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• Wednesday, July 2, 2008 06:59 AM

  Smart Car Not the Right Fit

  I signed myself up on that very long waiting list for a Smart Car recently, and I'm thankful for having had to wait. After test driving the Smart, I checked out the Yaris and the Fit. I passed on the Yaris but couldn't resist buying the Fit immediately after I pulled up to the Honda dealer's parking lot following my test drive.

  Originally, I wanted the Smart Car for a few important reasons: (1) it's affordable, (2) it's small enough to park in tight NYC/NJ spaces, and (3) it's great on gas mileage. All the same could be said of the Fit, except the Smart is modestly shorter in length. That's important if parking is a witch as it is in my urban area. Even so, the pros of the Fit vs. Smart far outweigh this one exception that the Smart has over the Fit.

  First, both are fun to drive, but the Fit is much more fun. Test drive both and you'll see what I mean. It's just designed to near perfection. The Smart, however, has a herky-jerky feel to it no matter if you're driving it in manual or automatic mode. And why bother driving in manual if the clutch is automatic? Where's the fun in that?

  Second, the gas mileage between the two is not that different.

  Third, the cost of the Fit (I'm talking fully loaded Sport edition) is actually less than the cost of the Smart. Not by much, but by enough to win me over.

  Fourth, and most important for me, the Fit fits a lot more than anyone could ever imagine. With the Smart, I could only drive out to my favorite restaurant in faraway Portchester with one other companion. With the Smart, the passenger ratio is tripled! Also, thanks to its clever and awesome design, the Fit has as much cargo space as many SUVs! That is one area where both the Smart and Yaris come up short.

  Last but not least, the overall look of the Fit makes it far sexier than the Yaris and even the Smart, especially in the case of the Sport model. People may gawk at the Smart for it's toy-like design, but the Fit will leave a longer lasting impression.

  Oh yeah, and I bought my "perfect" Fit on the spot. Couldn't have done so with the not-so-Smart Car.

  Oh yeah again, and I've owned a Honda (Civic) before, one that lasted for 12 years without a single mechanical problem before I sold it for the highest going rate of its annual model.

  Get Fit!

  Jeffery

  —NYJeffery Read NYJeffery's other letters
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