Category: City Cars 
Price Range: £8,518 to £16,026
Stylish, very economical, manoeuvrable
Only seats two, gearchange slow, limited luggage-carrying capabilities, sluggish performance
The most stylish city car around, but can be difficult to live with due to diminutive size
Low insurance groupings, emissions and consumption (around 60mpg on the combined cycle for the 61bhp engine) make running a Smart very light on the pocket. You do pay a lot for the car in the first place - especially for a Cabrio - and this does increase the overall costs. The warranty lasts for two years or 25,000 miles, whichever is sooner, but as many Smart dealerships are within Mercedes garages, labour costs could be quite high for servicing.
Buying a Smart now is better than it used to be as more and more Mercedes dealerships are finding space for a Smart area within their showrooms so you have more places to go for service and repair. Smarts do hold their value well due to their relatively small sales figures - a lot are bought as second cars, so mileages will be quite low.
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wrote on 11 08 2006