smart forfour

[DumBlonde]

it's been announced that the forfour production is being ceased - does this make it a really bad idea to buy one new as my first car?

i have an appointment at the showroom tomorrow and now I'm not sure. they're now sellin existing stock at a discount.

thanks

[wduk2005]

I'd get one if i was u definately, especially if they are at discount price. i've got one as my work car we got 3 altogether, they look stupid (especially the multi coloured ones) but it ends there. its only a 1.1 but is quick mine does 110 mph............ apparantly. they are REALLY good on petrol, the interior is pretty cool, the back seats go forwards and backwards and recline, u get everything you need like elec windows cd player power steerin remote central locking and that. They r very reliable being made by merc mines never been serviced and shes still going strong.Dont know bout insurance as thats not my problem.

There is only one thing that annoys me about them and thats the a post ( the post on either side of the windscreen ) i think is too big.

No matter what they will still be making parts for them if you need anything. You should take it for a test drive and see what you think. They are much better than the 2 door, i've driven a few of them n they are crap !!

[Impret-Sir]

IMO it would need to be really discounted to be worth considering, they are well expensive list for what they are, and look pretty silly too,plus this thing about Mercedes' cars being ultra reliable was true once upon a time, but in recent years the standards of build quality on their cars has dropped alarmingly.

[wduk2005]

no offence but subarus r a bit less reliable than the mighty smart car !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Impret-Sir]

errrrrrrr, where do you get that idea from?? Subarus topped the JD Power customer satisfaction survey for years, and have a great reputation for reliability.
And in what universe is a Smart car "mighty"?
I like the original Smart, id have one as a city car, must be great to park, and I think the new Smart sports cars are good too, apart from the useless auto gearbox, but the 44 is being withdrawn for a reason, no-one bought them because they are basically not worth the asking price.

[jake-the-peg]

Forget whether they are good cars or not yuo have to think about parts availability and resale value.

At first parts availability will still be good but after a couple of years items like trim will become almost impossible to replace I'll bet you'd have a nightmare should you need an exhaust replaced.

It will also hit the resale value of it badly for all the above reasons.

But on the plus side it gives you the ammunition to drive a very very hard bargain with the salesmen for existing stock.

As Impret-sir says it'd need to be very heavilly discounted - make your mind up how cheap it'd have to be for you to buy one with all the above in mind and if they don't play ball walk away.

If you want to be really cheaky leave your number and tell the salesman to call you if he changes his mind closer to the end of the month

[wduk2005]

impertsir i was takin the **** obviously, who honestly is gonna compare a plastic car to a 2 litre turbo 4 x 4.

but with everyone i know who has eva owned a scoop-a-poo they have had nothin but problems, even a couple of engines blow n they AINT cheap.

Back to the original question, its your call depends on whather u like emn n i still think that a car with nearly 60 k on the clock that aint eva been serviced is bloody reliable, there will always be parts available wheather they r original or not, and for trim and that there will always be scrap and breakers yards

[jb's hat]

late reply i know but as a smart owner felt i should throw my 2 cents in..

i would only buy a forfour if you planned on keeping it for 5 years+ as by then the depreciation hit you will certainly take will have evened itelf out in the used car market. i've heard of the 17k brabus version being traded in at 6 months old for as little as 9.5k at the smart dealer - loss of 7.5k!! at 5 years old most cars of this size are at 3-4k regardless of make,spec, or early depreciation.

when you negotiate a deal make sure you get a whopper of a discount as they have fields in europe full of "new" smarts waiting to be sold. im told the sales bonus structure for smart dealers means that the salesman is paid a bonus on units sold not % of profit made per sale so really push hard. it wont hit his/her personal pocket & they need rid of the stock more than you need the car. dont forget aswell you can help yourself further by buying at the end of the month, when they are prob desperate to hit sales target. i'd push to get it priced to that of a similarly specced fiesta or corsa & walk if they say no, as jake says, leaving your phone no for month end.

as far as all this reliability & part availability nonsense is concerned, ignore. smarts parent company daimlerchrysler, like every car maker, legally has to supply parts for their models for a long period of time (i think its 20 odd years from final date of production). plus the forfour is mechanically a mitsubishi colt & japanese engines are generally the most reliable around, so there should be no worries at all.

beware that merc/smart dealers are the most expensive around in terms of labour per hour (its 90 before vat in my local dealer) so servicing wont be cheap.

hope this is of some use