Well, I now own a Smart Car...............

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

 

I drove down to Portland OR, today, and drove home a 2013 Barbus Smart Car. The car had 6,703.2 miles on it after I took the test drive, runs great looks sharp and the way this corners I can see getting into trouble if I don't watch it.

 

This is the car I was talking about in my other thread where I asked for you folks opinion on buying a car with a reconstruction title, the general consensus was if its in good shape buy it, so I after jacking it up to inspect the under carriage to look for any evidence of safety shell damage and inspection of the new parts that were replaced checking them against the receipts, it all looked good, took it out and drove the heck out of it on paved and unpaved roads up steep hills and on the freeway. No shimeys, no shakes, no weird noises, no wandering when lightly holding the steering while accelerating hard or braking hard, so I bought it, $7,000.00 dollars. Drove it home, averaging about 65mph, hand calculated mileage 40mpg, this car has the 101 horse power engine, its noticeably snapper then the other Smarts I drove. I think I got a great deal, its dark out now, I'll post up some photos tomorrow.

[Chad Heiser]

Congratulations. Will the new Smart be making the trip to Reno with you?

[Buscrusher]

All righty then! Sorry I wasn't able to come along for the ride...I think it would have been fun! I wasn't aware that the. Brabus had more HP. Got pictures?

[RickS]

Dave,

Congrat's on the SC....Hope to see it at the WCR.

[mr. cob]

Howdy All,

OK, the full story complete with photos. I have been watching crigs list for months looking for just the right car, low miles, in good shape and most important CHEAP. In my area 2008 model years with average of 40+K miles area going for around$7,500-9,000.00 to much for my cheap arse for the amount of miles I'll put on it.

So I spy this 2013 down in Portland OR, it has 6,500 miles on it, for $7,900.00 HOWEVER it has a reconstruction title.

So I burn up the phone talking to insurance people, licensing people here in the Peoples Republik of Washington, get a green light from all concerned. Many emails are exchanged with the owner, before and after photos are sent, receipts for all the parts replaced and talking to the shop which did the work. after all this I figure its worth the gas to drive 270 miles down there and take a look.

I brought along a floor jack and a ground cloth, jacked that bugger up and crawled underneath making note of all the new parts and looking for any other signs of damage, it all looked like new. Drove the car on paved roads, up and down a bumpy street that had a lot of gravel on it as it was torn up for repairs, drove it on the freeway, accelerated hard and braked hard while holding the steering wheel very lightly. The car drove and handled excellency, not weird noises, no shimmy's or shakes, tracked straight, stopped straight went around corners like a go kart with a roof and air conditioning.

I gave the guy $7,000.00 for it and smiled all the way home.

Driving impressions, I could but I wouldn't like to drive this car coast to coast, short wheel base, low profile tires and sport tuned suspension do make for bit harsher ride then the other Smart Cars I have driven but this one is just so damned much FUN to drive, it makes up for the softer ride. This car has the 101 horse power engine and a different tune for the transmission then the regular Smart Car, I was amazed at just how quick this thing gets underway and will accelerate from 70mph to 90 according to my GPS, I backed out of it at 90 it was still gaining speed and this was up a freeway grade that had a slow truck lane on I-5 heading north, roundabouts are a HOOT, if I don't roll this thing I think I'll change my opinion of these abominations

OK, time for photo, living in the Nor-Wet, and driving home in and out of hard rain after 270 miles the very clean when I picked it up car now looks rather shabby, dirt streaks and road grime, still you can see how nice it really is.

Here it parked along side of the Freightliner that drags the huge toy hauler the Smart Car will spend most of its time in.




You can see the plastic covers that were still on the floor mates after the rebuild was done, the shop that did the work on this car did an excellent job, I am thinking of leaving the plastic covers in place as I have a dirt drive way and it will help keep the carpets nice.














15 inch wheels on the front.


17 inch wheels on the rear.


The leather heated seats are very comfortable, the only real complaint I have is that the arm rest on the door is not padded and slopes at a downward angle, other then that I really like the cockpit and hows its laid out. All that said even at 38-40mpg using the Smart Car, for the amount of work done my Freightliner which gets 8-9mpg gets WAY better mileage then the Smart Car.

