My Car Won't Start! [3 lines thru "P"]

[UNTODDLY]

It would be stupid to force a lemon law issue when I can take the car and sell and make money off it.
I have several issues with the car, mainly the crappy excuse for a sunshade which is broken off from the headliner of the car. if this car leaves me stranded one more time it will be history... end of story.
Last night it broke down in a shady side of town, there is nothing like having very shady people asking you about your smart car. It is annoying enough in everyday life with normal people. I was waiting to get robbed while sitting there waiting 3 hours on roadside. Next time/the last time this happens I will call a tow service myself and have the dealer or smart pay for the tow.

[smarticus]

Maybe the party you might sell it to would appreciate the effort.

[Procrustes]

I had the same problem - reteaching didn't resolve it. Car was towed to dealer to replace shifter assy. Took about a week since parts had to be shipped. Seems like this is a common enough problem they should have mandatory stock at each dealer.

Definitely not feeling love for the transmission in this car. A regular manual would be a big improvement in reliability & driving enjoyment.

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by smarticus

Maybe the party you might sell it to would appreciate the effort.

Thank you.


Selling a car with known problems is immoral and in a lot of cases illegal, if you fail to disclose the history. If you sell a < 6 month old car with a lot of problems and tell the new owner what happened, you probably won't get $5k over sticker for it. If you don't tell them, you could be held liable if they get into an accident. The best thing is for the original owner to talk the dealer into fixing all the problems, bring it up to factory spec or possibly lemon law the car. It's entirely possible that a few cars on a line didn't get up to spec and somehow passed quality control. By insisting and taking your gripes up the chain to smart itself, you'll enable them to stop the problems at the source so nobody else has to deal with them. Oh, and they can probably fix your problems too, if that's what you want.

[QT_PI_R2]

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this. It happened to me today (Saturday) ** too late to get it to the shop. I called and they told me I'd have to have it towed to the shop on Monday and I'm leaving town for several days on Tuesday. Your post saved me a world of trouble. If it had happened someplace other than my house garage, it would have been more of a problem. You gave me the answer and now, if it should happen again, I'll have a "fix" for it.

[QT_PI_R2]

Super Geek: I also picked my car up on 3/29 in Dallas. I just now had the "won't start due to the shifter problem" at 967 miles.

[soareyes]

I printed a copy of this fix and put it in the glove box, just in case. Hope I never need to use it!

Stan

[mvukovich]

Originally Posted by soareyes

I printed a copy of this fix and put it in the glove box, just in case. Hope I never need to use it!

Stan

Don't count on thoses quick fix's in most cases they don't work. My wife and I try to re-teach the car the shifting pattern for a hour or more and it did not work. The car was tow to the dealer and he is going to replace the shifter with a new updated version. This problem happens without warning, it will take me a few months to gain back my trust in this car.

[mvukovich]

Originally Posted by UNTODDLY

It would be stupid to force a lemon law issue when I can take the car and sell and make money off it.
I have several issues with the car, mainly the crappy excuse for a sunshade which is broken off from the headliner of the car. if this car leaves me stranded one more time it will be history... end of story.
Last night it broke down in a shady side of town, there is nothing like having very shady people asking you about your smart car. It is annoying enough in everyday life with normal people. I was waiting to get robbed while sitting there waiting 3 hours on roadside. Next time/the last time this happens I will call a tow service myself and have the dealer or smart pay for the tow.

I know how you feel I have never been stranded with a new car before. I purchase a new car so I wouldn't get stranded. I question if they really have the problem fix or not with the new version of shifters. One member got his car one week ago and has the same problem. Good luck with your car and keep your fingers cross.

[UNTODDLY]

Originally Posted by mvukovich

I know how you feel I have never been stranded with a new car before. I purchase a new car so I wouldn't get stranded. I question if they really have the problem fix or not with the new version of shifters. One member got his car one week ago and has the same problem. Good luck with your car and keep your fingers cross.

4 days in the shop now... I contacted smart this morning about being reimbursed for my time and trouble. This has ruined my experience with this car that I have owned for only 1 week! I expect them to pay my first months payment since my first month of owning this vehicle has been ruined and the car has spent more time setting at the dealer than in my drive way.