Smart Car advice please

[daugen]

Does anyone here either own one of these pint size vehicles or know someone who does?

I have a peculiar need...a car that weighs less than 2000 pounds, and there is only one, the Smart Car.
The Toyota Scion IQ is about two hundred pounds heavier, and then all the other cars get to be either too long or too heavy, including a Mini. Need to have this fit on our trailer we want to pull behind the motorhome so that the car will only be used when we stop and want to go explore.

Yes, I've read the reviews, they aren't very attractive and for the money, there are much better cars. But this little thing would roll right up on our trailer and no Officer Bob can give me a overload ticket.

This is NOT going to be used on the interstate, basically around town and around the local area near the rv.
But I'm a little concerned that built by Mercedes or not, it's a car with huge compromises. But then the only other thing that would work is a trike, and I'd prefer not to get wet.

Ok, if you think the Smart car is a bad idea, please suggest a better alternative, under 2000 pounds and eleven feet long.
Not not an Ariel Atom or some craziness, a real car...

thanks

 

[V1Rotate]

Instead of putting a car onto the trailer how about getting a tow bar that attaches to a ball hitch on your motorhome ?
That way you could just tow the car, no need for a trailer.

 

[dave1949]

It seems like I have seen RVs pulling a car or small pickup with all four tires on the road. They use some sort of towing "Y" shaped thing? Probably have to pick the right vehicle for tow-ability without damaging something, and unlock the steering.

 

[KTurner]

Does it have to be a new car? You could open up your options by looking at older cars. MG Midget, VW Beetle, Karmann Ghia, Chevette, etc.

Keith

 

[daugen]

yes, I know this is an odd way to tow, and I understand the conventional means, have researched all of them. But...we have this nice new trailer ,which would get the entire car off the ground, which appeals to me.

No, it doesn't have to be new, but eleven feet is awfully tiny. I've driven an MG Midget, no thanks. Not sure I could get in or out of one any more.
But I like the idea...the first gen Miata is almost the right weight, but way too long.

If we lived in Arizona, I'd get a motorcycle or trike instead. But if I want to go out and get a few groceries while on a trip in this area, having a roof over my head sounds attractive. And a street legal golf cart costs ten grand new, or more with options. A used Smart car is less than ten grand.

If we wanted a conventional toad/towed vehicle, I'd get a Honda Fit or a Mini. Simply much better cars. But what is a Smart car like to drive?
Since my point of comparison is a golf cart/UTV and not a real car, I'm trying to be realistic in my expectations.

 

[Bird]

It seems like I have seen RVs pulling a car or small pickup with all four tires on the road. They use some sort of towing "Y" shaped thing? Probably have to pick the right vehicle for tow-ability without damaging something, and unlock the steering.

It's a matter of personal preference. Way back there, we towed an Opel Cadet behind a Winnebago. Then in the 90s, towed an Isuzu pickup truck, and later a 1992 Ford Escort. With those, all had manual transmissions and we simply put them in neutral. Of course we had the lights wired so the taillights, brake lights, and turn signals worked. With heavier cars, there are some systems available to apply the brakes on the vehicle being towed. Now I preferred that to towing a car on a trailer. The only drawback was that we couldn't back up more than about three feet without unhooking the towed car.

 

[daugen]

Bird, thanks. If we didn't have this nice new trailer, I wouldn't be going through this mental exercise, but it just happens my wife always thought those tiny cars look "cute" (ok???) and it does fit quite nicely in the trailer. I'd rather wear out the trailer tires than the car machinery and tires. And I just bought some new uprated steel radials for the trailer, so we should be good to go.

I have the Dinghy Guide which shows what can be towed or not. Anything can be towed, if you want a lot of extra work.

Hmmm, I wonder how long an early Shelby Cobra is?....

This is actually a silly forum to ask this question; let's face it, most of us live in suburbia to the country. Not a lot of city folk driving Smart cars and tractors....for sure.

 

[jimmyj]

We have a Smart car, the convertible. We used to have a Smart diesel but my wife wanted the convertible. It's great for tooling around town and actually holds a lot more cargo than you may think (can get 2 sets of golf clubs inside for example). We really like it and it is easy to drive and park and pretty zippy on the highway. It is BAD in the snow though and you must have snow tires if you want to do winter driving.

I saw a really neat motorhome / caravan rig the other day. They had take a full size tractor truck (like a highway star or Kenworth) and behind the truck cab, but ahead of the 5th wheel they had made a platform that a Smart car sat right on. Thus they had the truck cab, then the smart car and then the 5th wheel trailer behind that. It was the coolest thing. I could not see how they got the Smart up onto the platform but I suspect it was a hydraulic lift.

 

[tkappeler]

Will you be driving it in the snow? A friend of mine had one and it was terrible. The track is too narrow for fitting in the normal width tracks of most cars/trucks. He said that he had to fight it to keep one wheel in the track. He sold it shortly after.

 

[jimmyj]

Will you be driving it in the snow? A friend of mine had one and it was terrible. The track is too narrow for fitting in the normal width tracks of most cars/trucks. He said that he had to fight it to keep one wheel in the track. He sold it shortly after.

Yeah we don't use ours on bad snow days. Light snow or dry days are fine but deep or wet heavy snow is a Smart car disaster.