The service rep came to town today and local service manager asked me to go get the rep looked at the frayed seat..he said it was consider "wear and tear" and would not replace it. The car is less then 1 year old at around 6500k, how can they not consider that as a defect?! None of my other previous cars (Hyundai Accent) have have any problem with the cloth whatsoever..talk about European quality!!!
The frayed area is on the lower right side of the seat that bulge out. The rep thinks i must've been sliding it over time when getting in/out of the car. But how is it possible to have fray spot on the side and not under my butt? Im pretty sure theres more contact on the seat rather than the side considering with all the wallets and jeans i've been wearing.
any idea what i should do next? should i start sending emails to smart canada and let them know? or should i just suck it up and be quiet like every other consumer?
There is a lemon law that take care of that... if you are in North America...
There is a lemon law that take care of that... if you are in North America...
Not sure about the OP's province's law, but lemon laws typically cover only serious defects, i.e., those that cause a substantial impairment in the use, safety, or value of the car. It would be very hard to argue that frayed seats substantially impair the use and safety of the car. And as far as substantially impairing the value of a car, that would seem to be a stretch as well.
Last edited by Smart Enuf; 04-25-2009 at 09:17 AM.
Reason: changed "state" to "province;" didn't see OP's reference to canada
I had a problem with my leather seats. It was on the very seldom used passenger side. One of the seams started to separate. My dealer had it fixed at no charge to me. I was without the car for a few days over the Thanksgiving weekend, but they provided a very nice loaner (C-class!).
If your seat cover is not damaged, and it is simply wear, then it is 100 percent Smarts problem and not yours, while its within the warranty period. Talk to the owner of the dealership, and then if necessary contact Smart nationally. As someone who always worked for car manufacturers in their field organizations, I am sad to see the level of incompatance of some of the factory field guys, and even worse some even have gals doing it, who are very bright, but clueless on the mechanical aspects. Some of the field people don't even know the laws regarding warranty.
If it were me I would be sure to get the business card of the factory service rep and if the above contacts failed, I would then order a new seat cover for the affected cushion or backrest, have it installed at a trim shop at your expense and then sue the factory rep and the dealer in small claims, you will win easy easy easy, and get all your costs reimbursed.
As a side light, I currently have six cars licenced and 2 of them are mid eighties GM, with cloth interiors, that are still 100 percent perfect. Properly cared for, and garaged, interiors should last for years and years.
I don't have my Smart yet (Due June 16, according to my dealer) but this is the most disapointing thing I have heard in years. A manufacturer cannot abrogate its responsibility when something wears prematurely and the Smart rep knows (or should know it), this why they have warranties. Excuse me if I have made any spelling mistakes, the spell checker does not seem to work.
There is a lemon law that take care of that... if you are in North America...
How can you even try to qualify a damaged seat cover as a lemon law problem?
I don't understand why people always scream "lemon law" whenever something comes up with a car that needs repair... cripes it is a consumer protection act, not an excuse to get something fixed that potentially isn't a manufacturing defect.
How can you even try to qualify a damaged seat cover as a lemon law problem?
I don't understand why people always scream "lemon law" whenever something comes up with a car that needs repair... cripes it is a consumer protection act, not an excuse to get something fixed that potentially isn't a manufacturing defect.
I agree. If he can show this is a manufacturing defect, then it's a simple warranty issue, rather than a lemon law issue. At best it's a small claims lawsuit, if they refuse to fix it under warranty (assuming they have small claims court in SK).
Correct, it would have nothing to do with lemon law. It is simply a case of premature wear. Likely the vendor that Smart division of Damlier Benz buys these covers from, is skimping on the manufacturing process, or thinks its found a cheaper way to produce the fabric. I hope that inexperienced Smart owners don't let them get away with this. Give them plenty of publicity in the various blogs and fourms. Sometimes problems of operational nature are difficult to resolve for a factory field rep., this is a no brainer, defective or under spec materal in a seat cover or backrest cover, replace it.
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