<p>^ LOL</p>
<p>No, it has other vehicles in it.</p>
<p>Okay, smart is stupid, fit is good, what about yaris? I appreciate the input.</p>
<p>It is NOT a Volkswagen New Beetle. I got fantastic gas milage. Good city mileage also. But when the Cat Converter failed VW gave me the most incredible run around when i tried to get it replaced/repaired under warranty. I ended up calling headqaurters to report the games that local dealers were playing to avoid replacing a Catalytic Converter under warranty. Not even up to EPA warranty mileage! They confirmed to me that headquarters knows the cat conv is bad and they dont want to replace it so they encourage dealerships to avoid the warranty terms. This came straight from Headquarters of Volkswagen. Needless to say they did not get my repeat business when I had to buy a new car last spring.
The VW New Beetle is not good for the environment.</p>
<p>How is the mileage between a similarly horsepowered diesel & gasoline engine? Diesel seems to cost about 10-15% more around here. Our the mileage gains more than that at the same power level?</p>
<p>Agree that Smart is bad replacement for a family car. It would take me a gazillion trips to Costco to haul away the stuff that I easily fit into my Corolla hatchback, which can sit 5 people, too, and has side impact protection. At the experimentally determined 32 mpg over 65,000 odometer miles, I’ll keep my Corolla. How is Smart safetywise? I’d hate to see Smart vs. Ford Excursion.</p>
<p>Someone asked about Yaris. I drove it as a rental once, and I loved it. H could not stand the dashboard layout, so here we are with another Corolla, since we could not justify the extra cost of a hybrid.</p>
<p>BB- Costco runs are not exactly what I had in mind for the smart.
Nor crosscountry roadtrips, either. Good to know that the Yaris is worth looking at. Thanks.</p>
<p>Oh, if it just for commuting, a Smart should work fine, if you can get one. They started popping up around here. I saw one a couple of days ago parked near a Ridgeline truck in the parking lot at a local fitness club, kind of like a chihuahua sittng next to a great dane. Would not want to see them collide though.</p>
<p>
I agree but the accelerated research into battery power, practical application and need for improvement through the use of them in hybrids (as opposed to strictly in labs), and amount of financial investment by industry is huge right now compared to the past and I’m sure will yield good results eventually even though it could easily be another 10 years before major improvements make their way into a practical car we could reasonably buy. </p>
<p>
Yeah - that was the disclaimer I made - the higher price of diesel. It’s hard to say without direct comparisons but I believe the percentage of mpg savings are typically fairly higher than the percentage of increased fuel costs. Another interesting point is the much increased torque of the diesel despite lower HP making them more powerful off the line (which I like) and more suitable for towing.</p>
<p>Another commuter option in NY and CA (don’t know if it’s sold in other states):</p>
<p>[2008</a> Honda Civic GX - the Official Honda Web Site](<a href=“http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-gx/]2008”>http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-gx/)</p>
<p>This one is still eligible for the full $4k Federal tax credit for buying an alternative fuel vehicle.</p>
<p>
The higher torque in the lower revs is attributed mainly to the turbo. Non-diesel turbos have the same torque advantage lower in the rev range (assuming equal power).</p>