Smart cars... dumb cars...do they make you.. see stars? LOL!
By mommyboo
@mommyboo (13174)
United States
September 27, 2010 8:35am CST
You know what I'm talking about - those little dinky 'smart cars' that look like they would seat one toddler comfortably? Do you see a lot of them around where you work, live, and play? I laugh so hard I practically cry when I see one!!
I see them occasionally, more often when I am with a certain friend. Once we were at Costco with the kids and we saw a yellow one with a giant Sponge Bob in the back window of it. We were dying of laughter when we saw it, and it only got worse, as it actually pulled out in FRONT of us before we left Costco. We followed it almost all the way back to her house before it turned onto another street!
I cannot imagine ever having or driving one of those. First of all, for the space, they are horribly expensive, and I don't think crash test dummies survive testing. Since I often have up to 5-6 extra small people, it would not be a good option due to lack of seats. My husband is 6 feet tall and it is silly enough watching him move my seat all the way back if he happens to drive my car, I can't imagine there would be any room for his legs in one of those cars. It would be impossible to put groceries in the trunk, to carry a travel system stroller, camping chairs, a cooler, backpacks and gym shoes and clothes, etc.
3 people like this
12 responses
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
29 Sep 10
You are definitely right that a car like this would not be an option for a family. Now, if we were thinking about a little car for my husband to drive to and from work, then I think that one of these would be an awesome option if the price wasn't so high. You see, he only works a few miles away from our house and I hardly ever ride in the car that he drives for work. It would be awesome because it would very rarely have to rely on gas to get him where he was going.
@Ted3_uk (114)
•
28 Sep 10
The Smart Car..
built by Mercedes Benz come with a 0.6L ( 600cc) to 1.6L (1600cc) engine. mostly automatic some manual (in UK) anyway..
If you have kids and need to put alot in it, Its absoultly no good for..
If you are a student or an older person with no family its a very religable and economic car for 2 people to drive in.. I think a 6ft person should sit okay in it :)
The main benifits are they do 60 to 70 MPG which i think is similar to the Prius and some volvo and new audi Diesil
You can park them side ways in small gaps
They are fairly nippy, as weight to power ratio isnt bad although they are 60 to 100 BHP
They look dangerous but i think it did score highly on the euro saftey ratings, but i would think a hummer or truck would smash it up okay head to head at 70mph
I wont be getting one any way, but i can see merit in its design A Mercades A-Class would be a finer choice with a 1.4 Turbo D engine
@urbandekay (18278)
•
28 Sep 10
Those poor crash test dummies not surviving the crash, hope they left no family behind 
all the best urban
all the best urban
@celticeagle (168542)
• Boise, Idaho
28 Sep 10
What is going to happen to the van and SUV's? I see these little cars more and more now and I think they are cute but I couldn't drive one. I just don't think I am smart enough. I drive an old Subaru and am happy to have it. It is a sedan and small enough. But to drive something even smaller.......??
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
27 Sep 10
I see those little cars every now and then, but very rarely as they are not very popular here in Australia. I guess we have bigger, wider roads and longer distances to drive mostly so they are not as practical here. I can see them coming in handy living in the large cities, but other than that, they would be useless as most areas do not have the large populations to warrant squeezing into a little car.
I do not know how safe they would be either. Maybe at low speeds in the city, they would be OK, but at 80 or 100 kilometres an hour, you would be squashed even more if you crashed one of those! 
@epicure35 (2814)
• United States
27 Sep 10
Those dinky little cars are not so smart or so safe. They look like toys and would probably crush like most plastic toys.
I think stupid people buy "smart" cars. It goes back to all this "new age" nonsense about all the politcally correct things people should do to show they "worship" the environment. Not that I'm saying we shouldn't take care of our environment, just not be stupid.
Some day politicians like Al Gore will be arrested for their "inconvenient" Ponzi scheme which made Gore a billionaire, and it will make Madoff look like a schoolboy.
@kris182_2000 (5469)
• Canada
27 Sep 10
We have a saying up here, smart car dumb driver. My boss coined that term one day, I don't remember why though.
There are quite a few up here, not very expensive, you can buy one for under $25k, which is average for most cars.
These are actually safe cars, I've seen crash tests done on them, and their frames hold up quite nicely in a high speed crash. But with any high speed accident, your organs will keep moving when everything else stops, no car will save you in a high speed crash.
These cars were built for business class people, single people mostly, who drive downtown where parking a larger car isn't always possible.
In a city of over 5 million people, I see them often on the streets, quite compact and fuel efficient, which gives them a major advantage over other vehicles.
The are far from a family friendly car, but they weren't built to be so. That's why there are minivans, which is something I've been driving for years.
@madasp (563)
• United States
27 Sep 10
LOL my son and I were just laughing at one this morning when I dropped him at school. my son is also very large (6' and around 200lbs) and I asked him how he'd like riding around in that little thing.
We actually see them quite a bit because there is an auto parts store in our area that has a few different stores in the surrounding towns (all about 10 miles apart) and they use them to run parts back and forth to the different stores so the customers don't have to. so for that circumstance it makes sense.
personally ,though, I have a large, sports playing, friend inviting, family that includes teens and toddlers (where on earth would a carseat go in one of those LOL)so for now I drive a suburban. I've gotten a little flack about driving the big gas guzzling monster, but the only other option for us is to take two vehicles sooo.. the suburban is actually a better choice environmentally and economically for us.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
27 Sep 10
hi mommyboo I saw one of those the other day . It pulled up in front
of our building and a very tall thin man got out. He must have been
jackknifed into the thing as it was a tiny car. Worst of all he came back out of Gold Crest with a relative who must have weighted at least
three hundred pounds. How in the world she got into that car I will
never know but her face was scarlet with the effort of just getting
herself into that tiny car.It was actually a bit smaller than the Austins I have seen.I have no idea the make of it but it was squared off like a small childs block.
@dawnald (85146)
• Shingle Springs, California
27 Sep 10
First time I ever saw one of those was in Germany, 2002. We had rented a car and were heading from the airport in Duesseldorf to a friend's house in Solingen. Husband saw one in the rear view mirror and remarked, "don't look now but we're being overtaken by a toaster!"
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
27 Sep 10
You know, mommyboo, there are cars for everybody's needs. You need a large car for a large family, other people need a small car for one or two persons, for small 'trips' inside the city. I don't like those two seats cars either and I'd never buy one of those cars, but I can understand why people use them. As a city car, it can easily slip between other cars, and with such a car you can easily find a parking place. I also think they don't consume much gasoline, so even if they are expensive, the maintenance costs are lower.
