My Big Sister Wants To Buy A Smart...

[duncerduncs]

... that was until I told her all about the iQ!! :D

Having seen the car in the flesh she now wants an iQ2 in Amethyst with sat nav

It took me a little while to explain to her why you don't pay for road tax each year...

[tallman]

... that was until I told her all about the iQ!! :D

Having seen the car in the flesh she now wants an iQ2 in Amethyst with sat nav

It took me a little while to explain to her why you don't pay for road tax each year...

Sensible girl....

The Smart IMO doesnt work! It's too narrow and too tall! A great concept in the late 90's that hasn't been developed!

[cvn25]

I traded in my Smart just over a week ago. Had the newer 57 plate facelift smart and had it for a year. Much more stable, so I am told, that the older version. Top speed of 85mph ! A little scary still in very strong winds though !

It has its merits, great for in town driving and parking, and great for commuting, but becoming quite common now.

I saw the IQ and just had to have one. The cute design, the extra 2 seats, fit my youngest (6 and 7 year old) great ! and the 5 star safety rating beats the smart every time.

And at the moment there is the benefit of not being many around - still haven't seen another one on the road.

[Sally19]

I had a Smart from Dec 07 to Feb 08...Mine was a 55reg base model. I bought it cos it was quirky looking, and it was different. But the drive was terrible. Jerky at roundabouts if you had to slow down/stop, like delayed reaction! So many times i pulled out and would be urging the car to hurry up n sort the gears out!! Ended up changing gears myself most of the time with the Tiptronic. Also like said, as its tall and thin, made me feel unsafe on motorways n high speeds. Hence why i owned it for only 3 months. Also thought it was overpriced for what it was as it had none of the toys or exciting interior that the IQ has. Was very plain and basic.

When I first saw the IQ, i knew i had to have one cos i loved the Smarts looks. Toyota have developed the idea alot better though! And its a proper manual which i prefer

I went on the Smart Owners Club the other day and most of em slated the IQ, think they are stuck in their little Smart bubble to be honest!!

[tallman]

I sell Lexus for a living and have done for well over ten yrs now. Iv'e opted out of the Lexus company car scheme and today I collected my iq2... Have to say what a great little car and such fun with it!

I can't see what all those Smart people are talking about as the iq is a far better car all round!

Steve

[mike787]

I had a Smart for 4 years. A 2nd generation from new. Honest DO NOT GO THERE. Customer service is attrocious, reliability is awful. They leak. Etc etc. Mine had a main dealer service all its life, used nothing but Mobil 1 oil and lots of it. The engine lasted 40,664 miles and blew a cylinder after careful use throughout. Smart wanted £575 to fully establish the cause then they MAY have given me a contribution towards a new engine costing £3250 fitted. STEER WELL CLEAR! I now run a Yaris D4D which is more economical, bigger and I have no doubt will last a damned sight longer. The wife is running the IQ. The only thing good about a Smart is the panels do not dent! Yep, in my driving career it was probably the worst ever purchase I have made, a good idea let down by everything about it's actual creation and customer service before and after sale. I do hope the IQ is better and that Toyota have taken the idea and do it right.

[tallman]

I had a Smart for 4 years. A 2nd generation from new. Honest DO NOT GO THERE. Customer service is attrocious, reliability is awful. They leak. Etc etc. Mine had a main dealer service all its life, used nothing but Mobil 1 oil and lots of it. The engine lasted 40,664 miles and blew a cylinder after careful use throughout. Smart wanted £575 to fully establish the cause then they MAY have given me a contribution towards a new engine costing £3250 fitted. STEER WELL CLEAR! I now run a Yaris D4D which is more economical, bigger and I have no doubt will last a damned sight longer. The wife is running the IQ. The only thing good about a Smart is the panels do not dent! Yep, in my driving career it was probably the worst ever purchase I have made, a good idea let down by everything about it's actual creation and customer service before and after sale. I do hope the IQ is better and that Toyota have taken the idea and do it right.

Have no fears about Toyota customer service, it's light years better than Smart. The iq will also last longer, infact the engine won an award for inovation... I've had mine for two days now and love the thing, it's great. For all those people having trouble with the interior trim marking, go treat it with 303 sealent, it works!

Steve

[nedpears]

I had a Smart for 4 years. A 2nd generation from new. Honest DO NOT GO THERE. Customer service is attrocious, reliability is awful. They leak. Etc etc. Mine had a main dealer service all its life, used nothing but Mobil 1 oil and lots of it. The engine lasted 40,664 miles and blew a cylinder after careful use throughout. Smart wanted £575 to fully establish the cause then they MAY have given me a contribution towards a new engine costing £3250 fitted. STEER WELL CLEAR! I now run a Yaris D4D which is more economical, bigger and I have no doubt will last a damned sight longer. The wife is running the IQ. The only thing good about a Smart is the panels do not dent! Yep, in my driving career it was probably the worst ever purchase I have made, a good idea let down by everything about it's actual creation and customer service before and after sale. I do hope the IQ is better and that Toyota have taken the idea and do it right.

Have no fears about Toyota customer service, it's light years better than Smart. The iq will also last longer, infact the engine won an award for inovation... I've had mine for two days now and love the thing, it's great. For all those people having trouble with the interior trim marking, go treat it with 303 sealent, it works!

Steve

Having come from a Smart into an iQ I just thought I would add my thoughts. I had a Mk5 599cc Smart Pulse which I had for the best part of 4 years (and a nice old chap from Bristol had it for 3 years before me!) with 82k miles on the clock. In terms of driving experience I loved the Smart. It was 'seat of your pants' driving although once you got to know all of the quirks it was a fun experience! The S-L-O-W gear change, the ABS kicking in early, the ESP flashing at you all made for exciting driving. I must admit reliability was not as good as it could have been, although I never had the engine / turbo blow up on me - it liked to drink oil, but then I kept that topped up so was never a huge issue. I can echo the customer service and cost of ownership issues though. I think that the fact many of the Smart dealerships are add ons to a Merc dealers is the problem. Smarts are very much the poor relations in the Mercedes family, so you get the privilege of paying Merc prices whilst being made to feel like you belong to a lower species! I bypassed that by using independant Smart garages who were good value and knew what they were doing. Personally I think Smart lost my interest when they started making inroads into America. The second generation (451) lost a lot if its charms and became a bit too conventional for my liking and after taking a couple of test drives I decided it wasn't for me and that I would stick with my original model. That was until I saw a picture of the iQ last year and knew that I had to have one!

The iQ is a very different kettle of fish - much more refined and dare I say it grown up! Its easy to drive and doesn't take much thinking about. Its has all the bells and whistles (I always wanted a car with a push start button!) and it looks very cool. But the biggest thing for me was that it was a Toyota. This is the third Toyota in our family the prevous two (a Yaris T Sport and an Auris) were both fab cars and were super reliable. The Yaris was traded in for the Auris went to car heaven after being written off whilst parked in the street.

So whilst I loved owning and driving the Smart, I love the iQ just as much but for very different reasons. My sister is now the proud owner of the Smartie and I am hoping it will provide her with as much enjoyment as it did me.