Old smart for two. Good idea or money pit waiting to happen?

[Doodles19]

So, after owning my M135i for a year and using it as a daily, I've finally been bitten by using it as a commuter it in London. Coming back to a nice new dent in the door after leaving it parked in the street. So I've decided to get a cheap commuter car to keep the miles... and dents off the M135i.

A friend who is a dealer, currently has a 2004 Smart ForTwo PASSION in stock. It's done 50k miles, has a full service history, but to my knowledge... no engine rebuild or any attention other than regular servicing.

He's willing to let me have it for £1350, which I considered to be cheap taking into account the 6 month warranty as well as that it's currently receiving interest at £1850.

Unfortunately, I don't know that much about the first-gen Smart ForTwo. Other than people seem to yield a bit of a marmite response from people.

My question is... is this likely to be a money pit that I should avoid at all costs? Or for £1350, is it worth buying and running until the thing blows up? Which from my limited research appears to be likely between 70-80k miles.

Cheers guys!

[seadragon]

its usually the engine they say goes around 80k as you mentioned. I had a roadster and I know some engines went on for a lot longer. The gear changes are pretty slow with the semi auto box, so don't expect anything spectacular.

The cars generally run pretty well. If you get the cabrio make sure the roof doesn't leak, the auto box changes cleanly on the test drive and I guess check paperwork for regular servicing, oil changes etc. For the price, it's worth a gamble, but most important would be the history with the car, because if its all in order, no reason why the car wouldn't last another 10 years.

PS: don't race it around corners, roundabouts, you might be in trouble. I almost crashed my car a few times because I forgot the engine was in the back and the front steering light, so I put the back out. Its not a nice feeling. Also on snowy/icy roads you wont get anywhere uphill fast (if at all).

Edited by seadragon on Tuesday 2nd May 13:23

[Doodles19]

seadragon said:

its usually the engine they say goes around 80k as you mentioned. I had a roadster and I know some engines went on for a lot longer. The gear changes are pretty slow with the semi auto box, so don't expect anything spectacular.

The cars generally run pretty well. If you get the cabrio make sure the roof doesn't leak, the auto box changes cleanly on the test drive and I guess check paperwork for regular servicing, oil changes etc. For the price, it's worth a gamble, but most important would be the history with the car, because if its all in order, no reason why the car wouldn't last another 10 years.

PS: don't race it around corners, roundabouts, you might be in trouble. I almost crashed my car a few times because I forgot the engine was in the back and the front steering light, so I put the back out. Its not a nice feeling. Also on snowy/icy roads you wont get anywhere uphill fast (if at all).

Edited by seadragon on Tuesday 2nd May 13:23

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to see the car tomorrow to test drive it. I've never driven one before but I've been told to expect the slow gear change.

Tbh. The mileage and the horror stories of engines failing does worry me. But frankly for the money... I'm tempted to get it anyway.

Thankfully this model isn't a cabrio. Do you know of any tell tale symptoms to look for on this particular model?

[Deerfoot]

Firstly, have a read of www.evilution.co.uk for Smart ForTwo information.

I had a 693cc, 61bhp 2003 Smart and loved it. Apart from a broken front spring (quite common) I had no problems with mine over 20,000 miles although I took it from 12,000 to 32,000 miles quite early on in it`s life. Looking at the DVLA MOT history site it`s still going, now with 90,000 miles on it. Regular oil changes with the correct stuff are essential.

They are a bit marmite but they have character in abundance. The gearbox takes some getting used to but it isn`t as bad as people make out, indeed you can get great satisfaction when making decent, smooth progress.

Mine had heated leather seats (comfortable), air conditioning (absolutely useless as the glass panoramic roof made the car very warm inside when the sun was out) and the stereo upgrade (surprisingly decent).

It cost peanuts to run and I`d have another if our circumstances changed. Ultimately the arrival of child two made it impractical.

[pidsy]

As others have said, they're a great little car. I had a 2004 pure to poodle about in for a few months.

Not sure where you are in London but it's well worth popping it up to see rob at S2 smarts in Watford. There's nothing that he doesn't know about them.

Pm me if you want more info.

[steve-5snwi]

Its a cheap car, run it for a year and get your money back, just make sure its got decent tyres and brakes and some MOT. I would have thought it would be a perfect city car.

[Doodles19]

Thank you for the replies. It's greatly appreciated.

You've put my mind slightly more at ease.

Test drive and inspection of the car pending. I think for £1350 for what appears to be a well maintained example is too good to overlook.

[Deerfoot]

Doodles19 said:

Test drive and inspection of the car pending. I think for £1350 for what appears to be a well maintained example is too good to overlook.

Any update OP?

[Mr2Mike]

seadragon said:

PS: don't race it around corners, roundabouts, you might be in trouble. I almost crashed my car a few times because I forgot the engine was in the back and the front steering light, so I put the back out.

You'd be doing well to get the back end to step out on a ForTwo, they understeer massively by design. The later cars with the 700cc engine also have ESP (stability control) built in as well.

The ForTwo is quirky, fun and economic to drive around town or on smaller roads, but as you'd expect not so great on faster DCWs and motorways. It's not so much the lack of power (they will hold 70-75mph fairly comfortably if you aren't driving into a gale) but sidewinds affect them quite badly, and in really bad weather you can struggle to stay in one lane.

There are plenty of common faults, but engine issues are top of the list in terms of expense. The main problem starts with high oil consumption, and then progresses onto melting spark plugs or burning out exhaust valves. There are plenty of very cheap, two cylinder ForTwo for sale on eBay and Gumtree! Staying on top of oil/filter changes is vital, as is ensuring all six spark plugs have been changed; the ones toward the rear of the engine requires the rear panel to be removed (5 minute job if that) so tend to be forgotten. Also there is a one way valve in the engine breather pipe that always fails at some point, and permits boost pressure into the crankcase, not really helping the ring sealing problem. It's a fairly cheap part (about £16 iirc) so worth replacing anyway.

Another common issue is the clutch actuator getting sticky and the wiring to the actuator becoming chaffed. This can cause anything from jerky gearchanges and hit or miss gear selection to completely preventing the car moving. The actuator can be lubricated to extend it's life, and the wiring repaired/relocated fairly easily.

There are numerous forums that cover the Smart range and quite a few specialist independent garages around the country so no lack of support.

[RDMcG]

Bought this one in December 2004 ( new) ..Diesel. Still have it.


Generally had been good despite worst possible conditions...always parked outside even in Canadian winters. Average trip 5-7km in city. Never really warms up.

Problems:.. (1)Blown turbo at five years ( only 14,000 km on car)
(2) Front suspension down to bumpstops at ten years.(lots of rough roads)
(3) Clock does not work.

Other than that, nothing.

[ZX10R NIN]

I had a later diesel Passion & found it to be brilliant I couldn't fault it apart from I found on cold mornings I'd have frost on both sides of the windscreen.