major problems w/smart w/in 1st yr. HELP

[TMACK]

I REFUSE to believe a DODGE NEON will possibly enjoy a better service reputation than could my beloved smart! Absorefuse.
What next, is someone going to pipe in that there Vega is still going strong?

Dave S and Penske, can't you please help this chap?

History is at stake here, gentlemen.

[TMACK]

OK, did a quick look see of Va's lemon law:
If the manufacturer, its agents or authorized dealers do not conform the motor vehicle to any applicable warranty by repairing or correcting any defect or condition, including those that do not affect the drivability of the vehicle, which significantly impairs the use, market value, or safety of the motor vehicle to the consumer after a reasonable number of attempts during the lemon law rights period, the manufacturer shall:
1. Replace the motor vehicle with a comparable motor vehicle acceptable to the consumer, or....(take the car back for refund).

Again, I'm no lawyer, but I believe a non-working A/C impacts the use, value and, perchance, safety of a smart tooling in Texas.

Of course, your results may vary, void where prohibited.....

[stressed member]

Try and stay with it, Smart should come up with some kind of a resolution.
These are defects that should be rare on a car thats been around for quite a few years now. Your wife might be right this time. There is no excuse for most of the problems posters describe here on this site(rattley doors, heat -ac not funtioning correctly,Roofs crazing, etc) in this day and age.

[fortow]

Originally Posted by stressed member

Try and stay with it, Smart should come up with some kind of a resolution.
These are defects that should be rare on a car thats been around for quite a few years now. Your wife might be right this time. There is no excuse for most of the problems posters describe here on this site(rattley doors, heat -ac not funtioning correctly,Roofs crazing, etc) in this day and age.

Absolutely correct. It is time that people stopped defending and excusing the various issues that keep arising with these cars. It's not as though the problems are unusual either - most smart cars are displaying the same symptoms.

Problems won't be addressed seriously until owners start demanding resolutions and retrofits for the issues that are endemic. There is no reason why any single owner should have to argue about an issue that is commonplace.
Other car brands have grown out of this kind of teething phase of reliability in automobile design long ago. It seems that the Smart factory is trying to produce a car with as many electronic and other features they can fit in without doing the required R&D to assure reliability. It was a timely design that has been poorly implemented. It has been in production for a decade now, the car brought to the U.S. is only a more recent iteration. The kinds of problems we are seeing should not be happening.

They need to stop thinking that this is a small luxury car and get back to decent basics with reliability as the priority. A tiny car like this trying to sell in a marketplace that does not favour such designs will have enough trouble as it is but to compound that with quirky transmissions, leaking roofs, locking mechanisms that keep giving trouble, tires that can't be rotated, no spare, and all the unusual issues that keep arising does not portend well to its future in this market. Compound that with a dealership arrangement that provides poor support and more expensive service than is rational for a small inexpensive car. And further compound that with the coming competition from major manufacturers who are soon going to be marketing other micro cars and what will be the outcome?

These comments are not meant to be negative. I like the smart and want it to be competitive and would like to see it become a truly viable option. The factory and distributors in North America seem to have misjudged the market. It is not selling as hoped and part of the reason for that is due to various design flaws and a misunderstanding of expectations.

The first thing required is to see that all reliability issues are rectified - all complaints should be dealt with immediately and correctly the first time without question. Then set up a proper network of dedicated smart dealerships as is the case in Europe. Service should be free during the warranty period. It's important to give people a reason to buy the car and that is one. There has been far too much discussion about the cost of routine service. The next order of business should be to see that the transmission and drivability issues are in sync with what is expected of modern cars. If this is actually to be used as an automatic then it should be transparent to users - no one should give it a second thought as is the case with virtually every other car on the market. Drivers should be able to sit in the car and drive it without any concern for unusual behaviours or additional learning required. It should just 'feel' right and perform 'right' as is the expectation with any car now.

Come on SMART - let's truly make this the car designed for the urban future - smart, reliable, well behaved, reasonable cost, practical. Scrap the tricky stuff and get back to basics - it's not a luxury car and will never be one.

[jwight]

...most smart cars are displaying the same symptoms...

We have no way of knowing that and I suspect it's not the case; we are far from having all 451 owners in North America on the three main forums. In addition, the people with problems tend to post; those without don't - not many "No problems with my new smart" threads.

Having said that, smart USA (can't speak for Mercedes in Canada or Mexico) should be more transparent in dealing with these issues and be much more responsive to owners' reports of problems - IMHO, of course.

[Chris Wurgler]

"...most smart cars are displaying the same symptoms..."

I doubt that the above statement is TRUE.

[stressed member]

Smarts right now are exhibiting "Chronic" issues, that may not apply to all cars,and certainly not at the same time. Do you really think your roof will not craze-unglue sometime in the future? Only time will tell. What can be said with some certainty is that trends are forming, and there is no way of knowing how widespread they are. How many smarts are in America, and how many members are on this site? That would be a good start.

[jefferios]

"You haven't experienced the full enjoyment of the pano roof until it crazes"

[John_H]

The original poster had problems with A/C (unfortunate as with many others - SmartUSA needs to address the A/C issue head-on!) a problem with the clutch (which SmartUSA is addressing but not by giving everyone a new clutch) a problem with the fuel gauge (I don't see why anybody thinks the 7/8ths full issue is critical) and the item I'm most concerned with: warped rotors?

I don't believe the car should "feel" just like an automatic because it would add weight, add cost, and/or reduce mileage. It goes! My smart does all I want it to do which doesn't include racing, hauling, or chauffeuring.

fortow:
You say "They need to stop thinking that this is a small luxury car and get back to decent basics" then counter "It should just 'feel' right and perform 'right'." If they try to make the manual work like an automatic, it's deviating more and more from "decent basics," increasing complexity, hence reducing reliability.

[stressed member]

The warped rotors is issue has me concerned also, to me it's a new one. I'd like to point out that i absolutely dig the car,warts and all. My 09 passion has all the above mentioned faults(except the rotors) and I'm not too bothered by it. But I have a very high tolerance for this kind of stuff being an old british car lover.