franchise' from Penske Automotive and no reflection on smart itself -- in our own case smart's were being sold out of two MBZ dealer's around Chicago so it had no effect; others areas where it was a stand alone smart dealer and not affiliated with MBZ they closed some 20 smart dealerships, too bad it's no longer in your area.

http://archive.chicagobreakingbusiness.com/2011/02/mercedes-to-take-back-smart-sales-in-u-s.html

The problem with all these, Prius, Insight, Leaf etc is if you take say, a $16k Corolla as a baseline, whatever you save in fuel/operating costs gets sucked up by the premium you have to pay for the car. For example maybe be Insight saves me $3k in gas over several year, but I have to pay $3k more for it, and so on down the line with the others. Except for the Smart Car... its price premium is more than it saves... they should call it the Dumb Car.

LTLFTcomposite said:

The problem with all these, Prius, Insight, Leaf etc is if you take say, a $16k Corolla as a baseline, whatever you save in fuel/operating costs gets sucked up by the premium you have to pay for the car. For example maybe be Insight saves me $3k in gas over several year, but I have to pay $3k more for it, and so on down the line with the others. Except for the Smart Car... its price premium is more than it saves... they should call it the Dumb Car.

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Hate to yet again point out the facts ... but a new smart fortwo coupe starts off at $12,490 and I've seen 2011's discounted down to $11,990 so what price premium are you talking about?

redLEAF said:

LTLFTcomposite said:

The problem with all these, Prius, Insight, Leaf etc is if you take say, a $16k Corolla as a baseline, whatever you save in fuel/operating costs gets sucked up by the premium you have to pay for the car. For example maybe be Insight saves me $3k in gas over several year, but I have to pay $3k more for it, and so on down the line with the others. Except for the Smart Car... its price premium is more than it saves... they should call it the Dumb Car.

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Hate to yet again point out the facts ... but a new smart fortwo coupe starts off at $12,490 and I've seen 2011's discounted down to $11,990 so what price premium are you talking about?

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Wow that's way cheaper than I have seen in the past. Is that a real deal?