smart move or not so smart.

[franky]

The wife dropped a bombshell on me,saying she Fancy's a change from Mini to a Smart roadster coupe (brabus). She says the Mini is too common and everywhere now. As its our second car she likes the Smart as its a rare sight and looks better.As she flipped or got a vallid point ?. MINI SMART or SMART MINI

[linners2005]

i contemplated this, then looked at the Smart's NCAP which is untested becuase it's that bad, literally you can eat beans out of one when it crashes not something i wanted to be driving around in

[AidenL]

Paul M had a Smart - never again I believe he said

[Derepente]

¿Has she driven a Brabus vs a MINI on the same stretch of Asphalt? I don't own a MINI YET but I have test driven all the models in the Cooper and Cooper S series. For the feel and fun of driving/Motoring, the MINI wins my heart and Mind every time. So, the ball is in her court, true comparison driving will get you the answer. But I am interested to find out the result... Cheers.

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by AidenL (original)

Paul M had a Smart - never again I believe he said

Indeed I did. I had a Smart Roadster Coupe. It started well, it's not in the same league as the MINI quality wise, but it has a certain chuckable fun "thing" going on. But overall, terrible. And slow. And wet, leaky, faulty, and terrible.

I can see the attraction (I bought one afterall), but would warn anyone off doing the same.

[franky]

She wants to try one to see if they drive like they look. Iv searched reveiws and they are slower but handle fine, but with little driver feel through the stearing. Must admit they look cool but no il miss the Mini fun. But she uses it for work and is bigger than me.

[Paul]

No idea on the brabus, but the handling isn't great, it's fun, but the gear change on the regular coupe is just appaling, it's not just that's it's extremely slow (and it is), it's also great at mistiming changes to go when you're on a bend, or round a roundabout, and with the time the changes take it's terrible.

Water leaks and problems seem a major issue (mine had that) as do electrical problems (ditto, like being locked out and having to crawl through the boot to get in!). I cant remember what else was up with mine, but myself and my family were not just put of smart, but Mercedes too by their customer service.

[franky]

Ta paul il show her your post about the problems. But you no what there like as long as it moves and she can get abit of clothes and shoe shopping in they r happy.

[Paul]

See my above post, regarding the times I was locked out.

If you're just poodling around town and it's going to be kept under cover so water ingress wont be such an issue, then it could be OK. For anything more than that, not a smart move.

[pappillon]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul Mullett (original)

For anything more than that, not a smart move.

[JG.26]

The only way to decide is for your wife to book a test drive. She might love it over the MINI then again she might not . I think views will be a little biased on here. Personally I think there are plenty of small cars out there which are better at what the MINI does but also worse in othere areas.

Just think you need to go on how you like the drive. With regard to reliability, quality etc that has been mentioned, it can't be any worse than the R56 at the moment.

[my_mini]

Paul

What was your last good car? You seem to have a lot of problems !!

[Paul]

One BIG plus is the fuel consumption, even though it's got a small tank refills are few and far between. I got mine as I needed to save up money at the time, and in that respect it worked well compared to the S.

As above really, take a test drive, a nice long test drive, maybe an over-nighter (our local dealer let us do that with a Smart), and see how you get on.

[Paul]

Quote: Originally Posted by my_mini (original)

Paul

What was your last good car? You seem to have a lot of problems !!

The last Cooper S (Red, first gen) I had, which I changed for the Laser Blue S (mistake). And the Indi Blue Cooper S before that (which was what I let go for the Roadster).

On reflection the Smart was probably the worst car I've ever had.

Also on reflection, when I get a good car, I should appreciate it and keep it!

[nephilin]

My flat-mate was ecstatic when he bought his Smart Roadster in spring 2 years back. Didn't last very long though - he sold it after the summer and hasn't stopped complaining about its faults since.

Perhaps your wife really just wants a convertible for the summer months?