I wouldn't pay anything more than 20% under sticker, but that's just me...

Besides, a new car, 15k, safety, reliability, low cost of ownership, waste oil power...

woah woah wait wait wait.

are you saying you wouldnt pay $1-2k more for a mercedes over a toyota?????

i definitely would.

I'm not particularly in love with mercedes anymore, now that it's sold out to the devil.

I WOULDN'T BUY mercedes if it was CHEAPER than the toyota.

There's a dealership that I drive by every day that has a few of these.

Funny thing is it's an exotic car dealership. lol

I thought they would be more than $15k. That actually sounds pretty reasonable to me. I wonder if the ones at the local dealership are diesel??

I should stop by and ask, although I wouldn't get much help rolling into an exotic car dealership in my 90 civic. lol.

man your loss, guys. the smart feels wonderful to drive. for city driving there is nothing better. other that a bicycle or a comfy set of free trade shoes.

I'm interested in the Smart Roadster-Coupe. But I'd be much more interested if they used a 200+ horsepower straight 6 turbodiesel. Since no one is making a car like that(too fast for its own good AND fuel efficient), I'll spend some time drooling over the VW Eco Racer concept.

It's October now, and I've really kinda maxed out on what I can accomplish with the smart. Yes, I could acquire the 3.5 fron wheels from Europe with 135 tires (these were originally used with the CDI in Germany), and mount the fronts on the rear (145) and go for some new high... but really, I need a new set of wheels.

I have been contemplating acquiring an Insight, just to see what I could do with one of those (a 5 speed to be sure)... I'm thinking that day in and day out the Insight would get me 20% better mileage overall - but would it really beat the smart on a single run on the highway?

I am glad to see you put your car in the gaslog.

I don't know heard of it but the jet car is the same engine as the smart but achives much higher mpg due to weight reduction and better areodynamics.

https://www.metrompg.com/posts/mpg-miscellany.htm
https://www.jetcar.de/english/index.htm

Hi smartzuuk...

Thanks for the update. I keep seeing the little smart beasties around town (was coasting down a long hill behind one just yesterday, as a matter of fact). I'd jump at the chance to drive one with a fuel economy display hooked up.

As for the Insight, there are a couple of owners on this forum who may pipe up with an answer.

Dan (krousdb) owns an older Civic VX hatchback with lean burn, and he can maintain 75 mpg (US) in steady 55 mph cruising in warm weather. I suspect the Insight can exceed that, though my understanding is that its lean burn "window" is narrower than the old VX.