2005 smart roadster from UK and Ireland - Comments

Yes you all are right, it leaks like no mans business and it will get WORSE. I just bought mine and it was perfect, I never came across any leaks but I slowly noticed a leak on the passengers door, coming out from the bottom. Then it got WORSE. It started leaking down on to the speakers. And now it's leaking from the top passengers side at the back on the roof top. It's the manufacturer's FAULT.

The damn car is not fit for the UK full stop.

The roadster's seals need a good dose of silicone spray every month or so - should keep them in good order and banish the leaks.

You need to learn how to live with the gearbox - once you do it's really very good, but it just behaves in a different way - and it's the driver that has to change! You do have to pre-empt it a lot, and subtle use of the throttle is required.

... But if you bought a roadster, it's surely because you wanted something different from all the other dreary conformist cars on the market!

I am in the process of buying a 54 plate roadster. I have heard of the leaks and spoke to a couple of specialists. I have looked at a few cars, and simple checks if the seals are crap - visual appearance obvious, then check under carpets - front and back on the passenger side and rear on the drivers... if wet do not buy. To replace seals is 15 hours at a Merc dealership!!

NOT BUILT FOR THE UK - DOH it also rains in Europe - if not more than the UK...

I have looked at loads of cars - Megane convertible / motorbikes... the roadster is my second car of choice.

Keep in the garage, buy a car cover... help yourselves!!!

Please, do not compare this car to a Fiesta or anything else on four wheels on sale now!

The closest approach to this is a Lotus Elise, which is even more hardcore. And I have never listened to an Elise owner complaining about leaking roofs or comfort or whatever. The advantage the Elise has is that it’s far more expensive, so it is unlikely that a normal person ends up buying one, and then regretting that decision because its ride is ridiculously hard, or it accelerates too much.

Put simple: do you want to have honest and cheap fun? Go for this car; do you want something to go from A to B which looks young and attracts a lot of attention, so you think people are looking at you? Go for a “sporty” hatchback and paint it yellow.