I may be getting a Smart Car. Do I need to turn in my Man Card?

[David D]

Your Vette re-earns the man card. I talked to a couple that had a Smart car and they loved it. Several people in the neighborhood have them. I'd have a hard time getting behind the wheel (I'm insecure I guess) ... but if you get a charge at work and can commute that cheap, who cares. Just get one of those "My Other Car is a Corvette" license plate frames - you'll feel better.

 

[rkluck]

Several of my friends have the Leaf and they like it. They, like you would prefer and different car but the commute is a killer. I ride a motorcycle to work. I have always rode but not when going to downtown Atlanta. With the HOV lanes I started doing this about 4 years ago. I ride a large bike (HD CVO Limited) with lots of lights. It cut my commute time almost in half and I get around 40 MPG. Since the majority of the ride is in the HOV lane the risk is greatly reduced. On rainy days I drive my truck which ends up being about 10 % of the time. My wife is now contemplating a more commute friendly car as well and is looting at the minis (the new SUV version) as an alternative.

 

[Scottintexas]

if it saves time and is safe it's a no brainer, you can't get time back, besides the vette, quad copters, snowboards, jet skis, boat and other stuff leaves you with enough man-card credits in the bank and if anybody gives you a problem after that you can have your little black belt go karate on them.

 

[BigN8]

Would a motorcycle qualify for the HOV lane? I think I would opt for a BMW with some good saddle bags, and maybe a decent dry suit for those off chances it might rain.

Just my opinion though. I've always been a bike guy.

 

[rkluck]

Yes the motorcycle is allowed in the HOV lane (at least in GA, SC and FL). My bike is a touring bike so fully equipped including heated grips and seats.

 

[BigN8]

Yes the motorcycle is allowed in the HOV lane (at least in GA, SC and FL). My bike is a touring bike so fully equipped including heated grips and seats.

That's the route I was thinking. Get a touring size bike, that way you could do some cool day trips with the Mrs. On the weekends. My dad is a Goldwing rider. I think he has put over 100,000 miles on about 3 different Goldwings now.

 

[Ronnie]

Well it took almost 6 weeks to for all of the lease transfer paper work to be processed but I finally brought it home this morning. This is how I will roll on the weekdays for the next 25 months.

First report is that it was a 34 mile drive home (28 is my one way commute distance), I started with 85% charge and ended with 20% remaining but I was going 75 to 80 mph almost the whole way and I have been told to expect closer to 90 miles per charge if the average speed is 60 mph which usually isn't a problem during a non holiday workweek.

Here are two pics of it in the garage, if my garage was clear I could fit four of these in there.

 

[Scottintexas]

congratulations! now my only questions is where does the vette stay?

 

[txav8r]

I wish I had seen your thread earlier @Ronnie . Screw the man card. It's all about what bang for the buck you get and time at home! We have had two prii and I have a hybrid Silverado 4x4. They get mileage. And if you throw in the time savings and getting into the HOV lane, so be it. We have had 45-50 mpg on the wife's car for the last 9 years, 360,000 miles. We just traded it in perfect one owner, all recommended maint, 10k miles on michelins, garaged, for a heartbreaking $4k. If you drive a bunch of miles or need to use the HOV, it is indeed a no brainer. I hope the smart elec. gives you the same results.

 

[Ronnie]

congratulations! now my only questions is where does the vette stay?

Funny you asked, I got sick of shuffling cars around and of covering/uncovering the vette when it is outside. Tonight I just parked the smart car next to the garage and ran the power cable under the door. It was a little funky because I still have a trash container in the driveway from recently replacing the roof on my home.

 

[Ronnie]

So a little update now that I've had the smart car for a over a month. Sometimes I still feel dumb in a smart car, especially if I walk by the vette before getting into the smart car. It seems like Every weekday morning I resist the temptation to go to the dark side in favor of the light one. on average it reduces my commute time by 20 minutes in the morning and 30 to 40 minutes every night night during the week.

It does not get anywhere near the 90 miles per charge advertised but that is in partly my fault for driving too fast and the conditions matter as well, like it doesn't hold a charge as well when it's cold and of course if I have the lights, heater, stereo on I can expect to get a lot less miles per charge. My commute is about 30 miles each way and it is not uncommon for me to go though 50% to 60% of the charge each way. The result being that I charge it twice a day when I'm using it, once at home at my cost to get to work and again at work for free to get home.

During the weekends I don't even look at the smart car other than to make sure it is charged or charging by the time I go to bed on Sunday. I'm still thinking of prepaying the lease just so I don't have to see and pay a bill (two actually one for the car and the other for the batteries) every month.

If given the choice what should you do/ choose, the dark side or the light one?

I've made my choice and now I'm seriously thinking of trading in the vette and my wife's Acura for a new car for her.

 

[Scottintexas]

to save an hours drive and gas money I think I would stay with the smart car, time with little Ronnie and the wife make up for it,

That's going to be a short turn around time on the vette, less than a year! If a new car is something your wife wants I'd do it but make sure she wants it, I had a friend who would upgrade his wife's car and it didn't mean anything to her.

 

[MattFX4]

I feel your pain man with the commute. My commute is only about 18 miles one way, but usually takes about 45-50 minutes one way. I hate it, and it sucks. I am getting to the point where I would take less money to have a job right beside my house. With that said, I was considering leasing a Nissan leaf at one point when gas was $3.35 a gallon. Basically it was going to be almost free after factoring in the tax credits. Well, gas dropped and I decided I didn't want to take on the extra headache of another vehicle to worry about. I would continue to use the smart car and enjoy the time savings. I am actively looking for a job much closer to home because Atlanta traffic is getting nothing but worse. Not to mention the Atlanta Braves are building a new stadium across the street from my office, which is going to create a traffic nightmare during baseball season.