this is right up my street, last autumn my wife and I went for a test drive in a Smart... it was a gorgeous day so we took the 126 down to the dealer, the sales staff were all over it needless to say. Anyway, off we went in the Smart, within minutes my wife felt sick as the motion of those things is akin to a small boat, the characterful 3 pot engine sounded like a washing machine on self destruct spin, the understeer was phenomenal, when it hit a bump in the road it just hopped about the place... and that gearchange is woefully bad, no really it is just plain crap. What a dreadful little heap those things are, we bought a used MR2 instead!! Soon as I got back into the 126 I realised what a great small car should be like. Also from what Ive heard from smart owners the general reliability makes even the BIS sound great! If it was 4k tops then OK, I could get it, just but it costs as much as a real car. Agree with the comment re Minors, I drive a 92 Panda as my everyday car and it has nothing extra on it, wonderfully simple motoring.