New smart car? good choice or bad need advice please

[llamagoat]

Smelt it as I sat in the car, was a weird smell just like warm oil / machine shop not sure if engine running made it stronger or not

[137699]

These guys have a lot of decent smart cars for sale - all of which have had engine rebuilds by Fudgesmart - so you can buy with some confidence that they're in great condition - some in your price range also....
http://hilltopmotorcompany.co.uk/

[cougar7609]

Personally if a car needs a rebuild and you dont have the funds to spend more than the car is worth its not really worth it. If however you can do most of the work yourself then it makes the repair about 1500 for all those parts, so its like most cars that are secondhand they are going to need money spending on them no matter what!

[Kapt. Q]

Buy one that needs an engine rebuild, with a 700cc, this could cost you less than £500 (I've bought one for £300in the past), then buy a low mileage roadster engine from a breakers, the last one cost me £500 with 60 day warranty, you will require some gaskets, fluids, bits and pieces £150ish then pay someone to swap them if you can't do it yourself. Days work, max for someone with experience.

Cheers!

[cougar7609]

It never ceases to amaze me how many roadsters never did any mileage! Unless I saw the engine in the car with a battery and it hadnt been faffed about with I wouldnt take 'low mileage' or 'One granny owner from new' as any kind of truth!

[Kapt. Q]

Could be anything oil related. Was it while it was running? Could be burning oil (as mentioned previously, that is a sign it needs a rebuild).

For £1500, you could get a later 700cc variant but same rules apply as with the 600cc as you were looking at.

Yes that's true, some do offer some 'proof' though. It's worth collecting in person and checking this and the sparkplugs too, they can tell you so much.

Cheers!