[mark bowie]

well only during the week , the wife will be using it for her trips to work as i start a new job in two weeks time and is only a 3 mile trip so my wife is trading in here 3 year old seat Ibiza for a ex demo smart car which i will use in the week as the 3 mile run will not be good for the mito diesel . took the smart for a test drive yesterday and it was fun if you did not rush the gearbox , will still have the mito at the weekends

 

[fiisch]

A Smart Car? Seriously... Unless you live in central London, that is a bizarre choice - especially when you went so right with the MiTo!

If it's 3 miles, I'd personally consider a push-bike! But if you're really worried about economy, and really hate driving, have you considered a VW Polo Bluemotion?

 

[Maurgo]

3 miles does seem a bit of a small distance to need a car!

 

[mark bowie]

i did think of getting a motor bike but the wife was not happy with that and i know 3 miles is a short distance there is no buses and not a good road to cycle on a busy A road with steep hills . had a toyota aygo a few years back which was ok but as now work for a Mercedes body shop so got a good deal plus i quiet like the later the later smart car's which i think are fun to drive and cheap to run

 

[sargeantpepper]

Smart car! You can't rush the gearbox you are correct, which makes getting out of junctions and roundabouts an absolute nightmare. You have to floor it to get anywhere, then it will want to change to second...eventually!! Horrible.

Polo bm or the fantastic Lupo tdi for some uber cheap motoring.

 

[Jeremy159]

Smart car! You can't rush the gearbox you are correct, which makes getting out of junctions and roundabouts an absolute nightmare. You have to floor it to get anywhere, then it will want to change to second...eventually!! Horrible.

Polo bm or the fantastic Lupo tdi for some uber cheap motoring.

Oil burners will barely heat up and return very poor economy over that short distance and, in the case of VAG vehicles with DPFs, probably break as well. The MiTo JTD he has would do just as well, if not better. A small light weight petrol's the way to go, and they don't get much more of either than a smart car.

That said, an electric bicycle would work, my 70 years old father in law can keep up with traffic on hills with his.

 

[sargeantpepper]

Oil burners will barely heat up and return very poor economy over that short distance and, in the case of VAG vehicles with DPFs, probably break as well. The MiTo JTD he has would do just as well, if not better. A small light weight petrol's the way to go, and they don't get much more of either than a smart car.

True, but the smart car my ex had wasn't fantastic on fuel because you had to boot it to get absolutely anywhere (even though it was the higher output Brabus looking thing). Maybe the newer ones are better.

At least you wouldn't look an absolute tool in a VAG.