Ok, so im 20, ive owned My fabia Sdi for over a year now (longest ive ever had a car for, 5th car ive owned since i was 17) i keep on throwing lots of money at it to improve (in my opinion anyway!) the interior and exterior look of the car. I own the car outright, however i cant help but think im just throwing money away.

Now instead of doing this, im thinking about a Brabus smart Roadster, which will obviously cost more than my fabia so i may need to speak nicely to my bank manager, however looking pretty awesome as standard, i wouldn't want to change it.

At the moment id say im spending the same amount per month on modifying my fabia as it would be in loan repayments for a the roadster.

So what do you think i should do, ive got a MK2 golf as well which i use for pottering about in so im not going to be loosing any practical side by getting the roadster.

YES, buy one!!! Dad had the standard roadster coupe and loved every minute. It got quite high mileage and he sold it recently, but is now pining for another one. Its a shame they don't make them anymore otherwise he'd be in buying another!!

There is talk of an AC badged one coming soon, but who knows where thats at.

The cars themselves are fantastic, but however one thing to remember is that the dealers are Mercedes....this means stupid labour costs and the service department of all the dealers dad used were not great and nowhere geared towards customer satisfaction of a smart owner.

If you have any questions, give me a shout!

Drop SteVRs a PM as he went from a Fabia vRS to a Smart Roadster and absolutely loves it....

Chris

if you fancy loosing any sense of practicality and value for money, then certainly go for one!

the fastest return of a car ive ever seen was a roadster. it took less than a week of ownership for the guy to realise even nipping down the shops with a passnger was impossible!! lol!

great fun, great looking cars, shame about merc service and pricing though

Yes. Yes. Yes. I rather like them and tried to convince my sister to buy a Smart Roadster, but she got a Mazda MX5 instead. Also the Smarts aren't to common either.

And as there not being made any more the prices might stay quite stable.

if you fancy loosing any sense of practicality and value for money, then certainly go for one!

the fastest return of a car ive ever seen was a roadster. it took less than a week of ownership for the guy to realise even nipping down the shops with a passnger was impossible!! lol!

great fun, great looking cars, shame about merc service and pricing though

Ah, i have a golf as well, its all good

stevrs is my brother,he bought his smart roadster brabus gaymobile about 8 months ago,and it has been quite a journey for him,he comutes 3 hours a day,it leaks,is noisy,servicing and maintenence is expensive,and insurance is way more than it should be,bad points out of the way then he wouldn't drive anything else,it is much slower than his vrs and he just doesn't care,he still claims it is the best car he has ever owned.

stevrs is my brother,he bought his smart roadster brabus gaymobile about 8 months ago,and it has been quite a journey for him,he comutes 3 hours a day,it leaks,is noisy,servicing and maintenence is expensive,and insurance is way more than it should be,bad points out of the way then he wouldn't drive anything else,it is much slower than his vrs and he just doesn't care,he still claims it is the best car he has ever owned.

Dad was doing 40k a year in his, it never leaked but he had a 53 plate which had the hard top instead of the fabric roof. It is noisy, but you are sitting pretty much on the engine, all part of the fun and servicing, well MB dealer!!

I would have bought one, but I'm doing too many miles and I'd rather have a Daihatsu Copen over the Smart :P

get a yellow copen,you would look like noddy:D

Oh I love the Copen, but I really wish they hadn't put a 1.3 in and left it with a 0.6Turbo the noise the noise!!

The new one next year will hopefully return to a turbo.

On topic, get a roadster coupe, rather than just a roadster.

Of course you should they are such fun to drive.I really miss the roady that eldest owned.Yes most leak(some more than others)Dont let the dealership try to fix the leaks as they usually come back worse.Yes they are an absolute pig to get in and out of especially in a skirt.:P.The service intervals are every 7k,but if you can find a good indie that shouldnt be too expensive.Try to get a drive of one then try to stop smiling...

Go on you know you want to ..

Kathy

Well, an interesting choice for sure, I quite like the look of them.

Or you can do it properly and get an MX5

They were affectionately known as Leaksters and it was reputed to be the expense of warranty work that lead to it's demise.

Great fun to drive though.

Ooh, this is one for me I think.

I've had mine almost 12 months now (done over 20k in it) and swapped my Fabia vRS for one. It has one tiny wing mirror leak under jet-washing (most cabriolets leak in the same circumstances) but I treat the seals quarterly with silicone grease & I believe this makes a big difference.

Reliability is pretty good in the later (05-) ones (apparently the early ones can be quite variable) just make sure the bugs have been fixed under warranty (look on Evilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia for various home fix stuff - very good site).

Make sure it's been serviced on the nose (every 7000 miles) and I would say the less MB history & more independent history it's got the better. Service costs aren't too bad at the independent garages & they really know the cars inside out - unlike Mercedes service centres!!!

The Brabus coupe is insurance group 14 - high but shop around, Noel Dazeley and a couple of others do Smart specific insurance whic isn't too bad. Mine costs £85 more than the vRS and I've added unlimited mileage and unlimited EU cover.

That stuff out of the way and onto the positives. It's great fun to drive, handles great, the flappy paddle malarkey is good fun (despite it's failings I miss it when I drive any dullmobile with a real gearbox), the car looks great and you get asked questions and looked at everywhere you go. The Smart scene is also really good - I went camping last September in the lakes (Smartzstock!) with the Smart mob and it was one of the

best holidays I've ever had! I've even swapped the missus for a fellow Smartie I met at one of the meets There's a big trip to France booked for next summer and Smartzstock again in the lakes too - plenty to keep you busy!

The main thing is that it feels special. I loved my Furby & thought I'd struggle to replace it but after test driving the Roadie it just felt a bit ordinary. Nothing special. You can keep your speed, you can keep your fuel economy, you can keep your reliability (?), you can keep your roof, and quiet, and normal etc, etc, etc... Mine's a Roadie every time & I wouldn't swap it for anything at this point in time.

And yes, I spend 3 hours a day in it

Also, don't forget the waves from EVERY other Roadie I've seen on the road and also the rarity - nobody knows what it is, especially debadged with just the Brabus logos. A week after the Cayman launch my Roadie attracted a crowd at a petrol station who just ignored the Porsche parked at the next pump!!

All in all, I'd say don't buy one - they're no fun at all really

Edit: You can fit shopping in if you get the coupe too - as long as you put half in the front & half in the back They're more practical than you'd think - I managed a week's camping equipment in mine (without the beer I'd have got a lot more in!).

great car.

loved mine.

but - like any 2 seater sports car they are not as easy to live with a shopping car. you pays yer money..........

onething after spending a little time in stevrs's if you are on the larger side of things,i'm 6ft and over 16 stone,you will fit but will not get comfy

my mum has a roadster which i drive a bit, the handling is absolutley awesome! hers doesn't leak at all, and my only real complaint would be the wind noise on the move, but the fun factor totally outweighs that.

i don't think anyone can really complain about the practicality of them, why would you buy it in the first place if you wanted a practical car?

Do I get a teeny weeny thanks for my essay

Or you can do it properly and get an MX5

Damn right:)