Buying a car

[griz326]

I'm about ready to buy a car for the girls. What's been really frustrating is that the asking price for used vehicles with 12k miles/year/use are almost as high as the sticker price for the same car new. I've actually found 3 year old vehicles for MORE than new ones. Fancy trim packages on old models have ZERO value to me; I'm buying miles - nothing more.

 

Okay, so I stumble on a guy with lots of toys who is cleaning out his shop to make room for more toys. He has a 2006 Smart fortwo Pulse with the diesel engine; it has 14k miles on it. He's asking $8k for car. A similar model that I found at a Canadian dealership was going for $9.8k with 50k miles on it.

 

Long story short, the Smart is supposed to be very safe, the diesel gets 60mpg, and by design it will keep the girls from driving too fast and close to home while they learn to drive on their own.

 

 

There are devotees of these cars, but I haven't found many detractors. Does my reasoning hold water or should I keep looking?

 

 

Here are the Smart cars for St. Patrick's Day.

[dnoblett]

Hey that is quite cool, diesel model, all I have seen around the Rochester area have been the Gas models, there was quite a spike in sales of them during the last fuel rise.

 

I would go for the smart as a commuter car.

 

I guess it's NY state's anti diesel market, up until very recently you could not buy any diesel cars new in the state of NY, and the other ridiculous thing in NY is the price of diesel is higher than super premium gas.

[tonado]

Diesel cars smell badly.

 

http://cars.about.com/od/dieselvehicles/a/What_is_diesel.htm

[tsap seui]

Griz ol' buddy, you'd look rat sharp stylin' down the boulevard in the green plaid car.

 

tsap seui

[griz326]

Griz ol' buddy, you'd look rat sharp stylin' down the boulevard in the green plaid car.

 

tsap seui

 

 

 

...ain't for me Tsap ol' buddy...it's for the girls. I was thinking of a Hello Kitty for them

 

 

Has anyone driven any of these buggers? I'm hoping to drive the car this week, but don't know if that's going to happen yet.

[dnoblett]

Diesel cars smell badly.

 

http://cars.about.co...t_is_diesel.htm

 

Old rep, from a diferent day.

Smoke: Diesel vehicles have a reputation of being smoky, smelly, and slow, a throwback to the low-tech diesels found in many trucks. (In truth, smoky diesel exhaust is usually a sign of a dirty air filter or an improperly-adjusted mechanical fuel injection system.)

http://cars.about.com/od/dieselvehicles/a/What_is_diesel.htm

 

Not anymore with EFI, and low sulfur fuels.

[dnoblett]

Griz ol' buddy, you'd look rat sharp stylin' down the boulevard in the green plaid car.

 

tsap seui

 

 

 

...ain't for me Tsap ol' buddy...it's for the girls. I was thinking of a Hello Kitty for them

 

 

Has anyone driven any of these buggers? I'm hoping to drive the car this week, but don't know if that's going to happen yet.

 

Yep!

 

http://wpc.0e0a.edgecastcdn.net/800E0A/www.smartusa.com/_assets/smart-expressions/hellokitty.jpg

[dnoblett]

Had to do some digging, yep the Diesel model is not an U.S. model, sounds like it was brought down from Canada. Absolutely no mention of it on the US site.

 

http://smartcarofcanada.com/pulse.php

[chilton747]

Is there any place around your neck of the woods that can repair the car if needed? Are repairs to this car expensive?

[warpedbored]

I'd buy it. Good price and the fact it's diesel means you can run bio-diesel in it. That's sure to prop up it's resale value.

[Highlander 08 09 10 11]

Is there any place around your neck of the woods that can repair the car if needed? Are repairs to this car expensive?

 

 

The Smart Cars are made by Mercedes. Expensive to repair??

[chilton747]

Is there any place around your neck of the woods that can repair the car if needed? Are repairs to this car expensive?

 

 

The Smart Cars are made by Mercedes. Expensive to repair??

 

 

 

I guess that means yes?

[natopronto]

Is there any place around your neck of the woods that can repair the car if needed? Are repairs to this car expensive?

 

 

The Smart Cars are made by Mercedes. Expensive to repair??

 

Yep This is a M-B. When diesels break you don't use a credit card you call FHA. They are expensive to repair. Another thing unless you live in a large Metro area you may have to wait on part 3-4 days for the simplest of part.

His price he is asking sounds fair however and the miles are very good. Too good you maybe looking at a clocked car or a salvage car. Used anything caveat emptor buyer beware. Good luck.

[griz326]

Well...in trying to get the ducks in a row...I discovered that the vehicle cannot be imported into the USA

 

I wanted the diesel.

 

Now I'm looking for another vehicle...and new vs used if the outrageous used pricing stays the same.

[Highlander 08 09 10 11]

I told my wife, we should buy one of those China mini-mini vans. She said, "nooooooooooooooooo". I thought she may feel more at home with one of those. The cost is about the same as my golf cart, and about the same size. B)