Friday, August 1, 2008

How to Get the Smart Car Insurance UK Deals

Almost all smart car insurance UK companies now offer free online quotes. All you will need to do while shopping for car insurance is to have some basic data about yourself like name, age, address, details of your employment and details about your car like how old it is, how much mileage it has done and whether it has been involved in an accident before etc.

Once you fill in these data and specify the value of your car you will get various quotes listed to you, based on the data you provided. From this, you can choose the option that works best for you. Online sales and quotes help the insurers to save on salaries and other expenses and the insurance companies would normally pass these savings to you making the quote even cheaper.

Now, if you want to look at ways to reduce cost of premiums and get your smart car insurance in UK there are extra options that you can choose from - like including another car insurance policy for a member of your family. With this option of joint insurance, your cost can be reduced. Having your other insurance coverages like the contents of your home insured by the same company is another way to reduce the cost of insurance.

If you do not make any insurance claims over a period of time, discounts will be given on your premium. A no claims over a period of five years or more will drastically cut down the cost. The choice of the model and age of your car also affects the insurance cost. An older, inexpensive car is lower than a classic or high performance vehicle. Many consumers are waking up to the realization of how they can save on car insurance by taking advantage of the smart car insurance UK companies online deals.

Author: Maria Mbura
Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/how-to-get-the-smart-car-insurance-uk-deals-491370.html

Are Smart Cars Safe?

With the recent concern over high gas prices, many people here in Denver are looking for the highest mileage vehicles that they can find to drive on their daily commute. Denver has seen a boom in scooter sales and increased interest in bike commuting over the past few years. However, for those who cannot commute by bike, or do not feel safe riding a scooter in rush hour traffic, there is a better option.

The Smart Car is a radical departure from the typical American automobile. Developed in Europe where gas prices have always been high, streets are narrow and parking spaces at a premium, this car is about half the size of a typical automobile. It only carries two people and weighs close to a thousand pounds less than many of the other gas miser options out there. So, does this car's diminutive size mean that it is dangerous to drive?

Most of us assume that the bigger a vehicle is - the safer it is. This is true to a certain degree. However, safety engineers have been able to pack a tremendous amount of design features into today's smaller cars that decrease the chances that you will be seriously injured in a crash. The Smart Car is a great example of this fact.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IHS) has recently performed comprehensive crash testing on this vehicle and it fared better than most people would have expected for its size.

In frontal and side impact collisions, the Smart Car received a good rating. This is actually the highest possible rating under the IHS standards. It received an acceptable rating in rear end collisions. IHS performs an off-set frontal crash test which simulates most real-world auto collisions. In a pure frontal impact test performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the Smart Car received a five star rating for driver protection and a three star rating for passenger protection.

You may also view a video showing the Smart Car being crashed into a concrete barrier at 70 m.p.h. through the link at the bottom of this article. While not scientific, this video dramatically shows how well this car performs in crashes.

So, it appears as though the Smart Car designers have done a remarkable job at making this car a safe choice for many drivers. If I were looking for a vehicle to be used primarily on city streets with little to no highway driving, I would consider this as an option. If I needed a car to drive on highways, or if I needed to transport more than two people, I would look at other options such as the Honda Civic, which has always maintained an impressive safety record along with excellent fuel efficiency.

Author: Jason Crawford
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/are-smart-cars-safe-479730.html

A Cheap Smart Car Is Cheap Smart Motoring

Are you getting killed by the price of gas? Has it become almost impossible to fill up your car without spending what you need to feed the kids tonight? What you need is to buy yourself a cheap smart car and get onto some cheap motoring, while giving yourself some parking options while you're at it.

What is a smart car? A smart car is a tiny four wheeled car that originated in Europe in the mid 90s. It carries 2 people and is so short that it can, and was intended to, park nose or tail into the kerb so that you can park 2 or even 3 smart cars in the space that one regular car takes up. Parking is becoming a bit of a nightmare in todays crowded world, and if you can expand your parking options with a smart car you may find yourself saving quite a bit of time from driving around looking for a parking spot.

