Cruise Control and Maintenance Warning - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

dichrodave · 02-17-2009, 05:25 PM

On Monday I hit a pothole in the dark, got ESP light and then no acceleration. Stopped car and restarted, drove ok then got warning light again but car continued to drive fine for 5 miles. Got to the stop light and then it would not accelerate. Turned it off and on again a couple of times and then it seemed fine. I just went out again and drove it around for a couple of blocks with no problems. The next day got the ESP light again several times. On Wednesday I got the ESP light and Check Engine light and no acceleration. I turned the car off and tried to restart with no results. Tried several times then it finally started but the lights stayed on. I had to have it towed to the dealer 50 miles away. They ordered a speed control unit on Thursday. On Friday they called and said they noticed that I had installed a Area451 cruise control. They said that if this caused the problem it would not be covered under the warranty. Today (Monday) they called and said that they had disconnected the CC and was going to install a new computer because they were getting some weird codes. Tonight they called and said that everything was fixed. They are saying that the cruise control probably caused the problem by shorting out some things (but they can't prove it). The cruise control was not reconnected after they fixed it. They are charging me $860 and said that it would not be covered under warranty. I will pick it up on Thursday but I will probably not hook the CC back up till I can somehow verify that it is good. I have only good things to say about the CC! Just scared to use it again at this time. Before you take your car in for any repairs, remove the Cruise Control!

mrc59 · 02-17-2009, 05:30 PM

Did you install the CC yourself? There's a difference b/w a defective unit and a defective installation. This may be why some dealerships won't install. It would be nice to get a good handle on this from Smart and the aftermarket companies.

dichrodave · 02-17-2009, 05:34 PM

Yes, I installed it myself! I worked aircraft maintenance for 24 years and am familiar with wiring and connectors. Everything worked fine until I hit the pothole.

magilly00 · 02-17-2009, 06:27 PM

Sounds pretty similar to what I experienced just this past weekend, I too have installed the area 451 cruise, the traction control light come on and the car felt like it didn't have as much power.I tuned it off and then back on again and it was still on,so I turned the car off and went to eat, about a half hour latter I came back started it and the light stayed off and hasn't come back on yet? Don't know what caused it but I hit a pothole just before it came on too, that's wild.

John_H · 02-17-2009, 07:28 PM

As an electrical engineer who deals occasionally with electronics-gone-wrong, I do NOT like their explanation and their warranty refusal.

If the disconnect of the CC fixed everything, you're responsible. If they "imagine that there's a possibility some electrons got loose" but don't have a direct cause and effect, it should be on them. The computer was bad. It's difficult to explain how an outside circuit can produce this kind of behavior. In my educated, experienced opinion, the shock knocked loose at least one connection within the Smart computer to cause the "weird codes."

Occam's razor plays in here. Making the fewest assumptions, the car hit a hard bump and the computer broke because of it.

If the cruise control caused problems, the symptoms would either go away with the disconnection or the computer would be harmed much more than generating some "weird codes."

I am NOT happy to hear about this. This was MY dealership you dealt with, wasn't it? I have had a great deal of respect for the whole team and am not looking forward to that relationship being sullied.

smart fortimo · 02-17-2009, 07:58 PM

Dave,

This bothers me, both the dealer's story and shying off of warranty coverage, and John's concern that this is our dealer and where a number of us have the cc.

magilly00 did you have Area 451 cc also when this happened to you?

dichrodave · 02-17-2009, 08:31 PM

I have been working with Bryce at PsC. He said that he has been trying to get it under warranty but the regional manager said that they wouldn't cover it because of the CC. Dave Schrembi said they would cover warranty unless the CC was the direct cause of the problem according to Wdhitch at the Orlando meet. This is really frustrating!

nscaler · 02-17-2009, 08:32 PM

I didn't hit a pothole, But I did "EMP" the car. No throttle either.
Ham radio and smart car battle
Car is okay now and no charge for checking it out - Once I removed the Area 51 Cruise Control. Then they said there was nothing wrong with the car. So CC reinstalled and everything is okay.

**jwight** · 02-17-2009, 08:44 PM

To back up Dave Schembri's words, somewhere in one of the books (warranty book I think) it talks about installing aftermarket equipment and not invalidating the warranty - and uses cruise control as one example. Can anyone come up with that?

dichrodave · 02-17-2009, 09:44 PM

Warranty Manual, Sec 3.1 A
Certain changes that you might make to your vehicle do not, by themselves, void the warranties described in this booklet. Examples of some of these changes are: Installing non-smart USA parts, components, or equipment (such as a non-smart USA radio or speed control.

Sec 3.3 Other costs not covered

Failure of original smart USA parts and equipment caused by the installation of non-smart USA parts or equipment.

Bryce said that even though they can't verify that the CC is bad that there were probably loose connector pins in the new connections that likely caused the problem.