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Can you identify this car?
05-15-2009, 10:09 AM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,681
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Can you identify this car?
I see this car pass by everyday. It's small and plain and really cute. It has a Kia nameplate but nothing on it shows what model it is. I've looked at the Kia site and wikipedia and I don't think it's anything current, may be an older model of something. It's a 4 door hatchback, compact, not one of their SUVs.
Here are some pictures, my cell phone camera isn't high quality, but maybe someone can solve this mystery for me.
In that last one there is a minivan in the background behind the roofline of the mystery car.
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05-15-2009, 10:12 AM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,764
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Kia Rondo?
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05-15-2009, 10:13 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,298
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Sportage?
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05-15-2009, 10:28 AM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,681
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I don't think it's either of those. I see a lot of Sportages and this is smaller. Also, this has the rear license plate mounted on the bumper, not on the hatch.
The Rondo looks more curved than this. And larger.
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05-15-2009, 11:06 AM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,500
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Is it a Smart Car? I don't exactly remember what they look like, but I know they are very tiny and get my attention.
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Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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05-15-2009, 11:19 AM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 3,681
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 This is the Smart Car. Now, I love small cars, but this one might be too small! There's a black and yellow one in our area, looks like a large bumblebee.
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05-15-2009, 11:22 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Location: New Orleans
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Yes, that's it! Usually when I see one I am so surprised at how tiny they are. You're right - - for me this one might be too small. Guess it's not the car that you saw, though. That one looks big compared with this Smart Car.
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Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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05-15-2009, 11:32 AM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,483
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Looks like an older Sportage to me. The first models were kinda boxy and small, like the first rav$'s.......... 
Kia Sportage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________
Consult with your own advisor or representative. My thoughts should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results (love that one).......:)
This Thread is USELESS without pics.........:)
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05-15-2009, 11:41 AM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by Want2retire
Usually when I see one I am so surprised at how tiny they are. You're right - - for me this one might be too small. Guess it's not the car that you saw, though. That one looks big compared with this Smart Car.
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I passed a Smart Car on I-35 while driving our motor home and it was shocking how tiny it was. Can't imagine driving one of those things on anything other than residential streets...
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Numbers is hard
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05-15-2009, 11:43 AM
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#10
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
I passed a Smart Car on I-35 while driving our motor home and it was shocking how tiny it was. Can't imagine driving one of those things on anything other than residential streets...
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I see them on the Autobahn....always in the right lane.
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05-15-2009, 11:58 AM
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#11
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Full time employment: Posting here.
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__________________
I can't complain, but sometimes I still do.
- Joe Walsh
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05-15-2009, 12:09 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
I passed a Smart Car on I-35 while driving our motor home and it was shocking how tiny it was. Can't imagine driving one of those things on anything other than residential streets...
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They will be popular until there are enough Youtube videos showing crashes between them and a dump truck......... 
__________________
Consult with your own advisor or representative. My thoughts should not be construed as investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results (love that one).......:)
This Thread is USELESS without pics.........:)
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05-15-2009, 12:16 PM
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#13
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Full time employment: Posting here.
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05-15-2009, 12:23 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Naples
Posts: 2,179
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Every time I see one of those Smart Cars, I am reminded of the following limerick:
There once was a man from Boston,
who had a little Austin.
There was room for his a--
and a gallon of gas,
but his ba--s hung out and he lost 'em
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05-15-2009, 12:35 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Location: North Oregon Coast
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REWahoo
I passed a Smart Car on I-35 while driving our motor home and it was shocking how tiny it was. Can't imagine driving one of those things on anything other than residential streets...
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I'd really hate to be in a head-on collision with an SUV in one of these things when both were doing 60 MPH on a two-lane road...
Seems like these (and those "neighborhood electric vehicles") would be good for getting around in a small town like mine where I can get anywhere in town by using only streets posted at or below 35 MPH, but I can't imagine doing a lot of driving on the Interstate or an open high-speed country road with these things.
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"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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05-15-2009, 02:05 PM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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The thing I don't get about the smart cars is that their mileage isn't really all that great considering their size. We do better in town with our diesel Bug than they are rated for on the highway. And I'm sure there are other small cars (real cars) that get mileage not that far off from the smart car. Do they have some kind of draw for people other than the mileage?
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"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
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05-15-2009, 02:26 PM
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#17
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Full time employment: Posting here.
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I don't see them ever being popular in the US, but in Europe they're big sellers not necessarily because of fuel consumption. Parking is a big problem in many European cities but you can fit a Smart car just about anywhere. Also, their small engine makes them cheap to insure and keeps the annual car tax down in places that have that. They're generally a city commuter car over here.
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05-15-2009, 03:07 PM
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#18
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I rented a Smart for about 7 years ago and drove it from Paris to and around the Loire Valley. Its a really great city car, but not much power at all - the highways were no fun, especially with the AC on.
I agree their mileage is disappointing given their size. Their real advantage is in parking.
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05-15-2009, 03:25 PM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maurice
I rented a Smart for about 7 years ago and drove it from Paris to and around the Loire Valley. Its a really great city car, but not much power at all - the highways were no fun, especially with the AC on.
I agree their mileage is disappointing given their size. Their real advantage is in parking.
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I saw Smart Cars in Paris in 1992. They were able to reverse into half a parking space. Perfect for zipping between le boulangerie, le charcuterie, l"office, et chez vous!
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05-15-2009, 03:31 PM
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#20
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gone traveling
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 3,864
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I tried to rent a Smart Car (looked easy to park) in Brussels a few years ago; when the rental agent overheard that I was going to Bruges, she snatched the keys back, and exclaimed "you can't take this on the motorway; it is too dangerous" and gave me a Renault...
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