The new Smart fortwo Diesel is billed as the worlds most fuel efficient production car, with an advert boasting an impressive fuel economy:
"...at 85.6 miles per gallon, you'll be surprised how long you've got between refills."
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But Watchdog heard from Smart car owners across the country who found the only surprising thing about the fuel economy of their vehicles was how disappointing it was...
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Smart Cars' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
Eileen from Essex estimated she was only getting 51 mpg from her car. She told us that when she bought her car:
"There were posters claiming this very high miles per gallon and how economic the car was going to be for you... unfortunately it hasn't achieved that. They said that I have to give it three thousand miles before I start to see the miles per gallon that they have been talking about."
Eileen was told by Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Centre that the running in of a brand new engine will influence the fuel consumption and this phase is completed at around 3000 miles. She was not given this information when she bought the car and she believed she would be able to achieve 85.6 mpg straight away. Eileen told us:
"'I feel like I've been mislead...I'd like to take the car back, I'd like them to give me my money back and I'd like to walk away."
We also met Alan from Deby, who estimated he was only getting an average of 65mpg from his Smart fortwo diesel.
"We've done four and a half thousand miles."
So had he seen any improvement after the running phase of 3000 miles?
"None whatsoever, it's doing exactly the same as the day we bought it."
Watchdog tested Alan and Eileen's Smart diesels and found Eileen's car had an mpg of 67, and Alan 65mpg. It is possible to obtain mpgs of 85.6mpg: A Smart eco driving expert won this years MPG marathon competition in a Smart cdi Diesel and achieved 94.6mpg. We sent Alan and Eileen to the Watchdog school of efficient driving, with the Institute of Advanced Motoring's Tim Shallcross, to see if they could achieve the mpg promised in adverts by driving in a more fuel efficient way.
They learnt the GAS principles:
Gears - stay in as high a gear as you can, for as much of your journey as possible. Anticipation - look well ahead and adapt your speed to what is happening in the distance. Smooth Driving - accelerate and brake as little as possible to maintain momentum, thus saving fuel.
But when we measured the mpgs after their day at the driving school to see if we'd improved their driving styles, Eileen achieved 60mpg and Alan achieved 55mpg. An accident on the route they did the test over caused traffic to be much heavier than on the first run.
Smart statement:
"Like every car on sale in the UK, the smart fortwo cdi's fuel consumption figure is determined by a European Government standard fuel test, the NEDC test. These are the only figures we publish. The fuel consumption of any car differs depending on road conditions, driving style and weather.
"Following this Watchdog enquiry, we've ensured that all our retailers are aware of the 'running-in' phase and that customers are advised that fuel consumption levels are at their best from 3000 miles. We've updated our website, too.
"A smart eco driving expert, who won the last two MPG marathon competitions in smart cdi's (96.8mpg and 94.6mpg) will be online for an eco driving tips web chat for an hour after the show tonight, and for an hour and a half on Monday evening. He's on smartcaruk's facebook page.
Points to Note
- We adhere to the industry standard measurement when calculating fuel consumption figures (NEDC-New European Drive Cycle). All passenger cars across Europe are subject to this standard
- We're proud to say that the smart fortwo cdi is the greenest car on the road with a combustion engine
- The smart fortwo cdi benefits from exceptionally low ownership costs and frugal fuel consumption
- Fuel return is influenced by a wide range of factors, including:
An individual's driving style and road conditions
Total fuel quantity taken on-board at the pumps - this can vary by up to three litres depending on position of vehicle during fuelling
Additional unnecessary loads onboard
Congested UK road network
- smart eco-driving expert won the last two MPG marathon competitions returning 96.81 mpg over a 360-mile route (the best ever figure in the event's history) and 94.66 mpg over a 400-mile route.
- Improved fuel consumption is achievable by adopting three easy to remember smart driving steps - G A S
Gas - stay in as high a gear as you can, for as much of the journey as possible
Anticipation - look well ahead and adapt speed to changing conditions
Smooth Driving - accelerate as little as possible to maintain momentum
- smart eco-driving expert is available on-line for an hour after the show for an eco driving tips web chat and again on Monday evening, 18 October between 6.30pm and 8pm on smartcaruk's facebook page
- We've written to our Retail Network to ensure they make our customers aware of the 3,000 miles running-in phase of a new engine, after which a more realistic fuel consumption figure can be expected.
