Overview & Reviews

The concept of the Smart car emerged in the early 1990s when the Swiss company Swatch, best known for its kitschy watches, sought to build an affordable city car that would fit into the smallest of parking spots and go easy on fuel. Not too long after, the company paired up with Mercedes-Benz to make the idea a reality. The car was later christened "Smart," an acronym for Swatch Mercedes Art.

The Smart Fortwo, originally dubbed the City Coupe, debuted at the 1997 Frankfurt Auto Show. Although the first generation never made it to the U.S., the tiny two-seater, which persevered through its parent company's financial troubles and an eventual buyout by Daimler-Benz, was later replaced by the slightly larger second-generation Fortwo. Not only is the reworked Fortwo newly available in the States, but an ambitious plan to launch several stand-alone dealerships in the U.S. makes it clear that the Smart brand is serious about competing in the American subcompact market. While its diminutive size and power entail certain on-road limitations, the Fortwo is a worthy candidate for urban commuters who want to maneuver through city congestion and save on gas without giving up the creature comforts of a car.

Current Smart Fortwo

At 8 feet, 10 inches long, the Smart Fortwo is a two-seat subcompact city car and is the smallest production car currently sold in North America. It comes in two body styles: the hatchback Coupe and the convertible Cabrio. The standard trim levels are Pure and the more well-equipped Passion. The Fortwo is powered by a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that produces 71 horsepower and 68 pound-feet of torque and sends its power to the rear wheels through an automated sequential-shift manual transmission.

There's also a limited-edition model from German tuner Brabus that upgrades the Smart with sportier wheels, a stiffer suspension, aerodynamic and cosmetic body cladding, a higher-performing exhaust and heated leather seats.

Because of its Lilliputian proportions (it's more than 3 feet shorter than a Mini Cooper), safety is at the core of the Fortwo design. The engine is in the rear of the car to increase front crumple-zone space, and the car is built around a cage of high-strength steel known as the Tridion safety cell, which helps the Fortwo post passable if unimpressive frontal crash-test scores. Side impact protection is enhanced by the closer placement of axles to the passenger compartment, and the Smart's scores in side-impact crash testing are top-notch. And although the car might look something like a golf cart, standard safety features like side airbags, antilock brakes, stability control and traction control combine to put that comparison to rest.

Fuel economy is another welcome asset of the Smart Fortwo; its EPA rating is 33 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway. With its 8.7-gallon gas tank, that makes for a lot of driving between fill-ups, though it's worth noting that premium gasoline is recommended.

In our initial reviews, we found the Smart Fortwo surprisingly comfortable. The interior is roomier than it might appear from the outside -- especially in the passenger seat, which is set back 6 inches for increased legroom. (It also folds flat for extra cargo space.) On the road, however, the Smart's manner is less than graceful over rough pavement. Moreover, while the car is admirably stable at high speeds for such a small vehicle, its slablike side panels and upright posture conspire to make it unsettlingly vulnerable to crosswinds.

We aren't fans of the automated manual transmission either. Gearchanges are sluggish and somewhat jerky. The Fortwo is also one of the slowest vehicles for sale today (zero to 60 mph takes 14.1 seconds) and it has a particularly hard time keeping up with traffic on the highway. Still, the Smart Fortwo is great for tooling around city streets. Buyers who aren't looking to do much more than that will probably be quite satisfied with the Smart car.

Used Smart Fortwo Models

The current (second) generation Fortwo debuted for 2008 and was the first Smart model to go on sale in the U.S. There have been no major changes since, though the Brabus trim level wasn't available for its first year.

Designed primarily for urban cities in Europe, the first-generation Smart Fortwo was originally known as the City Coupe and not sold in North America. It debuted for the 1998 model year and it came with a turbocharged three-cylinder engine that was either gasoline-fueled (initially 599cc of displacement and later 698cc) or diesel-fueled (799cc). The first-generation Smart Fortwo was discontinued after the 2007 model year.

