Talk to me about early Smart Four Two's
Discussion
My lady will shortly get her provisional licence and wants to learn on/take an auto test first. I'm thinking of getting an early RHD Smart Four Two and insuring it/putting her on as a learner etc. I'm looking to spend around £2k - £2.5k on an early RHD model. What should I be looking for? What goes wrong with these little beasties?
Thanks.
Thanks.
As far as i remember the very earliest were 600cc and then moved up to 700 cc
I have owned two, one an 0353 passion and an 04 brabus
I had both remapped, both by different companies.
The passion was great..fully loaded with leather, underseat stowage and upgraded stereo
I still love them and if i had the choice would still keep one as a city car
What to look for:
I bought mine both at 2 years old so no issues but there are stories of turbos going on earlier high mileage cars
They are pretty much bulletproof
I had the remap as on the passion the limiter was set at 85mph . This was fine round town but on a longer journey (mway) any slight incline would inevitably mean having to go from sixth to fifth . Also this would inevitably happen when you were overtaking. The digitech remap cost about 300 but made the car much more driveable and pushed the top speed upto 95ish
The brabus had smartsrus remap and that would top out at 118ish.
One thing-fuel economy was not as good.as you would expect -around 35mpg.( and this was on 98ron )because of the little engine constanty using the turbo and the barndoor aerodynamics
Regarding options. Leather is nice to have but would recommend the upgraded stereo (was i think only a 100 quid factory option) and the paddle shift is good , way more fun than tiptronic
I have owned two, one an 0353 passion and an 04 brabus
I had both remapped, both by different companies.
The passion was great..fully loaded with leather, underseat stowage and upgraded stereo
I still love them and if i had the choice would still keep one as a city car
What to look for:
I bought mine both at 2 years old so no issues but there are stories of turbos going on earlier high mileage cars
They are pretty much bulletproof
I had the remap as on the passion the limiter was set at 85mph . This was fine round town but on a longer journey (mway) any slight incline would inevitably mean having to go from sixth to fifth . Also this would inevitably happen when you were overtaking. The digitech remap cost about 300 but made the car much more driveable and pushed the top speed upto 95ish
The brabus had smartsrus remap and that would top out at 118ish.
One thing-fuel economy was not as good.as you would expect -around 35mpg.( and this was on 98ron )because of the little engine constanty using the turbo and the barndoor aerodynamics
Regarding options. Leather is nice to have but would recommend the upgraded stereo (was i think only a 100 quid factory option) and the paddle shift is good , way more fun than tiptronic
Edited by slk 32 on Monday 5th November 22:22
My gaffer did the exact same thing, bought a early'ish 2004 car.
She wanted leather, convertible, heated seats.
Found what we thought was a good one; about 100 miles away. The car ended up with some problems that did cost money to get fixed.
With the early ones you have to watch for the ABS rings. They are somewhat exposed and corrode which means that the little prongs can break which makes the system think that you are skidding and it applys the ABS every time you break. It costs about £100 - £150 from an independent.
We also had an aircon problem. Which is a pain as the pump requires the front to come off. If you get a convertible than the roof should go back and forth with no clicking. Some dealers or independents remove one of the motors which makes the mechanism last longer. The roof is worked by a type of chord and if one of the motors starts to fail then it can stretch the chord and it ends up costing abit of money. Ours was "fixed" before we bought ours but it still wasnt right.
There were other problems, the turbo was on its way, which is a bigish costs. In the end we used it as a part exchange for a car for me.
However, three months ago the gaffer purchased a 12 plate smart passion and it is soooooooo much better than the old one. Feels much more like a car, more refined, gear box is better, ride is better.
I would definitely make sure that she can live with the auto gearbox, it has a habit of not being in the gear you would pick. i.e. approaching a roundabout and wanting to pull out and realise its in 4th or 5th and you have to wait a few seconds as the box decides to change down.
I'm sure some people will tell you to keep it in manual mode and use the shifter - which is how I drive it. But some people want an auto to be an auto and it be like a stop and go car so taking their hand off the wheel almost defeats the point.
Make sure you drive one. If we had our time again we would not have bought an early car, maybe something else until the gaffer passed her test and then make a more solid purchase.
There are some good smart web-sites this one is good one
http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php
She wanted leather, convertible, heated seats.
Found what we thought was a good one; about 100 miles away. The car ended up with some problems that did cost money to get fixed.
With the early ones you have to watch for the ABS rings. They are somewhat exposed and corrode which means that the little prongs can break which makes the system think that you are skidding and it applys the ABS every time you break. It costs about £100 - £150 from an independent.
We also had an aircon problem. Which is a pain as the pump requires the front to come off. If you get a convertible than the roof should go back and forth with no clicking. Some dealers or independents remove one of the motors which makes the mechanism last longer. The roof is worked by a type of chord and if one of the motors starts to fail then it can stretch the chord and it ends up costing abit of money. Ours was "fixed" before we bought ours but it still wasnt right.
There were other problems, the turbo was on its way, which is a bigish costs. In the end we used it as a part exchange for a car for me.
However, three months ago the gaffer purchased a 12 plate smart passion and it is soooooooo much better than the old one. Feels much more like a car, more refined, gear box is better, ride is better.
I would definitely make sure that she can live with the auto gearbox, it has a habit of not being in the gear you would pick. i.e. approaching a roundabout and wanting to pull out and realise its in 4th or 5th and you have to wait a few seconds as the box decides to change down.
I'm sure some people will tell you to keep it in manual mode and use the shifter - which is how I drive it. But some people want an auto to be an auto and it be like a stop and go car so taking their hand off the wheel almost defeats the point.
Make sure you drive one. If we had our time again we would not have bought an early car, maybe something else until the gaffer passed her test and then make a more solid purchase.
There are some good smart web-sites this one is good one
http://www.evilution.co.uk/index.php
My Daughter is thinking of an early Smart but being "Mister Negative" I was trying to talk her out of it - I always thought the engines need to be replaced after 60000 miles or so - but maybe I'm wrong - would a £2k right hand drive be OK as a town car ?
I do like the fun appeal - just a bit wary of the highly stressed mechanics and expensive repairs
I do like the fun appeal - just a bit wary of the highly stressed mechanics and expensive repairs
Some people have had issues with high mileage cars, I think turbos are an issue.
I did speak to an alfa sales guy who used to work at MB and he saw many issues with engines because people don’t treat them well, it’s only a 3 cylinder thing so 80+ mph will cause it a lot of stress.
I personally wouldn’t buy a very early one, personally i wouldn’t by the first generation of many things as there are always faults to be ironed out.
I did speak to an alfa sales guy who used to work at MB and he saw many issues with engines because people don’t treat them well, it’s only a 3 cylinder thing so 80+ mph will cause it a lot of stress.
I personally wouldn’t buy a very early one, personally i wouldn’t by the first generation of many things as there are always faults to be ironed out.
I'm going to be car shopping in the next few weeks. Plan to drive a few good ones at dealers (as in more expensive) then try a few cheaper ones.
I think I might look for one where someone has bought a car, then had to spunk a load of cash on an engine rebuild and now wants to get rid for whatever reason but secretly because they think its costing them a fortune when in reality they've just paid for the next 50,000 smiles.
Was there any change to the gearbox or gearbox software?
I think I might look for one where someone has bought a car, then had to spunk a load of cash on an engine rebuild and now wants to get rid for whatever reason but secretly because they think its costing them a fortune when in reality they've just paid for the next 50,000 smiles.
Was there any change to the gearbox or gearbox software?
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