Faults:

Heated rear window had three faulty elements on delivery; fixed speedily under warranty.

General Comments:

It's hard to comment objectively on a Smart - you either love them or hate them. They have a pretty dire automatic/semi-automatic gearbox with long gaps between changes in fully automatic mode, and not a lot of performance, even in manual mode. The ride on our Smart is very hard (the latest ones are apparently better) and you soon learn to avoid potholes. Oh, and they only have two seats.

But... If you're hooked, you're hooked, and the Smart owners club (www.thesmartclub.co.uk) must be one of the busiest anywhere in the world. You drive a Smart with a smile on your face, and always find a parking slot (it's only 2.5m long).

The build quality is exemplary; it is after all a mini-Mercedes, and they regard it as a quality car, not just a runabout. It's the only car I've ever owned that has absolutely no squeaks or rattles on the worst surfaces. And it's high-tech - turbo engine, 6 gears, auto box, air conditioning...

The interior is wonderfully spacious, and the seats (which are immensely solid, as they're an integral part of the "Tridion" safety cell system) are firm, but very comfortable, even on long runs. The roof is entirely glass, which makes it feel even airier (though there have been cases of the roof spontaneously shattering).

The luggage space is much larger than you'd imagine; we've managed to get an entire Christmas shopping expedition into it.

Rate a Smart by conventional car standards and it may not look so good; approach it as you might (say) a Morgan, and you're applying completely different standards. We wouldn't be without a Smart now!

Faults:

Front headlamps needed a foam seal around them behind the front panel to prevent whistling noise at motorway speeds.

Rear tailgate lock needed more grease applied to stop rattling.

General Comments:

For a city car, it does the job very well. Very spacious, high quality interior and comfortable to sit in on a longer journey. Excellent MPG figure if you drive lightly, but this will drop a bit if you desire more power out of the turbo. Easy peasy to park and plastic body panels are cheap and easy to replace.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with my car (fingers crossed - touch wood!).

General Comments:

Such amazingly great fun! I've been driving over 10 years now and this is the only car that still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it!!

It's prone to drifting in light wind on M-ways, and understeers on tight corners - still it adds to the fun and challenge!

The cabin is innovative (if short of storage space that is closed from prying eyes) and massive inside - a constant comment from new passengers is the huge amount of legroom on their side and how wide the cabin is. They can sit cross-legged and still not intrude in my area.

Beware of rear-view mirror - can't se much out of it, and it creates a new blind spot for me when going round corners (out the front screen).

Have consistently got 55MPG from it - mainly 16 mile a day town commute, but also the odd Costco or IKEA dash down the M1 (from Luton).