stop trying to diag smart cars

[Big Panda]

Originally Posted by Smartech2105

Please stop trying to fix the cars on your own. The scan tools everyone is buying are junk, they do not do half the functions that the ones of the dealers. Please if you have problems with your smart car just bring it in to the dealer, they are trained professionals and will do what they do best. FIX THE CAR. Its quite annoying to have a car come in and have the customer tell the mechanic whats wrong with it. So please everyone your cars are under warrenty TAKE THEM IN for work. Thanks.

Originally Posted by mfoster

The issue is the distance to the dealer. If they were around the block, OK, but some of us live hours away. if there is something minor we can diagnose and fix why not. I would have to take a whole day from work to take my smart to the dealer.

OK, i can see both sides here. suggestions: First for the smart owners.....'if' you want to 'diagnose' your smarts, go ahead, but when you take in for your warranty repair, don't TELL the service dept what's wrong with it. just tell them "I ran my scanguage and it told me 'x, y and z' if that helps." like "Smarttech2105" said, THEY are the professionals and THEY are the ones with the training. have fun doing it yourself but let THEM DO WHAT THEY GET PAID TO DO!

Second for the smart Techs.........take the owners info and go do your job. we car enthusiasts like to 'play technician' from time to time and that just part of being a 'car guy' (or gal ) so please just bear with us. as "mfoster" pointed out, MANY owners are hundreds of miles away from the nearest smart center and many times all they're trying to do is determine 'if' it's safe to drive the car should one of the idiot lights come on. i would imagine you can understand that.

hopefully we can ALL be a little more understanding. like it's been said before: "Why can't we all just get along?"

[Overkll]

So how about actually FIXING the problem then?

I went to my dealership with an annoying squeal, which I said sounded like it was coming from the front passenger side (after being asked), they proceeded to check the front brakes and stated there was no problem, and lo and behold, the squeal is still there! After leaving my car with them for the day... now I can go back and leave the car with them for another day.

FWIW, I have worked on cars quite a bit in my lifetime and know that the sound is brake related (drove the car for a few days trying to locate, but it is intermittent, the best kind of noise) but may actually be coming from the rear... maybe the 'tech' should deduce this on their own?

[eolon]

Um, no. Particularly since I am smarter and more capable than any of the "2-weeks of training" Smart Techs at the dealer, who is 220 miles away.

Thanks for your opinion, though.


Best Regards,


e

.::.

[RLove]

Originally Posted by eolon

...I am smarter and more capable than any of the "2-weeks of training" Smart Techs at the dealer

Well la-ti-da for you. I'm not a tech, but I bet you're going to get them kind of irritated with that statement. Did it occur to you that they are all probably master mechanics already and just got a two-week course about specifically the Smart?

[Kermit]

I'm thinking there's more to the story obviously.

I doubt there is a person here that likes it when a customer comes in to tell them they know how to do your job better than you.

Unfortunately until a dealer comes closer I'm going to hook up my little OBDII reader and do what I can as 200 miles is a long way. plus I am an extremely capable mechanic though it isn't my primary job anymore and I'm definitely not better than the Smart techs as they work on them daily so making a claim such as that you have to be careful, you might break your arm patting yourself on the back. I do still shade tree for specialty jobs.

[rwjrn]

I most certainly wouldn't claim to be smarter than the techs at the dealer. However, I do drive my car every day and would expect to have some input into what's wrong with it. I also expect to be able to work on my own car when the problem is obvious. How many people took their cars to the dealer to have the shift knob lubed? My guess is not many. As some may have guessed by my name, I work in a hospital. When customers (aka patients) come in and tell me what's wrong I don't get annoyed, I listen. If a parent says "I think little Johnny has an ear infection again because he's acting just like he did before" I listen and make note. I don't get annoyed. I don't base the treatment solely on what the customer tells me the problem is either, that's what the smart people get paid to decide. I do get annoyed at people who tell me how to do my job like demanding an x-ray when they have no symptoms or demanding medication that won't treat the problem. Perhaps this is the kind of thing smarttech is alluding to when he gets annoyed and I can understand that.

[NCC1701]

Originally Posted by Bum-bling-B

Unfortunately until a dealer comes closer I'm going to hook up my little OBDII reader and do what I can as 200 miles is a long way.

Has a dealer opened closer than B-ham, Atlanta or Jax??

[Gene_SD]

Why can't you service techs fix these cars as fast as the toyota, nissan or honda techs? Why does everything with this car require the normal MB slow service.

[xviper]

Are the current generation of Smart cars OBD II CAN?

[Gene_SD]

xviper: Yes, they are.