This sound familiar, over here in Britain a lot of our cars have to be shipped in, and the control arms being bent and out of alignment is a problem we have with new cars from abroad.
When they are transported in ships they are lashed down, and guess where they lash them down, yup, they use the control arms on the front as they are easy to use, I have also seen this happen when cars are transported on trailers and seen guys really put some pressure onto the tie down straps.
Now I'm not saying that this has happened in this case, just that I have heard of it on brand new cars before that have been shipped, and from other threads on here, the Smarts are shipped in.
Hope this helps.
Headless.
Thanks jwight. I'm doing my best to get it taken care of. Do you happen to have any contact information for smart HQ or someone higher up?
And just to rub salt in the wound, I was out at Home Depot tonight with my girlfriend and we ended up parking right next to a black Passion with red interior. I miss my car.
Call this number. It is the direct line for who you need to talk to. 248 648 2450
I mentioned in another thread how I had taken All Ball (my white cabrio) in last week to have the alignment checked and the fuel gauge reset. The gauge was fixed, and the RO said the tech drove the car and the alignment "seemed normal", so no changes were made.
This week, I noticed a noise coming from my transmission, so I made an appointment and also asked that they actually put the car on the alignment rack, because since taking delivery the car has seemed to wander a bit and the steering wheel is cocked slightly to the right while driving straight.
I got a call a few hours later from the store manager expecting to hear that everything was fixed and All Ball was ready to come home. Instead, he told me that the front end (specifically the control arm and spindle) was damaged and that this would have to be an out of pocket repair for me.
Needless to say, I was shocked, since I'm the only one who drives All Ball and have never been in any sort of collision or driven over rough terrain. It was clear to me, especially since the car had behaved exactly the same since day one, that the damage was present before I took delivery. Perhaps a careless lot boy, a problem when it was coming off the boat, or a pothole when they took it for a pre-delivery fuel-up come to mind. In any event, I simply can't in good conscience shell out a large chunk of money to fix something that I didn't break on my car.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed? All Ball is my only transportation, and he's in the shop waiting for the parts until at least Monday or Tuesday. I've already contacted 1-800-SmartUSA and logged a complaint, but what else can I do in such a situation?
I love my car, but I feel as though my smart center and smart USA are really letting me down here.
At the risk of getting beat over the head I am going to add some comments. I think I have earned the right given I have had three of these cars. Still have two. 08 and an 09. My experience with the car itself is good except it is not going to be long term reliable transportation. If you really check around service departments for Smart you are going to find a lot of problems have erupted. And I understand the new car theory except there are over 1M of the prior version sold in Europe. While different from the 450 it is not that different. You will see in the threads I have had problems with all three of mine. The 09 being the most serious. The parts for these cars are still hard to get, the dealerships treat Smart sales like an afterthought, and the service techs would rather be working on Mercedes or Lexus. The cars are cute but quirky and have electrical issues as well as engine/transmission gremlins. So I now understand the limited 2 year warranty. It is obvious Smart understands that two years is all the liability they want. So I too love these cars but now after a year with them and experience with service and parts it would be hard to recommend the car for long term higher mileage thinking. ok let the bashing begin.
If All Ball's been out of alignment for a long time, be sure to check for excessive or uneven tire wear as well. That's how I got out of paying out of pocket to finally fix a persistent alignment issue: it didn't just start because the tires are severely worn.
I have a 450 smart and just took it in to a shop, not the smart dealership; remember they don't want to work on the older smart cars!] anyway, when I went to pick up the car I was told that the right rear controller arm was bent! They said probably from being towed. I am the only owner of the car and even though I was in a small "fender bender" a few months back. The car was not towed.
I thought that it was interesting that the wreck that I was in involved the rear portion of the car having to remove and repair the back panels of the car, but the dealership did NOT mention anything about the bent arm.
I must agree with the guy that said that parts for the cars are nearly impossible to get. Where can I find a right rear controller arm for a 2006 smart passion? The guy that will work on the car said that he would be able to install it if I can find one. He called the dealership and they were no help at all he said. I also have been trying to get a second key for my car for about 6 months! A vendor on this forum has been trying to help me get another key, and I do thank him for his efforts, but I would REALLY be in trouble if I really had to have a key to run the car. It would be sitting for all that time!
Why do yo think there is so much trouble getting parts for these cars?
I've been in the auto body repair business for 40 years.
First I would determine what happened.If the control arm was bent forward,something pulled it that way.Either a tow chain from being stuck, or tied down then shocked.
If it were bent backward,then it hit something hard and the strut may be questionable as well.We often pull the arm forward to it's original position and the damage is repaired.My suggestion is to talk this over with your insurance agent.You may find they will pay for it without a charge to your record.
At the risk of getting beat over the head I am going to add some comments. I think I have earned the right given I have had three of these cars. Still have two. 08 and an 09. My experience with the car itself is good except it is not going to be long term reliable transportation. If you really check around service departments for Smart you are going to find a lot of problems have erupted. And I understand the new car theory except there are over 1M of the prior version sold in Europe. While different from the 450 it is not that different. You will see in the threads I have had problems with all three of mine. The 09 being the most serious. The parts for these cars are still hard to get, the dealerships treat Smart sales like an afterthought, and the service techs would rather be working on Mercedes or Lexus. The cars are cute but quirky and have electrical issues as well as engine/transmission gremlins. So I now understand the limited 2 year warranty. It is obvious Smart understands that two years is all the liability they want. So I too love these cars but now after a year with them and experience with service and parts it would be hard to recommend the car for long term higher mileage thinking. ok let the bashing begin.
You are just lucky that you posted in Technical instead of in General Discussion. I guess you never got the memo about smarts being perfect in every way and the only problems being caused by improper usage. Next thing we know you will be saying that parts and service problems are caused by Corporate decisions and policies and not by a few bad dealers. This is a dangerous path you are walking on and will lead to heresy and free-thinking if not stopped at once.
Seriously, it seems that parts issues are becoming one of the biggest problems out there in smartland, something that Penske should have solved months ago. Although the fact that the 2009's appear to have more problems than the 2008's cannot be helping things.
Perhaps the car being designed by Germans, has blinded us to the fact that it is being built by the French. Anyone remember Renault or Peugeot and the reputation they earned in their US experience? At least these cars haven't started to rust away like those...... The DeDion tubes ARE holding up... .....right?
There are state-specific laws regarding pre-delivery damage. In some states ANY damage other than a scratch must be disclosed to the customer in writing prior to delivery. Some states have a certain percentage of MSRP they use as a guideline for damage reporting. It's always best to give the dealer or manufacturer a chance to do the right thing before you resort to a lawyer, but at least it seems like the law is in your favor. Just my humble interpretation...I'm not a lawyer.
Thanks for all of the support and advice. After a few more phone calls today and some further discussion between my smart center's GM and the regional warranty rep, I was finally informed that the work has been fully approved for coverage under warranty. With some of the horrible customer service stories I've read here, I'm extremely relieved that smart chose to do the right thing in my case. Maybe they're learning from past mistakes? Anyhow, with a bit luck (and I hope I didn't jinx myself here), All Ball will be back by the middle of next week in (better than) new condition.
I think I'll have a welcome home car wash for him if it warms up a bit, or maybe treat him to one of the smart accessories I've been looking at.
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