Closing Door Rattle excessive - Smart Car of America Forums : Smart Car Forum

nex1 · 03-10-2008, 01:01 AM

I searched the forum and didn't really notice anything about this subject, I played around with about 4 smarts at my orlando dealership, the door really seems to rattle a lot when you close it, I mentioned it to the sales person and she just blamed it on the reinforced extra heavy doors, whatever, every SMART I closed the door on, (both passanger and driver side) made the noise, the other people at the dealership today (customers) noticed it to (without me saying anything) I noticed them practicing opening and closing the doors trying to figure out the sound. Probably doesn't matter to me any more, I think I am going to wait until the 2009 version before buying...

but I really want a SMART!

BandSofC · 03-10-2008, 03:35 AM

Hum... Haven't noticed that. My grapes taste sweet!

mdfortwoguy · 03-10-2008, 04:21 AM

It's hard to get any door with frameless glass to close with a solid thunk. It is one of the tradeoffs to the design.

OneThinkingGuy · 03-10-2008, 04:38 AM

Nope.
Zero rattles: Doors; hatch; dash. Pete

jonnysan · 03-10-2008, 07:51 AM

I thought my cars doors were quite tight as a matter of fact. You almost have to slam it to get it closed against the tightness. Good sign to me....

John

nex1 · 03-10-2008, 07:56 AM

Wow, I am surprised, I honestly tried at least 4 SMARTs at my local dealer (both doors), the doors sound like they are about to fall off (slight exaggeration). If I leave my hand on the handle and follow the door shut my arm absorbs some of the vibration and the sound is not quite as noticeable. The ones I have tried DEFINITELY don't sound like a piece of German engineering.... I tried both coupe and the convertible. jonnysan - I had no problem shutting them with normal effort. I wonder if this has been changed??
With as bad as they sounded I figured I would find tons of posts about this issue on here!

jonnysan · 03-10-2008, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nex1

Wow, I am surprised, I honestly tried at least 4 SMARTs at my local dealer (both doors), the doors sound like they are about to fall off (slight exaggeration). If I leave my hand on the handle and follow the door shut my arm absorbs some of the vibration and the sound is not quite as noticeable. The ones I have tried DEFINITELY don't sound like a piece of German engineering.... I tried both coupe and the convertible. jonnysan - I had no problem shutting them with normal effort. I wonder if this has been changed??
With as bad as they sounded I figured I would find tons of posts about this issue on here!

All made on a Monday or a Friday?.....

John

BandSofC · 03-10-2008, 08:09 AM

Maybe inside the dealer it sounded differently than outside. There's not a lot of structure to the doors - I will admit they don't sound like a vault door. It's an 1800 lb car and the doors are light.

SnakeFarm · 03-10-2008, 08:09 AM

'swerid...

All the ones at my dealership sound almost "tuned" when you shut the doors. I stood there and shut the door about ten times because I could not get over the acoustic goodness.

Could this be caused by any cold/warm region variants?

nex1 · 03-10-2008, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BandSofC

Maybe inside the dealer it sounded differently than outside. There's not a lot of structure to the doors - I will admit they don't sound like a vault door. It's an 1800 lb car and the doors are light.

3 of the cars were inside the dealership, 1 was the one I test drove (outside) when getting out of the car was when I commented to the sales person about the doors. It was probably about 80 degrees outside (I'm in Florida) and probably about 74 degrees inside the dealership....