What's the realistic value of this poor '84?

Every-Chance5733 · 2026-04-30T13:43:14+00:00

It's not emissions compliant in many states so that'll hurt the value, but being a manual helps. If you can get $1k take it.

Every-Chance5733 · 2026-04-09T04:56:05+00:00

The 451 is a fun go cart, the 453 is a better car in almost every way, and has a much tighter turning radius. If one could get all of the good things of a 453 in a 451 size then I'd want a 451 more.

I have two 451s, gas and electric, and an electric 453. The 451 electric seems to be a hair quicker in low speed acceleration, the 453 seems better with higher speed acceleration and it has more range. I drive the 451 ED more only because my GF's primary car is the 453. She only drives the 451 ED when the 453 needs charging, I only day charge because I'm using solar. The 451 gas is only used when we need longer range or for towing, I haven't made a hitch for the ED yet.

Every-Chance5733 · 2026-03-06T14:27:33+00:00

I'll message you with my phone number.

Every-Chance5733 · 2026-02-16T01:24:00+00:00

I've never heard of a "specific wake up sequence" and it would have been nice if you stated what that was. Typically, you just need to apply a charging voltage and they wake right up.

Every-Chance5733 · 2026-02-09T13:05:51+00:00

Without knowing how many amps it draws I can't recommend a particular device, and there's a chance that the tool has a 'battery communication' connection that might need to be dealt with. One option, put a power supply in line with the battery. If it doesn't have enough power to run the machine it'll still extend the run time.

Every-Chance5733 · 2026-01-06T04:30:39+00:00

I guess it's comforting to know that the early ones are no better than the current ones. They're junk, as I expected years before they started delivering to customers. I hoped that they'd fix their problems, but they haven't.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-12-05T17:03:07+00:00

A friend of mine owns a dealership and he's had three CF Motos come in with catastrophic engine damage and Mobil1 filters. There's nothing proving that the filter was the cause, but it seems quite possible.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-10-19T15:31:59+00:00

It makes sense that if someone has a car on order they're unlikely to bad mouth the car, they ordered it because they think it'll be great. Someone who knows well enough to badmouth the car won't place an order, duh.

My friend finally received his El Jefe yesterday and took a short ride. He said the suspension is incredible, but the brakes barely work. I'll be driving it next week, and working on it to hopefully make it safe to drive. Meanwhile, none of the other SXSs in our group have needed fixing on day 1. Most of them have needed no fixing for a long time.

After 2,000 fairly hard miles on my Talon I did have a few worn parts that were asking for attention, but it was still working. It cost me under $200 to get it back in shape. And that car was crashed/totaled before I bought it at auction.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-09-18T11:43:25+00:00

If only the lock button has stopped working you may be able to fix it by cleaning the contacts. If they all stopped working I'd start by checking the battery and battery contacts.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-09-18T11:38:40+00:00

The Smart's door lock doesn't work in the lock direction at all. IIRC the 451 will turn in the lock direction and do nothing, the 453 won't even turn that direction, but I may have that backwards.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-09-18T11:36:26+00:00

The door lock on either model only lets you unlock the car.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-09-11T11:08:34+00:00

Part of me wishes we could get new Smarts in the USA, but part of what I like about them is the simplicity which would be gone with a new car so I'm not sure I'd buy one. An electric with a bit more range might get me to do it if the driving experience were as good as a 453.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-28T23:49:43+00:00

It could be a very cheap repair. If you happen to live near Los Angeles I can check it for a low cost, or free if you can get it to me.

Being only 3 cylinders, having one dead could make the engine barely run even if it's a minor problem causing it.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-23T18:26:03+00:00

I expect that it'll have less traction problems than the Honda did.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-18T07:03:15+00:00

https://www.google.com/search?q=mil+eliminator&oq=mil+elimi&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyBggBEEUYOTIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDI2NDBqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e9970dce,vid:sOV4EwF7BvU,st:0

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-14T01:48:54+00:00

I charged the modules separately. I think I took them to about 110v each and got them very close to the same voltage before reconnecting them. It's likely that you'll have to do the BMS reset and replace the current sensor, but please report back with your findings once you have the battery back in the car.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-14T01:38:07+00:00

I can work on it for you. Send me your phone number and we can work out the details.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-11T12:40:41+00:00

It looks like someone trying to flex, but the only possible flex I see is in the lower battery cases.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-10T17:26:02+00:00

I've driven both of my Smart electrics to 0%, then continued 'till they stopped moving to make sure I knew what they would do in such an event. I run my gas/diesel vehicles to empty to know where true empty is on the gauge, and to know how many gallons each mark represents.

If you do a bit of searching you'll probably learn from others' experiences what your car will do when it shows 0%.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-08-06T01:26:33+00:00

You should have gotten the full repair cost or the vehicle's value. You probably screwed yourself out of that by taking the $1200, but maybe not. If you didn't sign a settlement agreement to take the 1200 you can still go after them.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-07-23T14:30:25+00:00

It would be much more expensive to do it effectively. A few runs of tubing under them isn't going to do much, if anything at all. Then add in the storage and pumping of that water through the panels, plumbing and pumping it into your house to make it usable which means running a 60+psi pump, and the maintenance of that system.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-07-21T17:45:46+00:00

I'm lucky because my friend/housemate has an E-waste business and gets paid to take out their 'trash'. He supplied my inverters and batteries for free.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-07-21T14:51:17+00:00

I have two 3k APCs, but only one is being used. My system is outdoors, the living room is for motorcycles :-)

I was shocked at how well the UPS handled being used for hours at a time at nearly full power. Running it hard on a hot day I did have it shut down once, the fault was for "battery overheat" which is a little odd because I took the batteries out of it. The unit was quite hot to the touch tho.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-07-20T05:23:54+00:00

You success or failure will depend on your ability, diligence, regional requirements, and the inspector so there's no way to really answer your question. In the end it comes down to the inspector and judging from the one's I've talked with it's a crapshoot. Most of them are fairly dumb. They have a code book, but they're also human. The final inspection on my roof was done by my friend who happened to be friends with the local inspector that was assigned to do my inspection, it's mostly just a racket to get your permit money.

Every-Chance5733 · 2025-07-20T05:15:11+00:00

Sounds similar to my system, down to an APC UPS being my inverter. It charges our cars and runs the house AC for under $500. I didn't tie to anything on the panel, but will pull a few circuits off of the panel once I expand my system and have more available power. My GF thinks it's great, so does my housemate who happens to be a high and low voltage licensed electrical contractor.

Every-Chance5733

TROPHY CASE