Smart Forfour (04-06) - Review

Review by Ben Wall on
Last Updated: 22 July 2009
The Forfour is the only model from Smart with more than two seats, making it a realistic choice as a small family car. The five-door hatch has a similarly youthful feel to the compact Fortwo helped by bold styling both inside and out. If you're after something that stands out then it's a good choice. There's decent space for those travelling in the back and it's cheap to run too with a range of economical engines. It was never a big seller and Smart dropped it after only two years on sale, so finding one can be a problem as it's not a common sight on the used market. The base-level models are quite sparse inside and the smaller engines can be hard work, but the cdi diesels offer better performance while there's also a high performance Brabus version.
3 out of 5

Other Smart reviews

3.5 out of 5

Running costs

Thanks to the light weight of the Forfour and a range of small, efficient engines, it's a frugal car to own. All the engines return impressive fuel economy and even the most powerful 1.5-litre averages 46mpg while the diesels are capable of 64mpg if fitted with the automatic gearbox. Insurance groups reasonable, starting at 4 for most models, although the top 1.5-litre Passion model is a rather high 7. The Brabus is reasonable for a car with 177bhp and returns 42mpg, although an insurance rating of group 17 may put off younger drivers. Smart centres aren't particularly widespread in the UK and servicing rates are on the high side, but luckily there are some excellent independent Smart specialists around who know the cars inside out.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,158 - £1,497 *

Diesel

£1,002 - £1,051 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

9000 miles.

Warranty

Two years/unlimited mileage.

Road tax (12 months)

£30.00 - £170.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

4 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
    116
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
    159
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The Forfour is an efficient small car and all the engines are economical. The manual 1.5 cdi is capable of 61mpg but frustratingly CO2 emissions are 121g/km, so it just misses out on the lower road tax rate. However, the automatic version emits 116g/km of CO2 and economy is better at 64mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2