Shed Of The Week: Smart Roadster Coupe

Small car, possibly large bork factor - dinky enough to make it worth the risk?

Normally Messrs Trent and Bird are quite relaxed about Shed's pitch for Friday morning notoriety. Every Wednesday, there's a sort of gentle chat between the three of them that leads to a kind of feeling that might, you know, produce a majority decision for the <insert car here>.

A, cough, 'smart' way to spend a grand?

Occasionally Shed will take advantage of Dan and Matt's easygoing nature and talk them into something peculiar, like last week's LDV Convoy van. This week, by way of revenge, Dan has put his editorial foot down with a firm hand, rebuffing Shed's recommendation of an admittedly naughty-looking Mercedes ML430 V8 in favour of this rather smart looking ... Smart Roadster.

The story of Smart, Mercedes' attempt to launch an elitist small car brand, would take up more space than we have here. Considering the strife its products have gone through, it's a miracle that the brand still exists. If nothing else it's a good demonstration of Mercedes' determination to see a project through until it damn well works.

The Roadster Coupe came out in 2003 alongside the funny little notchback Roadster. The recipe sounded fun: an 800kg toy powered by a turbocharged 698cc, 80hp three-cylinder thrummer; rear-wheel drive; switchable traction control; stick-operated six-speed sequential semi-auto gearbox.

Stylish, if not known for being watertight

In truth, the reality of the drive didn't live up to the fanfare surrounding its launch. Despite its tiny displacement, the engine had run out of puff by 6,000rpm and the bovine responses of the gearbox had many journos reaching for their Profanisauruses. Don't be too put off, though. It is possible to drive smoothly with this transmission. Anticipating the changes and lightly tapping off the throttle eases things along.

They were quirky little things in more ways than the drivetrain and the Z3 Coupe-style 'breadvan' styling. As the vendor's ad implies, it is both a coupe and a convertible, and it's mainly made of plastic. Even the rear side glass isn't. Colour fade is a common issue, but perhaps less of one on this car, painted in a highly inoffensive two-tone scheme of Glance Grey and (presumably) Squint Silver.

After the safety debacle of its titchy City Coupe (later Fortwo) predecessor, even Mercedes didn't seem to have much faith in the Roadster, granting it a scant two years' worth of warranty. Turned out they were exactly right. The weight of warranty claims halted production after just two years, at the end of 2005. By 2007 it was coming stone last in customer satisfaction surveys.

A great looking car, of that there is no doubt

The optional and notoriously leaky electric canvas top teamed up with the equally leaky door seals and wing mirrors to initiate a lot of those warranty claims. The bulkhead where the interesting Tridion safety shell meets the chassis is another weak spot for water ingress. All sorts of electrical maladies can pop up, including main ECU failure - a four-figure repair job. Fuseboxes are a known weakness. Guess how much a dealer might want to fix that? £4.5K. Yes, you read that right, £4,500.

On the plus side, camshaft operation is by chain, not belt. Oddly, there's no sump plug: dirty oil has to be sucked out via the dipstick hole. Front springs corrode and snap, doors stick shut, and the instrument panel was an LED job. Air-con hoses were too stiff and break with monotonous regularity too.

Still, despite everything and a steep original asking price of £14,500, Smart managed to sell over 43,000 Roadsters. Just goes to show that people will put up with a fair amount in exchange for something a bit different - which, for all its faults, the Smart Roadster most definitely was.

For another £2.5k you had the option of a 99hp Brabus version. The German tuning house went on to build 10 examples of a 218hp bi-turbo Coupe using a V6 engine made out of two three-cylinder motors. The fuel bag was relocated to the front and it had the same power-to-weight ratio as a 911 Carrera 4 S. Bet that was a good craic. Unfortunately it was never homologated for the road.

As the vendor of our Shed admits, this is not the car for anyone with the need to carry anything much bigger than a dormouse (plus suitcase) or a small pot of Vegemite. But one grand isn't a lot for a characterful little open-topper with low tax, insurance and fuel consumption, a 110mph top end, sprightly handling and a surprisingly comfy ride. Dan admits to being a fan, having once attempted to put in a decent lap of the 'ring in one without touching the brake pedal.

You've just got to hope the acknowledged starting glitch means this one isn't storing up a warranty claim, 10 years out of warranty.

Here's the ad.

Smart Roadster-Coupe in Glance Grey over Silver - a very clean and tidy car inside and out but with a niggling fault, hence the price.
It's done 98000 miles, the bulk of which was done by the previous owner for whom this was the 5th or 6th Roadster - needless to say, he really liked them! Serviced on the button at his local Smart/Mercedes garage, I've carried on the servicing in the same vein since I purchased it. (Plenty of paperwork available.)
MOT is due 2/9/2015 - it passed last time with only 2 advisories (slight corrosion to one of the brake pipes, and the standard "undertrays fitted obscuring some underside components") and it's done less than 1000 miles since then, so I don't foresee any issues at the next one!
In excellent all-round condition for it's age and mileage, and has the optional leather heated seats and air-con, both of which are working perfectly.
What isn't working perfectly is the starting sequence, hence the low price. Since I pulled it out of hibernation early this year it won't fire up until the very end of it's 4 second starting sequence, and on the very rare occasion, doesn't fire up until the second start. Once started in runs perfectly whether cold, warm, on or off boost - absolutely no problems.
It's been to Smart to be diagnosed, had the electrics checked over, had new spark plugs, HT lead, fuel filter and even a compression test but nothing is showing as unusual - the advice I was given was that it was running well apart from the starting issue and to just keep driving it as is.
Which I would do, if there was room for our puppy in the boot (there isn't, and I think it might get a bit warm under the glass anyway!) and if my job wasn't externally funded and finishing in the next few months.
Get in touch if you'd like more info, or see bigger pictures - there's even a YouTube video of a test drive and an explanation of the starting issue available if it helps (Chris Harris on Cars it is not!).
The price is the price - no offers - as besides the niggle it's a damn good car.

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dirtbiker

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