- smart customer website has been updated with eco-driving techniques
Are Smart cars the clever option?
"...at 85.6 miles per gallon, you'll be surprised how long you've got between refills."
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
But Watchdog heard from Smart car owners across the country who found the only surprising thing about the fuel economy of their vehicles was how disappointing it was...
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Smart Cars' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
Eileen from Essex estimated she was only getting 51 mpg from her car. She told us that when she bought her car:
"There were posters claiming this very high miles per gallon and how economic the car was going to be for you... unfortunately it hasn't achieved that. They said that I have to give it three thousand miles before I start to see the miles per gallon that they have been talking about."
Eileen was told by Mercedes-Benz Customer Assistance Centre that the running in of a brand new engine will influence the fuel consumption and this phase is completed at around 3000 miles. She was not given this information when she bought the car and she believed she would be able to achieve 85.6 mpg straight away. Eileen told us:
"'I feel like I've been mislead...I'd like to take the car back, I'd like them to give me my money back and I'd like to walk away."
We also met Alan from Deby, who estimated he was only getting an average of 65mpg from his Smart fortwo diesel.
"We've done four and a half thousand miles."
So had he seen any improvement after the running phase of 3000 miles?
"None whatsoever, it's doing exactly the same as the day we bought it."
Watchdog tested Alan and Eileen's Smart diesels and found Eileen's car had an mpg of 67, and Alan 65mpg. It is possible to obtain mpgs of 85.6mpg: A Smart eco driving expert won this years MPG marathon competition in a Smart cdi Diesel and achieved 94.6mpg. We sent Alan and Eileen to the Watchdog school of efficient driving, with the Institute of Advanced Motoring's Tim Shallcross, to see if they could achieve the mpg promised in adverts by driving in a more fuel efficient way.
They learnt the GAS principles:
Gears - stay in as high a gear as you can, for as much of your journey as possible. Anticipation - look well ahead and adapt your speed to what is happening in the distance. Smooth Driving - accelerate and brake as little as possible to maintain momentum, thus saving fuel.
But when we measured the mpgs after their day at the driving school to see if we'd improved their driving styles, Eileen achieved 60mpg and Alan achieved 55mpg. An accident on the route they did the test over caused traffic to be much heavier than on the first run.
Smart statement:
"Like every car on sale in the UK, the smart fortwo cdi's fuel consumption figure is determined by a European Government standard fuel test, the NEDC test. These are the only figures we publish. The fuel consumption of any car differs depending on road conditions, driving style and weather.
"Following this Watchdog enquiry, we've ensured that all our retailers are aware of the 'running-in' phase and that customers are advised that fuel consumption levels are at their best from 3000 miles. We've updated our website, too.
"A smart eco driving expert, who won the last two MPG marathon competitions in smart cdi's (96.8mpg and 94.6mpg) will be online for an eco driving tips web chat for an hour after the show tonight, and for an hour and a half on Monday evening. He's on smartcaruk's facebook page.
Points to Note
- We adhere to the industry standard measurement when calculating fuel consumption figures (NEDC-New European Drive Cycle). All passenger cars across Europe are subject to this standard
- We're proud to say that the smart fortwo cdi is the greenest car on the road with a combustion engine
- The smart fortwo cdi benefits from exceptionally low ownership costs and frugal fuel consumption
- Fuel return is influenced by a wide range of factors, including:
An individual's driving style and road conditions
Total fuel quantity taken on-board at the pumps - this can vary by up to three litres depending on position of vehicle during fuelling
Additional unnecessary loads onboard
Congested UK road network
- smart eco-driving expert won the last two MPG marathon competitions returning 96.81 mpg over a 360-mile route (the best ever figure in the event's history) and 94.66 mpg over a 400-mile route.
- Improved fuel consumption is achievable by adopting three easy to remember smart driving steps - G A S
Gas - stay in as high a gear as you can, for as much of the journey as possible
Anticipation - look well ahead and adapt speed to changing conditions
Smooth Driving - accelerate as little as possible to maintain momentum
- smart eco-driving expert is available on-line for an hour after the show for an eco driving tips web chat and again on Monday evening, 18 October between 6.30pm and 8pm on smartcaruk's facebook page
- We've written to our Retail Network to ensure they make our customers aware of the 3,000 miles running-in phase of a new engine, after which a more realistic fuel consumption figure can be expected.
- smart customer website has been updated with eco-driving techniques
Are Smart cars the clever option?