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Sydney

smarts are dying off

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i guess i waiting to long when i fell i love with these cute little cars.  lol.

i now have 2.  a 2005 cabrio and a 2006 coupe.

im from cape breton, nova scotia.  and have just called every auto salvage yard here to find some more parts cars,  and no one has any.

no big deal  (cape Breton is only small).  so i decided to widen my search area to the whole province of NS.

i was talking to one of the largest salvage yards and was told that is was too late....   they CRUSHED all the smart cars they had....   WTF  ????

how are we supposed to keep our beloved cars or the road?

i think i will start collecting every smart car i can find.   instead of the "crazy cat lady"  i will be the "crazy smart car guy".  lol

 

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Sydney

Do a search each day on kijiji and I bet they will show up.  I saw white front panels and fenders in Tatamagouche this morning but I can’t remember the difference without the cars side by side to id whether they work for yours or not.  Keep in mind our local guru won’t usually pay more than about 800 for a running parts car.

 

Nigel

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Fortunately that doesn't seem to be an imminent problem over here.  Straight and tidy 450s are getting rarer, but are still out there, but there's no shortage of parts for those that want to keep one cheaply on the road.

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I know where there are 4 in the local wreckers, but they wanted $1500 for the last one they took in and it wasn't complete and also non running!   You must find them BEFORE they get to a wrecker...imho. I am thinking of advertising for parts cars. Offering more than they would get for scrap value. After me going to my local wreckers and them seeing there is a market here, they have decided that overnight their cars are gold plated! So, they won't get anything large off me ever again! Small trinkets etc but nothing of value!  I know of 3 or 4 other parked Smarts but so far no takers. I guess they also think they still hold sentimental value and won't let them go cheap.  But I sit and wait....lol.....rubbing his hands tightly...lol    My Precious.......

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Just picked up a low km 05 cdi. One of my fav cars to drive to be honest.

 

But with winter coming I'm in search of a good place to install the oil pan heater in the Toronto area. I park underground but work nights so car will be parked for 8hrs outside. 

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Breakers take the pi**, even here.  Years ago I needed a new electric window switch for my Peugeot 407.  Dealers wanted £42, which I thought a bit steep, so I visited the local breaker.  Luckily they had one.  Not so luckily, the guy sucked through his teeth and tried to charge me £80. 

 

Once I'd finished laughing I told him a new one was only £42. Being the generous chap he was he offered to match that price.  I told him I was thinking more like £10 or £15, but he wouldn't budge.  I told him to insert it up his bottom. And stopped on the way home to buy a new one.

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It's the circle of life.  In 20 years there will be 1000 left in all of Canada.  At that point they may start to be worth something.

 

As far as keeping them on the road, your local M-B dealer is an option because they can get anything, if you don't want your property looking like a hoarder's reality TV show.  The problem with the third+ owners is that they don't want to spend real money maintaining the car.

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MB are second to none for spares backup.  If you don't mind selling a kidney for some items they can supply most parts for models dating back to the 1950s.  

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On 10/18/2018 at 7:53 PM, Frinjamin88 said:

Just picked up a low km 05 cdi. One of my fav cars to drive to be honest.

 

But with winter coming I'm in search of a good place to install the oil pan heater in the Toronto area. I park underground but work nights so car will be parked for 8hrs outside. 

 

if it doesnt have an oil drain plug just order a new pan from china with drain....then glue on a new heat pad ...easy to do on your kitchen table and it will stick better to a new pan

 

pan is easy to change ..takes about 30 minutes

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6 hours ago, LooseLugNuts said:

 

if it doesnt have an oil drain plug just order a new pan from china with drain....then glue on a new heat pad ...easy to do on your kitchen table and it will stick better to a new pan

 

pan is easy to change ..takes about 30 minutes

Thanks for the reply! I'm taking it Glenn next Sunday lol 

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With Mercedes-Benz now being a fully generalist carmaker, it's clear to me that they don't need smart for their "cheap" cars.  All their cars are "cheap" these days, at least in terms of comparing to the quality of Mercedes of old. 

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