I like it, I think I got a good deal, many will say that the reconstruction title kills the resale value and that is TRUE thats why I got the deal I did but I don't plan on selling this thing until the wheels fall off I am one of those people who holds on to their vehicles for at least ten years so resale value for me is a non issue.

[mr. cob]

Congratulations. Will the new Smart be making the trip to Reno with you?

Howdy Chad,

 

Yes, that will probably be its maiden voyage in the toy hauler, now I just have to drive it in and figure out how I am going to tie it down.

 

Dave

[mr. cob]

All righty then! Sorry I wasn't able to come along for the ride...I think it would have been fun! I wasn't aware that the. Brabus had more HP. Got pictures?

Howdy Doug,

 

You do know that "work" is a four letter word, sorry couldn't make the trip but THANK YOU for helping me to make this decision.

 

Dave

[mr. cob]

Dave,

Congrat's on the SC....Hope to see it at the WCR.

Howdy Rick,

 

Barring unforeseen circumstances I plan to bring it.

 

Dave

[HERO Maker]

Looks good Dave, and yes, a real good deal for you.

[mr. cob]

Looks good Dave, and yes, a real good deal for you.

Howdy Rocky,

 

I have to admit, the little bugger is growing on me...............

 

Drove it into town, got plates and registration, played on the roundabouts, this could get habit forming.

 

Dave

[SunJuniper]

Dave,

 

Sweet and Congrats on the new toy... Question.... is your toyhauler rated for that kind of weight in the Toybox? or are you gonna do a frame extension on the Freightliner?

 

cant wait to see it at the WCR.. and you should be doing better than 8mpg with the detroit. i average 10mpg loaded (im about 40k) and 13mpg when bobtail.

[mr. cob]

Dave,

 

Sweet and Congrats on the new toy... Question.... is your toyhauler rated for that kind of weight in the Toybox? or are you gonna do a frame extension on the Freightliner?

 

cant wait to see it at the WCR.. and you should be doing better than 8mpg with the detroit. i average 10mpg loaded (im about 40k) and 13mpg when bobtail.

Howdy Lou,

 

Darn it I have to get those numbers you asked for sent to you, I'll get on it.

 

My toy hauler is rated at being able to carry 4,700 pounds of cargo, the Smart weighs around 1,800 pounds and the Ural is around 900 pounds so I am well within the limits of the trailers capacity.

 

My over all lenght in now 67 feet so lengthening the truck is out of the question

 

As to fuel mileage, that is one of the things I was hoping to talk to you about when we work on my truck, when hitched to the loaded trailer and with full fuel tanks I am very close to 40,000 pounds GVW. I have gotten as high as 9.5mpg when crossing the flat lands of the midwest but I spend most of my time traveling the mountainous western States, seems I can't go anywhere with climbing a mountain range. Bobtailing have gotten around 12mpg never really kept close track as I do it so seldom.

 

The build date on my truck is late summer of 2001, but its titled as a 2002, I have heard on other lists that there is a lot of pollution control stuff in the ecm of my truck that can be removed which would result in a marked increase in fuel mileage. If thats true and its not going to get anyone in trouble I sure would like to have that done. I have never had the engine dynoed on my truck, maybe its tired but it sure seems to run well, doesn't burn any excess oil, and doesn't seem to have anymore blowby then other trucks have seen or heard running.

 

Dave

[Jack Mayer]

Nice find. I would have bought it too....I don't really care about resale, either. I'll drive mine until it dies or starts costing too much money to maintain, then trade for a new one.

[Dennis M]

I agree with Jack, that looks like a really good deal. I would have gone for it as well.

 

I have heard that the handling on the Brabus is much improved over the stock suspension. Should be a hoot to drive! Have fun and try not to get arrested!

[CDR]

Dave;

 

You "did" notice the bent rim in the picture I hope?

 

Curt

[SunJuniper]

Dave;

 

You "did" notice the bent rim in the picture I hope?

 

Curt

ya i noticed it too.. Nice Catch Curt...

[mr. cob]

Dave;

 

You "did" notice the bent rim in the picture I hope?

