deezle

Fortunately the occupants of the other vehicle are OK.At age 81, it's quite possible that heath issues contributed to the smart driver's death, if not immediately prior to the accident ---- then soon afterwards.

So we have SCHMART volunteering for the 'Self Promotion' forum and Speedie offering his services for the Vancouver Island sub-forum (thanks Speedie--- not that it has taken much of my time).We can definitely use some more volunteers, especially for the 'General Discussions' and 'Introduce Yourself' forum. The duties of a moderator primarily involve occasionally moving a topic to a more appropriate forum, discussing possibly inappropriate or offensive posts with other moderators, merging a new topic with an existing one, and of course smoothing out some frayed nerves if a member misinterprets another's comment. Mostly it involves keeping an eye on things.

I hear you Prairieboy, myself being the owner of a now officially eligible 'Collectors car' (no---- not the smart). Having said that ---- many "future collectable and rare cars" are environmental disasters and should really be put to rest for the planet's sake. I guess dismantling them piece by piece would be an alternative. I recently drove our perfectly-running old Nissan Multi to the scrap-yard to be shredded and we got two new bicycles from B.C.'s scrap-it program. It would never have been a collectable vehicle, so it was easier to do. Still, it was a bit like putting down an old and ailing pet.

To me GM still tries too hard to cling to their old styling cues --- even though they are indeed carrying that 'negative brand equity'. I get the impression that the top people in their design studios are either very old, or are being told to keep 'traditional' styling prominent. GM needs to do a total re-think of it's designs in much the same way that VW did 5 or 6 years ago (VW's top designer (Peter Schreyer) has now gone to KIA to overhaul their designs). And, yeah, the more negative the brand equity, the smaller the logo should be on the grill.

I wonder how it's shelf-life compares to dino-diesel?

It seems pretty clear that the EGR/ turbo/ intercooler issues we are having (repeatedly) are an indication of engineering/quality control failures that are not consistent with MB nor smart's supposed standards. MB's failure to address these problems with a few of their army of engineers is only damaging MB's reputation and resulting in future financial losses for them (and us). It is certainly affecting my own opinion of ever again buying a new or late model MB product.

Some pretty impressive engineering has gone into that assembly plant ---- the Germans really do have a knack for that.

At 5c/liter and a 20 l fill-up for us, that works out to an extra $1 for a fill. We can bear that, but if even one big rig per day takes his business elsewhere --- that station operator is going to reconsider his pricing strategy. It may be the only bio pump around, but there are plenty of alternative fuel pumps. A market economy does have it's benefits.

Yeah, but it won't look quite so cool with graffiti all over the interior. I foresee that form of public transportation in very limited usage at certain exclusive locales --- but it's not likely to replace either the automobile nor mass transit.For those of us who enjoy driving, it's a definite yawn.

State of the Art from a very clever MIT student: story and video.

It would seem that Toyota has a more serious headlight problem to deal with: Prius headlight lawsuit

So instead of smart dealing with an obvious problem and major hassle for it's customers, they suggest that we spend twice as much money and time whenever one burns out. Pathetic.

Top Turbo-Trasher of the Year!The second one didn't do too badly, but there is obviously an engineering or quality control problem with these turbos that smart should deal with.

That is good news. It's not too likely that it will be offered with a diesel either.It looks like VW will have the market for affordable diesels in N.A.

Poor article but likely painting a true picture. Smart will hold it's value even more as fuel prices climb back up (which they certainly will --- oil being a non-renewable resource).

Do these two-strokes still pollute as badly as they did a decade or two ago?

They say that the pen is mightier than the sword. Unfortunately, if you put a pen in the hand of a fellow like Stephen Black, the poor sod just reveals himself as a helpless ignoramus. No point even sending him any letters nor pamphlets. Education obviously hasn't worked with him.

A couple of interesting newcomers to the market are the Nissan Cube and the Kia Soul. They might be what you're looking for?

I nominate Steve for sugardaddy.

Keep in mind when reading those other topics that both Duck and Garry Stearns put mega-mileage on their cars ---- so an extended warranty would have had limited usefulness for them. Here are three pages of topics about warranty. Take your GPS with you so you can find your way back. Happy trails.

Top secret.

More than a tad off topic, guys.

The only down-side to the $2000 price reduction is that it tends to push down the resale value of all smarts. A similar situation is happening with the lower-priced 3rd generation Prius that is just coming to market.

It looks like the XR3 plug-in diesel 3-wheeler that has been sold for a while in kit form is going to go into production. Read more here, and be sure to watch the video. It looks like this thing corners well and gets phenomenal fuel mileage while providing a little more protection from the elements than a motorcycle does.

So perhaps the Chinese rulers are in fact wiser than many westerners realize? And perhaps the planet does have a glimmer of a hope at survival? Human nature being what it is ---- the likely answer to both is probably: Nope.