Surveys aren't always right
We have a 2009 smart
Passion, and have precisely zero problems with the car as far as reliability issues are concerned. Not so much as a cough over thirty five thousand miles thus far.
We did take the precaution of buying one with a solid roof - the much hyped Macron® transparent roof looks like a great idea until you consider that it makes the interior a hot house even in wintertime. Other than that, standard all of the way.
We like everything about the car except one "feature" - unfortunately, one that is impossible to correct. The small size of the vehicle, particularly the low height of the front end of the vehicle, limits the amount of suspension throw. It is a very rough riding vehicle under the street and road conditions operative here in Houston. (On the better roads up north, no problems.) From my time in Austin Healeys and MGs, I recall the same problem - small car, smaller suspension.
My wife's back is not up to a harsh ride in any car, and after a chance fall backward into a flower box this spring (don't ask), neither has been mine. Additional seat cushioning has not helped.
For that reason alone, we are looking to replace it in the very near future with a Scion
iQ, meaning that someone will get a flawless 2009
Passion in immaculate condition. I hate to give it up, what with the small size and extreme gas mileage, but it has to go.
The
iQ, while not perfect in some ways, is a very compact vehicle with a big car like ride (and better seats than those on the smart), a limited third and fourth seat utility that converts into a two seat car with a lot of cargo space (more important in our case), plus the octopus-like Toyota dealership network. (Getting a smart worked on is a chancy proposition unless you happen to be located near one of the limited number of smart dealership (dual purpose Mercedes-Benz facilities - not all of them do work on smarts).
And, the
iQ doesn't have the two tire size arrangement of the smart. For whatever reasons (most likely for higher gas mileage), the front and rear tires on the smart are of two different (and hard to find) sizes. In a pinch, you can run a front wheel on the rear end, but if you would have a blowout (i.e., not a fixable puncture), you risk being marooned in East Nowhere OK for as long as five days while a replacement tire is air freighted in.
Like many newer (and high mileage) designs, the smart has no spare tire. Call me old fashioned, or over cautious, but I really like having the option of a spare tire in order to avoid the above scenario. (I have had about one blowout of a tire every 100,000 miles of vehicle travel.)
For that reason, I pursued a workaround solution to the "tire pump and slime" method of spare that is the rule these days.
The above is my "Continental kit" solution to the spare problem, one that rides on the car whenever we drive out of the immediate Houston TX area. It requires a trailer hitch to be placed on the car, but it allows for a spare mounted on a carrier that plugs into the hitch. It also has the added advantage of providing a stand-off bumper for minor rear end damage - taking the bumper out of play on a smart isn't much of a loss, since all of the body panels are designed to fail (and pop off) in the event of a collision.
When we get the
iQ, I'll have to create something similar, although the
iQ will require a side-swinging arrangement to clear the tailgate. I can't use the smart tire holder in any event, as the smart uses a three bolt arrangement in lieu of the more common five.
I always cause a sensation at car dealers when I make the crucial test of every new car under consideration. If it doesn't fit my coffin-like Yamaha baritone case, we don't buy it.
(For the record, it fits just fine in the smart (with the right seat in the folded position), along with my other horns, my horn rack, a cooler, a computer bag, and a couple of books to read between the tunes. In the
iQ, the only way that a baritone will work will be in a gig bag, but it will work.)