 

Curt

Howdy Curt,

 

Yes, I did. I must have taken that photo from the worst possible angle, when I had the car jacked up I spun the wheel and couldn't detect any wobble or run-out, running your fingers over the ding you can just feel it, it appears to be just the outer lip that is dinged when driving the car I paid particular attention to how it drove and could not detect any vibration, wiggle or wondering at any speed. With the low profile tires it looks more like a curb strike then damage that would have happened during the wreck.

 

Dave

[hone eagle]

Excellent price on the car ,and your truck mileage sounds ok its not worth spending $$ on to get only a probable improvement. IMHO

[Buscrusher]

Howdy Doug,

 

You do know that "work" is a four letter word, sorry couldn't make the trip but THANK YOU for helping me to make this decision.

 

Dave

You remind me of a former neighbor who used to say that "yard work" is just 2 more 4-letter words somebody put together...?

 

Looks like you got a winner there with the car. I'm interested to see how you solve the loading ramp clearance issue we ran into.

[mr. cob]

Excellent price on the car ,and your truck mileage sounds ok its not worth spending $$ on to get only a probable improvement. IMHO

Howdy hone eagle,

 

With almost 750,000 miles now on the truck I am sure it could do with a in block rebuild, however for the amount of money that would cost and the miles it would take to break even on fuel costs let alone save anything, I figure I'll be shifting gears in another plane of existence long before the numbers work out.

 

Dave

[SunJuniper]

i love the sport rims on yours. it looks killer...

 

at 750k you probably have another 250k before you need a in-frame... but there Cheaper on the Detroits.

 

we can talk about things when your here as i also have a detroit in my personal truck and a few friends i know here also

have the Detroits.

 

i know the trucks well.. hope to see that info i requested on your truck soon so i have a heads up what im working with.

the 2001 was PRE-EGR and should be DDEC IV ECM which has a bit more sensors than the DDEC III.

[mr. cob]

You remind me of a former neighbor who used to say that "yard work" is just 2 more 4-letter words somebody put together...

 

Looks like you got a winner there with the car. I'm interested to see how you solve the loading ramp clearance issue we ran into.

Howdy Doug,

 

I have come to the conclusion after researching all kinds of ramps and such that the easiest way for me to load and unload the Smart from the trailer is to move the truck and trailer to a small slope along side of my driveway when loading or unloaded before and after I go on a trip from my home. Doing so will tilt the trailer so that the rear of it sits low and will only be about 7-9 inches off the ground making for a very shallow ramp angle.

 

Once I am loaded, if where ever I want to unload or load the Smart is on a level area, the easiest way I can figure is to simply unhitch the trailer from the truck and using the power landing legs raise the front of the trailer making it slope to the rear thus decreasing the ramp angle. Its not like I am going to be doing this every day and I think it will just be a lot less hassle then messing around with extra ramps that will be rarely used and then take up room and time to use.

 

Dave

[SunJuniper]

Dave,

 

you have a dovetail on the back of the toyhauler?

 

you have a picture gallery anywhere with pictures of the back of the toyhauler and rear door down?

i have some ideas....

[mr. cob]

Dave,

 

you have a dovetail on the back of the toyhauler?

 

you have a picture gallery anywhere with pictures of the back of the toyhauler and rear door down?

i have some ideas....

Howdy Lou,

 

Yes, there is a downward slope the last two feet of the garage floor if that is what you mean by having a dovetail in the rear of the garage floor. I don't have photo of the rear door open, but when sitting on level ground the trailer end of the ramp is about two feet off the ground, this trailer sits quite high as it has a flat floor the entire area of the garage.

 

There are two electric bunks that are built so that the rear edge is right next to the inside edge of the ramp when the it closed, this makes it impossible to have any type of folding ramp attached to the ramp itself. Don't get me wrong I am OPEN to ideas just trying to be practical and not have to carry more stuff as I have already succeed in filling a trailer 7 feet longer then the old one.

 

I am working on send photos of what I think are the numbers you asked for.

 

Dave

[bmzero]

Nice car, almost exactly like mine.

 

I have left the the other cars sitting in the garage and have driven the Smart every day since I bought mine. I love driving it.