RichHelms

I sold my green on green cabrio in 2012. I loved how outrageous it was. I have never been a muscle car person. We test drove many brands of cars. Almost bought a yellow convertible, but for shits and giggles test drove a new yellow Camaro. It had the V6 so was only 330 hp and had the 6 speed manual tranny. Same unit Toyota uses in its RWD cars. Like silk to shift. Long story short, bought it. Had the car for 9 years now. I have winter wheels with performance snow tires. Fun car to pop around in. I joke that I think the starter is more powerful than my smart diesel was. PS, car was made in Oshawa

I sold my 2005 cabrio that I have owned since Jan 2005. I test drove an IQ on Sat. I enjoyed it. We would end up just folding down the back seats as even my Jeep back seats are never up. The dog would love it back thereI am only 5'9" so had no headroom issues. Can't say I was crazy about the radio look. So large of a unit for such a small car. The interior space was nice and found the U-turn radius amazing. Engine maintenance looks easy to do.I also drove a Prius C and was very impressed.

I ended my Smart era yesterday when I sold me 7 year 3 month old smart. It had 88,895 kms and has been to 21 states. Enjoy her DaleDuck. Are you still racing pocket bikes?

I believe smart142 added paddles to his car. Was not cheapPersonally I love my paddles and use them all of the time

1. 1973 Pontiac Lemans2. 1981 Pontiac Lemans3. 1987 Renault Alliance DL4. 1987 Ford F1505. 1990 VW Golf Diesel6. 1992 Geo Metro7. 1984 Mercedes 190D8. 1991 Chevy Sprint Convertible9. 2000 Saturn SL210. 2000 Suzuki Vitara 4x411. 2005 smart pulse cabrio12. 2007 Suzuki Swift+13. 2007 Jeep Patriot 4x4We usually own 2 or 3 cars at a time. Also have owned about a dozen motorcycles

Very cool. Two points

That is a 451 so the panels and roof are pretty much indestructible. At the launch they showed a video of a BMX bikes doing runs up and down the car as well as bouncing on the clear roof.Not a bright move though. The headlights could break. Looks like he set off the alarm system

The aux cable plugs into the CD Changer outlet.I don't know of any way to have both

That roof may have been "opened" during the rescue

Yes. I had the same thing happen. It definitely starts at 30 days

Saw that this morning. Funny

Get someone to test the car. It is easy to determine if it is the battery or the alternatorAll they do is measure the charging voltage.

My guess would be failing alternator. I had a similar incident on a previou car of mine. The alternator was failing

Don't think I have seen this on the board yet

My experience doesn't match that. I would at least put them equal. My vredsteins are lasting longer than my ecos did.If you get ecos you need winter tires also. The ecos are a 3 season tire

I have had Vredesteins for some time. I have a set of winter rims and Conti winters but prefer the Vredesteins for winter. I haven't put my winter rims on the car since getting themAs for getting 100K out of a set of rear tires on a smart 450. I have no idea of any tire that will last that long on a smart. I got 40K out of my original Conti ecos and would guess I will get 40-50k out of the rear Vredesteins. The fronts seem to last much longer but you can not mix conti and Vredesteins front/rear. VERY unstable. Check the european forums

On my 2005 I had it happen all the time even with the adjustment set to lower the lights. When I replaced my bulbs last time I took the front off and re-aimed the lights lower. Problem solved. I felt they were too high before.

Wheel bearing problems are easy to diagnose as the sound will change with speed traveled. That is the tip off there.

In the Oct 29,2005 Toronto Sun I wrote an article on traveling in my smart. The final paragraph reads That article got carried by every version of the Sun. His SUV was a Hummer. The paper preferred I not mention the brand.Link to the complete article

I don't believe dropping the engine on a smart is 2-3 hours. 4 bolts and undo some cables and lines and the whole subassembly comes down. It was designed that way

Check the engine access door in the back floor. I have had it come loose and sound like a door was open - it was

The clear roof the 2008 is almost indestructible. I watched a video of a bike stunt rider doing jumps on the clear roof. From inside you could see it flex. Video from announcement Go to about 1:25 to 1:34 to see it

All the diesel smart engine does is spin the keys where the back tires should be

I have no inside info but it looks like they are using the GM platform. The specs sure read the same. I think this is good for Chrysler and GM.

I got the press release yesterday afternoon. I am still on the press email lists for the majors