General Starting to panic now!

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General Starting to panic now!

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Jan 23, 2008
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Hi all i have been trying to see if i could trade in Lindas smart passion for the 500 as I don't have the time or inclination to do it privately at the moment they have come back with a better offer which is giving us £4000 for the passion I am just not that up on prices on smarts but it seems a fairly good deal [what do you think is it?] bearing in mind we paid £8000 new just over 4 years ago i think we could ask a little bit more private but it needs a service which is never cheap even if it's only an oil change which it is, that will save us and they will hold that price till the end of feb as the book price drops again then. Also we can keep the car and just swap it for the 500 rather than trying to tie it in with the new one if we go private. Now the other problem is going into the world of Fiat and italian cars which i said i would never ever do :eek: because of their mechanical/electrical problems and also quality issues, I know this car is different but i am still getting jittery it's just my luck for Linda to get one and it lets us down all the time, i know, I know i am being a bit daft, just can't help it :D she hasn't seen one yet so i will take her at the weekend i know she will love it as I certainly do, I think it's a case of just going for it and having something different as let's face it the smart isn't german i think it's french built if I am not mistaken. Residuals do worry me as if we let the smart go at that price it will have retained 50% of it's value after just over 4 years which i don't think is too bad anyway that's it all opinions and reassurances very welcome as we are about to part with £5750 :eek: :eek: :eek: Oh i forgot we have had a remap on the smart, I haven't told the garage not that it's a bad thing, do i tell them or not bother? Thanks again to all the friendly helpful folk on this great little forum
 
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Yeah as Hellcat says. Chill brother.
500 is going to be very reliable it's based on the Panda one of the most reliable cars on the market!
£4000 for a 4 year old Smart is crazy. I'd have given you 3 maybe less!

You have been offered a good deal on what I'll bet will be an excellent car. (y)
 
We've ran a panda now for nearly 4 years and bar a radio with a mind of its own, its done 15000 miles and not one problem. Unlike the sister inlaws polo which is same age and mileage buts had to go back into the workshop so far 4 times.
I've found our panda a pleasure to own and just as long as the dealer network get's its act together then there onto a winner with the 500.
We've also bitten the bullet and have ordered a new 500 1.2 pop in red.....roll on march(y)
 
Wow that sounds a bloody good offer for your smart...well done! I'd take that deal in a blink!
 
Breathing in and breathing out :D thanks guys don't worry i am going to go for it I will post when I have ordered that is if Linda likes it, so you think the deal on the smart is pretty good then? i know private I could, and I mean could possibly get more but I am not sure, it's just deciding when is the best time to get a new car and let your car go, is 4 years a good time to get rid?
 
I think four years is enough for me personally...advances in economy and safety too precious to ignore...that coupled with cute looks I can't imagine your fairer half not liking it!:D

And it's bigger than a smart and very very much cooler:cool:
 
Oh i forgot we have had a remap on the smart, I haven't told the garage not that it's a bad thing, do i tell them or not bother?
I can't add anything more to the 'have you got a good deal or not?' part of the conversation, but nobody else seems to have picked up on this yet.

My advice would be to not tell them. It's highly unlikely a non-SMART dealership will even notice (and whoever buys the car certainly won't) but if you tell them they'll only offer you less for it.

(OMG! A car salesman telling people how to get away with stuff! :eek: :p )
 
How any one can design a car without a sump plug is beyond me. If yours hasn't got one, then according to a friendly AA man, you're asking for trouble as any sludge that would be carried out when the oil is drained sits there in the sump until it gets dragged all round the engine. Smart? Sounds pretty stupid to me.
 
The main electrical component that fails on Fiat group cars is the MAF sensor, made by Bosch, who forgive me if I a wrong is er... German. The days of Fiat electrical problems went away when the rust did (you can't get a good earth on a painted bit of metal, scrape the paint away to get the contact and the exposed metal will rust and your contact point will fall off!). The likelyhood is your car could be made in Poland which is where a lot of Mercedes are also built..... However, I have a car built at the Mirafiori factory and that is still working 100% and its 10 years old though!

As for the remap, if you are trading it in, don't worry about it. The dealers can't tell for certain and 95% of the cars that are mapped don't get put back to standard before being sold on. I actually wish they would to be honest ;)!
 
Go for it, thats a stonking good deal on your smart. MAF sensors seem to fail on all cars these days, ours has gone on a VW, but its made by Hitachi.
Keep us informed, its really exciting isnt it, and dont forget... because of my last buying experiance Im even more nervous than you!
 
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