Airborne! - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

Spumonti · 10-17-2009, 01:29 PM

So, I just had my polycarbonate roof replaced a week ago (it was spider-webbing), only to have a catastrophic failure 2 days ago...

I work at 4am, which was a God-send Thursday morning! It's a little hard to hear small noises in my smart due to the Breathless exhaust, but I could definitely hear the roof rattling as soon as I got onto the freeway. The more I got up to speed the louder the rattle became. As soon as I hit about 65 mph the roof took off; seemingly on a mission from NASA. By the time I could get turned around to try to retrieve it, it had been obliterated by a semi. When I got the car home I could see what the reason for failure was. The dealer forgot to peel off the plastic tabs so that the double-sided sticky tabs could hold the roof down. The only thing securing the roof was the weather sealant.

I'm just thankful that no one was driving directly behind me. To me, the worst part about it was when I returned to the dealer. They refused to give me a loaner car, citing all sorts of "legalities" with the Mercedes loaner program. Finally, after 4 hours of waiting, they let me take the smart demo car. They made me to feel like I was pulling their teeth to get it, but the whole scenario was their fault and their problem! I have half a mind to see if their is any ground for suit...

Anyway, that's my drama for the week. My smart has been the source of quite a few headaches in the last year. I don't think I could convincingly recommend a smart to anyone at this point in my experience. I hope no one else has had the service frustrations that I've had...

AdamAtSCD · 10-17-2009, 01:35 PM

Wow i am sorry to hear that happend but i am glad you are alright.

jetfuel · 10-17-2009, 01:36 PM

...woooh...you were lucky to say the least...
...BTW..who was the center that totally failed to read "some" of the instructions?

jetfuel...hat on tight

Spumonti · 10-17-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jetfuel

...woooh...you were lucky to say the least...
...BTW..who was the center that totally failed to read "some" of the instructions?

jetfuel...hat on tight

It was Smart Center Dallas, a Park Place Motors dealer.

Wdhitch · 10-17-2009, 01:39 PM

Wow!!! Glad your ok.

Are you still in Clearwater? I thought I'd heard you had moved. What dealer was it?

TMACK · 10-17-2009, 01:40 PM

You’d think the dealer would be so embarrassed and mortified about their totally bungling a simple job like that, that they’d not only give you a loner but free gas and evening’s dinner, to boot.
I weep for our country.

shark · 10-17-2009, 01:41 PM

The sealant is what seals/holds the roof. It is similar to how a windshield is installed. I was told by smart of Round Rock that there are 2 different sealants used on the smart. One for the windshield and one for the roof. They said there have been problems with installers using the wrong one or the wrong process when installing the roof. It has to be installed a certain way with the proper sealant. The result is usually the roof coming off if this is not followed.

Spumonti · 10-17-2009, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shark

The sealant is what seals/holds the roof. It is similar to how a windshield is installed. I was told by smart of Round Rock that there are 2 different sealants used on the smart. One for the windshield and one for the roof. They said their have been problems with installers using the wrong one or the wrong process when installing the roof. It has to be installed a certain way with the proper sealant. The result is usually the roof coming off if this is not followed.

I agree that the weather seal would serve to hold it on, but it is clearly not the only source of attachment. I could see the double-sided sticky tabs (about 8-10) and not one of them were applied...

Spumonti · 10-17-2009, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wdhitch

Wow!!! Glad your ok.

Are you still in Clearwater? I thought I'd heard you had moved. What dealer was it?

Yeah, I moved back to the DFW area. All of my family are here... I missed em.

shark · 10-17-2009, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spumonti

I agree that the weather seal would serve to hold it on, but it is clearly not the only source of attachment. I could see the double-sided sticky tabs (about 8-10) and not one of them were applied...

The adhesive is the primary attachment. Mine was removed and reinstalled due to poor sealing. When they do that ,the process supplied by smart via email ,was to cut the sealant and reinstall leaving the old sealant in place. It would assure a better attachment. They reapply new sealant along the old bead. Sand bags are placed on the roof to allow curing.

The problem with sealant mixups was the smart sealant is/was being shipped in a box that contained both sealants and accelerants for the roof and windshield. The installers would mix them up and roofs would fly. They now supply the part numbers seperate, but could still be mixed up. The other issue could be that they sublet the install to a glass company and they use windshield sealant. JMHO..... most up these jobs are sublet to glass companies.