Three is better than two

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart) 08/16/2017 at 11:57 • Filed to: smart fortwo

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Well, this is happening sooner than I thought! This morning, a member of one of my forums announced that they’re giving away their W450 (first generation) smart as they cannot register the car in Colorado anymore (the Colorado database doesn’t have the W450 in it). You can register a W450 in Illinois, though. This is a car I already know about as there have been some posts about it. It’s in rather fantastic condition with only 20k miles too.

The problem is that selling a W450 in America is hard since there’s absolutely no dealer support...something I don’t care about.

The best part is that my garage can house all three smarts without issue :D

Ummm...so bad idea or really really bad idea?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:00

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Why can it be registered in Illinois but not Colorado?

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/16/2017 at 12:00

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Yeah, this.

But to your point, no, this is not a bad idea.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:01

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Oooo, free Smart! :D

Uh, yeah, that is a weird issue - why can’t the car be registered there?

HammerheadFistpunch > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/16/2017 at 12:01

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I also wish to know this.

Mercedes Streeter > TheTurbochargedSquirrel 08/16/2017 at 12:01

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The car was sold on the gray market, so it cannot be registered in all 50 states. Some states will allow it, some states not.

crowmolly > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:03

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Free cars are rarely a bad idea.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:03

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Interesting. I didn’t realize there was a way to import Smarts on the grey market.

For Sweden > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:05

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Why is Colorado so terrible

Mercedes Streeter > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/16/2017 at 12:08

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W450s were never officially sold in America, only imported through the gray market. Unfortunately some 450 owners learned the hard way that not all states have the 450 in their databases to be registered.

In this person’s case, the State of Colorado wants an emissions test, but the car cannot be found in their systems; meaning it cannot be registered. The owner got a two year extension on this to see if the state will add the car to the database...But the state didn’t do that in that time.

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:08

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I’ve seen a W450 once in my life. It was a grey market one, but I remember that 10 year old me thought it was the coolest thing ever back then. The owner was kind enough to let me sit in it. A few weeks later, Smart held a ForTwo launch event in my city. Guess who was one of the first people there. I still have the first Smart USA brochure in a box somewhere.

Tl;dr: Do it pls.

duurtlang > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:10

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A free running/driving/registerable car is always a good idea.

Would that mean you’ll have all three generations?

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:11

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Ummmm.... Free car. So absolutely.

Kiltedpadre > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:11

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A free car that’s a model you’re already in love with is never a bad idea. A free car you have room for is an even better idea. A free car in great shape is a fantastic idea!

How much is different from Smarts that were imported that may be an issue down the line? I guess you could always overnight parts from Germany.

Mercedes Streeter > Kiltedpadre 08/16/2017 at 12:19

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Welp, better buy my plane ticket now!

How much is different from Smarts that were imported that may be an issue down the line? I guess you could always overnight parts from Germany.

The W450s are not much different than the W451, so any serious issue should be easily resolved with some parts off the Internet and an independent mechanic. :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:22

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Damn :/

That’s right, I forgot that we did have the first-gen Smart here in Canada and you folks didn’t. If it was a car imported from Canada, it would be a diesel too, as we never had the petrol ForTwo here for the first gen!

Kiltedpadre > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:25

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If it’s an excuse to find a good independent shop that’s another bonus. A good mechanic you trust is a wonderful thing to have. Mine finally retired and I’m having a hell of a time finding a new one.

CaptDale - is secretly British > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:31

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Free car is free car

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:33

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As the owner of three cars and questionable amounts of parking, I support this decision. Plus, Free Car!

jvirgs drives a Subaru > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:33

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psh, LS swap. Duh.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 12:40

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Something smells fishy.

Mercedes Streeter > duurtlang 08/16/2017 at 12:55

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Yes! and the paint is a lovely maroon too :)

Mercedes Streeter > Future next gen S2000 owner 08/16/2017 at 12:57

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Still doing research on this myself. It’s almost too good to be true. Repair items on this car would include the windows (they don’t roll down because the actuators blew) and the front windscreen has a crack in it (common thing with smarts in the US). Why not sell it for like $1,000 or so?

But hey, I’m not going to tell a man what to do. If he wants to get rid of it I’m not going to tell him to put a price on it. lol

Future next gen S2000 owner > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 13:11

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The registration thing throws me off. If it was never officially sold in the US then how did they get it into the US? Do they have the paperwork when it was imported? Did that generation get NHTSA crash tested? Did the EPA sign off on the emissions? How did they get it in under the 25 year rule? Did the person just move to Colorado and successfully registered it in another state first?

These are issues. Maybe they have legitimate answers but without knowing, it seems fishy to me.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Mercedes Streeter 08/16/2017 at 13:11

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The registration thing throws me off. If it was never officially sold in the US then how did they get it into the US? Do they have the paperwork when it was imported? Did that generation get NHTSA crash tested? Did the EPA sign off on the emissions? How did they get it in under the 25 year rule? Did the person just move to Colorado and successfully registered it in another state first?

These are issues. Maybe they have legitimate answers but without knowing, it seems fishy to me.

Mercedes Streeter > Future next gen S2000 owner 08/16/2017 at 13:33

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Very good questions!

The first generation smarts were never sold in the USA. Various import companies (like G&K) worked with the government to allow them to be importable. So they had to be crash tested and otherwise federalized (big $$$$$$). This would make them something called a “gray market” import. Gray market imports are basically cars that are exempt from the 25 year import rule because someone was willing to invest the big dollars to federalize the vehicle for the US. The first generation fortwo (specifically model years 2002 through 2005) were imported by roughly two or three importers.

Unfortunately, even though they are legally within US borders not every state will allow a gray market vehicle to be registered in the US.

This person had already lived in CO and bought the car without knowing that the state wouldn’t register it. They fought the state over it and of course, lost.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Mercedes Streeter 08/17/2017 at 07:24

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awesome idea

8)