Not so Smart

[John_H]

Please tell me that you didn't get the Smart 2.0 refresh a few weeks ago. Or that you have a 2009.

With the new software, when you hit a shifting paddle (on purpose or accidentally) it switches you to manual mode. The engine will later downshift as necessary to keep your revs from going too low, leaving you in 1st gear at a stoplight. To return to automatic mode just hold the right paddle for more than a second and you'll see the "D" indicator pop up in your instrument panel display instead of the "1" that's causing you grief. If you see numbers instead of "D" in automatic mode, it's an indication that the paddle has been touched.

If you accidentally hit a paddle, you'll be switched to manual mode. You just have to get back to auto by holding the right paddle or "jiggling the shifter."

If you have a 2009 or Smart 2.0 refresh for your 2008 without the paddle shifters it could be a bad unused switch input giving false information. It's also possible the switch on the shifter indicating manual or auto (or the electronics it interfaces with) is bad.

Your dealer should be more effective at handling the issue assuming it isn't the "feature" I described above (which I very much enjoy). If you have another dealer available, you might consider getting an appointment for service with them even if it is a bit more of a drive.

The Smart car isn't what's the problem in your case for anything except the firm ride. It's the Smart car that you have that's the problem.

[Godfather]

Or it could just be a car with unsolveable electrical gremlins. It happens........

[SubSlr88]

Originally Posted by Godfather

Or it could just be a car with unsolveable electrical gremlins. It happens........

You'd be amazed at the troubles a poorly seated connector can create~! Used to happen all the time to us in the computer industry, and they used some pretty high-quality components. . . but the nubs plugging them in sometimes lacked . . .

[Kermit]

Whenever I bought a car from Jacksonville they did and excellent rundown on the Florida Lemon Law - but having spent a good portion of my childhood in a dealership's service dept. hanging out with my father I learned a bit about it once it happened to him....twice.

Read up on it - if it really is being brought in for the same thing over and over again. You may be onto something.