User Reviews:

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  not so smart - 2009 Smart fortwo
  By Beata - March 13 - 3:46 am

  The transmission slipps, only one year warranty,very uneven ride, no handbook for the car, car makes a lot of noise,car is not good on Gas

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  Words Cannot Describe How Much I hate this car - 2008 Smart fortwo
  By ihatemysmart - June 26 - 2:16 am

  Since I have owned this car, the battery died within the first year, random pieces of plastic have fallen off, it has had numerous transmission "software" problems that have left me stranded and ready to walk away from it, the engine blew at 23,000 miles, AND NOW it has yet ANOTHER transmission problem that the service department cant figure out -- I cant get it to shift out of Park when it is cold! THIS IS A PROBLEM! I tell everyone I see when I am at the dealership, I tell everyone that ever asks me about it. The guy in the parts department even agreed with me: "Yeah, I have never heard of a car having that many problems in that combination."

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  PAINT IS COMING OFF MY ENTIRE CAR CLEAR COAT - 2009 Smart fortwo
  By RUTH DUMONT - July 14 - 2:20 pm

  2008 and 2009 smart cars have had many issues with the paint peeling off their cars within a few years in spite of impeccable care. I saved 3 years to purchase my car. Im a senior and the paint is peeling off like crazy. It looks like a car someone got off a wrecking sight. I have taken impeccable care of my car, garage kept, washed with water only, no accident. I brought this to the attention of Mercedes and the smart headquarters to apply for their "goodwill out of warranty process." thats a joke. I was denied twice. I did nothing to cause the paint to peel off and they have denied my requests for them to paint the car or replace the panels as was recommended by their approved place to obtain an estimate to fix the problem. I am heartbroken about this. Yes, its just a car, but as mentioned i saved a long time to get my car new, and in no way should the clear coat be peeling off the whole car. I have contacted Mercedes and smart and they clearly will not do what is ethical and right and that is to take care of the deficient paint job that was initially put on the car. So, i am using my first amendment rights and i have posted 2 signs on my smart "buy a smart and watch the paint peel off in front of your eyes. smart/Mercedes will not fix this." these people know darn well that the paint job on those cars were crappy at best, and i dont know how they can sleep knowing that the ethical and morale things to do is make it right. Paint my car. I am heart broken. A car i wanted so badly and saved so long for and it looks like crap. People who see my car are appalled but mostly shocked that smart/Mercedes wont make it right. Be careful when buying these cars. Maybe youll be lucky with a good paint job. I woudlnt risk it. It will cost $2800 to fix my car. Im a senior on social security and i cant afford this, nor can i sell the car the way it looks. Be careful, and dont waste your time dealing with the dealership or headquarters. They just dont give a rats behind. Their pat answer is, "im sorry. The team has denied your request." the goodwill out of warrant process is a joke. So, my only way to get people to be careful when purchasing their smarts is for me to ride around with my signs and get the word out there. Dont know how these people sleep at night. They need to do what is right!

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  WE WERE STUPID TO BUY A SMART!!! - 2015 Smart fortwo
  By RB - June 16 - 9:13 am

  We purchased the Smart fortwo thinking we will save money on gas and save on maintenance as the car is relatively simple compared with todays sophisticated vehicle standard. WRONG! The MPG is okay not comparable to other vehicles in the same or larger size range. The battery which is located under the passenger carpet died twice within the first 8K miles and by the time we accumulated 20K, we had to have the Smart towed to the dealer because it abruptly died in the middle of traffic and would not restart. The BIG SHOCK was the dealers $15,000.00 estimate of repair... If youre thinking that the engine or transmission failed, youd be wrong. According to the dealer, whoever replaced the battery the second time failed to properly ensure that a condensation hose that runs from the AC over the top on the battery and through the floor was reconnected properly. The condensation accumulated between the foam under the carpet and the metal floor, and shorted out the transmission module under the drivers seat and wiring harness. The carpet above never got wet so we had no clue this was occurring underneath. After further inspection, it was evident that the hose actually pops off by itself and it was more of a design failure than a battery installation error. Besides, is it SMART german engineering to run an AC condensation line with a pop off break directly over the battery? The $15,000.00 was a joke since you can almost buy a new Smart for that. So we called Mercedes/Smart customer service for assistance and after a one month run-around, they offered nothing! Not even an acknowledgement that they have a design problem even though its well documented on Smart Blogs. It is no wonder that the Smart Car made it on both Consumer Reports Worst new cars of 2014 list and Edmunds The 17 Worst Cars You Can Buy. In fact, Its No.1 on Edmunds list with the subcaption "Friends Dont Let Friends Buy These Vehicles" Save your money, dont be so dumb as to buy a Smart!