Does anyone have experience with a Smart. The sales people all say it is towable on all four. I've seen it in magazines. However the Manual says It can only be towed flat on four wheels for 30 miles and not exceeding 30 mph. Does anyone know the answer?
Just my opinion, of course, but I think the Book is the final authority.
I would ask the sales people to show it to me in writing, or put it in writing, iron clad and copper bottomed, so that if (when) something goes wrong the dealership will do the repairs no questions asked, no argument.
I bet if you put it that way, they will suddenly find they are wrong.
Good luck.
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OK, I'll bite, what's a "SMART'? My guess is it is some sort of a hybred car. If that is the case, then no it would not be towable. Most hybreds aren't.
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Most of the Smart cars (made by Mercedes) come with auto tranny and are not towable (from a practical standpoint). I've driven a Smart and seen many owned by rvers, but these rvers have heavy duty trucks (class 7 & 8) pulling a fifth wheel and place the Smart car on the truck bed. Since the first Smarts were only 8' long, they could sit across a large truck bed. The new Smarts are just long enough that special slanting beds must be used to angle the car so it isn't more the 102" across the bed.
In my humble opinion, a Smart car would be a poor choice as a towed. It is still expensive, very small (two people and a few bags of groceries) and many small cars get similar fuel economy. Smarts are still rather hard to get repaired. I strongly suspect the engines won't last as long as most automobile engines because they are very small and get their power by turbocharging. They are still too new to have much repair/failure history. They did score very well in the crash testing.
roster2 wrote: OK, I'll bite, what's a "SMART'? My guess is it is some sort of a hybred car. If that is the case, then no it would not be towable. Most hybreds aren't.
According to Consumer Reports you're better off buying a Honda Fit, which is towable, rides better, gets better fuel mileage and costs about the same. Oh yes, the Honda takes regular fuel the smart takes premium.
Deen - Vancouver, WA
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marvmarcy wrote: They did score very well in the crash testing.
I doubt they did rear crash testing - My neighbor has one and I could not be PAID to ride in it! Get hit from behind with no back seat or trunk to protect you and you're TOAST!
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The Smart for two has been sold in Canada since 2004 in its original diesel version but I don't recall seeing any used as towds, however you could have a light weight trailer built to haul one and still be pulling less weight than just about anything else you could tow.
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