Faults:

Only that the off-side brake light periodically fails.

General Comments:

Good points.

Very cheap to run, about 60mpg, that works out as about 230 miles for 14 pounds - full tanks worth. Group 2 insurance and low car tax.

Very spacious, strange, but true, there feels like more space in here than in my old Scorpio, perhaps because it's tall inside, like a mini MPV and having a glass roof probably helps.

Fun to drive, though twitchy on the edge, and with similar electronic stability to an A class, complete with anti-locking brakes, safe to drive. With an engine sound like a turbine, sounds like a baby 911.

Bad points.

One thing: Transmission. The semi automatic gear change is great, although in fully automatic mode it's a bit brutal. But the real problem is in the way the gearbox shifts down automatically when you slow to a halt. Imagine coming up to a roundabout and slowing slightly, the gearbox automatically changes down, you see a gap in front of a lorry and press the accelerator. For an agonizing full second nothing happens as 70% of the time you catch it in the process of changing down, then mercifully it takes off like a scolded cat in front of a startled lorry driver. The secret is to allow the space and have faith - and spare underwear.

But if you want a cheap car that's fun and you only need to carry one person at a time, buy it.

Faults:

Faulty connection on battery within 6 weeks of taking delivery of the car. This was due to a faulty.

Faulty connection on batter within 12 weeks of taking delivery of the car. The replacement part was from the same batch as the first faulty part.

Drivers side electric window did not stop rising when closing. This resulted in marked paint work. This was fixed under warranty.

Interior lights stopped coming on immediately when turning on head lights. This worsened to not coming on at all. This fault also prevented the rear lights coming on. Fixed at a cost of £60.

Car would not start. Eventually fired up after 5 minutes. The car was taken to the garage and they could find nothing wrong with the car.

6 weeks after the above fault, the car would not start and had to be recovered to garage, total repairs and costs incurred were £200. The speed transmitter switch needed to be replaced.

General Comments:

The car is fun to drive.

It always attracts a lot of attention.

It is very easy to park!

It is very economical on petrol.

Faults:

At present I have had very few problems with this motor, apart from a few minor ones, which were repaired under the dealer warranty.

The digital display system below the speedometer was not working. It was identified by Smart to have not been connected.

The last problem was when heavy rain was falling on the motorway, the bottom of the screen let water trickle through. Although it wasn't a major fault, I thought best to get it checked out. I generally think that this car is well built.

General Comments:

This car is excellent, although it does feel slightly top heavy. Remember this car is of a similar length as a person.

It has an efficient and powerful powerplant, which is more than adequate for town use, although I haven't driven the Pure or Passion, and they deliver less horsepower, so they maybe just slighty under powered. The figures of 0-60 set by Smart may be wrong, because there is no way that mine does 0-60 in 17 seconds. I would guess in the region of 10 to 15 seconds is nearer to correct.

The car, as you would expect, is light, although it doesn't feel it. It is definitely a well equipped vehicle and as on the base model, it will give you the joys of traction control, stability control, automatic electric gear box, fully electric windows, Grundig CD player, ABS, air conditioning, digital temperature readings, two injection needles per cylinder (very unusual on a car of this pedigree) and as standard it will give you A SMILE ON YOUR FACE. But expect a few strange looks from the public when you shoot past them at incredible speed.

I probably will never get one again as my wife and my 4 young children don't agree on the practicality of this car (I can see why). Advice - go ahead and buy one. GREAT FUN.