Access to Smart of America?

[Dickay1]

Hello, I have had a series of problems with my transmission (won't go into gear). Took it to my dealer, told that they couldn't find anything wrong with it (it happens once or twice a month). They lubed it, sent me home.
Well, it keeps happening. Start car, seat belt on, dash shows "P", move it out of park, dash goes blank. Shifter moves, but transmission doesn't engage. It is worrisome, as I have read of other problems (sticking Park) etc. Anyway, I called (and made an appointment for tomorrow). Asked if they (dealer) could call Smart of America to see if this has happened to others (I did post in "Technical" and it has). They said. "We have no way of doing that" and that the only thing they could do is look at it again, and check for codes. Frankly if it didn't have codes before, it wouldn't have them now, in my opinion. As an aside, it wasn't going INTO park easily, and got to the point it wouldn't go at all. I moved handle back and forth, and the handle came off in my hand. It went back on OK.

Does anyone know if this is true, that the dealers can't talk to anybody at Smart, or am I being led down a path?

By the way, no matter what, I LOVE the car.

thanks for any help.

Dick

[jwight]

Dick, don't know which dealer (and probably don't want to know) but of course they can talk with smart USA HQ in Bloomfield, Michigan. The dealer tech guys can reach their counterparts and discuss any technical issue or problem, including software updates and fixes. The "stuck in P" issue has been around for months and many cars ended up with new shifters, not just minor lubrication. If you're not getting what you want, speak to the dealer's General Manager. If that doesn't work, ask to be put in touch with your Regional Manager.

[Dickay1]

Thanks. Actually, mine was never stuck in Park. When starting, it would show P in the gauge face, then when selector moved, would show nothing, and the transmission acted as if it were in Neutral. Anyway, went to Smart today, and they said that when I had asked about calling Smart, and was told "we don't do it that way", what they meant was that when they entered a code, Smart would send them info on how to fix it.
Today, they found a code. Smart center worked very hard for me. Smart is going to do a major replacement next Monday. I was told entire transmission, but I will have to wait to confirm that. All I know is that it will take two days. The service manager was wonderful.

Thanks for your support.

Dick

[tlie03]

Dick,

Did they tell you what code they found? Mine is starting to act that way (happened 3-4 times in the last month) and I'd like to be able to tell my smart center that this has happened before with other smarts...

Thanks,
=-Tjeng-Bo->