The smart car was the result of a joint venture between Daimler Benz the car company and Swatch the Swiss watch company. They set up a factory in France back in 1994 where the smart cars were made and started producing cheap smart cars for the European car market, and this expanded so that now it is said that smart cars are sold in at least 25 countries and roughly 1 million have been sold. A cheap smart car makes for cheap motoring and so the smart car is selling, and has recently been introduced to the US.

It runs on regular gasoline but because it is so small and light it only requires a small motor and so is extremely cheap to run, way cheaper than, say, your average SUV. You'll be very pleasantly surprised at how cheap motoring becomes if you buy a smart car.

Like everything smart cars have their advantages and disadvantages over regular vehicles. As previously said, they only take 2 people, so don't expect to take the whole family shopping and fill up the car with 4 people and a stack of stuff. But nowadays most families have 2 vehicles and one can be small and economical and useful around town to do the small tasks where you don't need to be driving that gas guzzling SUV.

However whilst being small a smart car is extremely cheap to buy and to run. It can park almost anywhere and you'll smile when you're filling it up. You don't need a huge amount of garage space to park one at home and they can be perfect for an apartment dweller in the city for running about town.

So if you're being killed by the price of gas and you need to find a smart motoring alternative, consider a cheap smart car. It's a smart decision in a world of high prices for gas and hard to find parking.

Author: Peter Clark
Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/a-cheap-smart-car-is-cheap-smart-motoring-477223.html

A Cheap Smart Car is a Smart Purchase

Smart cars are fast becoming more popular over the last 12 months. Originally considered a novelty, the smart car is on the rise as a modern fuel efficient and cheap motoring alternative. Cheap smart cars are now an excellent way to avoid the high cost of motoring.

You may already be familiar with smart cars. A tiny four wheeled vehicle no more than about half the length of a normal car. The smart car has a distinctive shape and look and you may well have seen them in the street.

If not you'll recognize a smart car when you do see it. The most distinctive feature of the car, apart from the fact that the smart car is extremely short, is the steep windshield sloping down to the front of the car, with the front bumper, if you could call it that, right in front of the front wheels.

The original intention of the smart car was to be of use as a vehicle that avoided the parking headaches of larger cars by reason of the fact that it was so short it could park in parking spots so small that not much other than a motorcycle could park there. Not only that but it was also so small that it could park nose or tail in to the kerb without the other end of the car poking out into the traffic and causing a traffic hazard. It was intended that two smart cars could park in a space which would normally be taken by one regular car, or even 3 smart cars could park in the space occupied by a large vehicle.

The smart car was the result of a joint venture between Daimler Benz the car manufacturer and Swatch the Swiss watch manufacturer. The smart cars were manufactured in a purpose built factory in France which as established in 1994 and so have been around for some time. It is said that almost 1 million smart cars have been sold in over 25 countries.

In early 2008 smart cars became available in the US, and people started to realize that a cheap smart car was a smart motoring purchase. Smart cars are cheap compared to average vehicles, and have many advantages over many vehicles as well. And of course they also have disadvantages. They take only 2 people, and are extremely small so it isn't practical to spend a day shopping and expect to put your new television in the back of the car.

That being said there are some good reasons to buy a cheap smart car, particularly for city dwellers. As said they are cheap to buy and cheap to operate. They have a gasoline motor but because of the small size and weight of the car don't eat as much fuel as just about any other car. They are easy to park and easy to house even in the smallest garage. They have achieved surprisingly good results in safety crash tests.

For the canny buyer there are good reasons to buy a cheap smart car. There are small numbers of used smart cars on the market and a second hand smart car is a good way to maximise your savings from a purchase of a smart car. There are a number of places where you can pick up a bargain on a used smart car online if you know where to look.

So if the price of gas is becoming an issue for you and you'd like to keep driving but at a much reduced cost then consider a cheap smart car. It's a smart purchase and may well keep you on the road when others can no longer afford gas.

Author: Peter Clark
Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/cars-articles/a-cheap-smart-car-is-a-smart-purchase-462226.html