Old Smart. GOOD FIX... I think it will do the job until Smart/MB comes up with a factory modification. I have some thick, black rubber, electrical tape that will work just fine to make a temporary bumper.
I can only guess that Smart is expecting the shift cable to stretch with use, and by holding the length short, they avoid an early adjustment as the miles pile up.
For now, as the service manager told my wife, "be gentle when shifting into park"
I was told by my dealer that there is no problem and any units being shipped now had been fixed. Do you get a tiny roll of duct tape with the car? Color coordinated of course!
I was told by my dealer that there is no problem and any units being shipped now had been fixed. Do you get a tiny roll of duct tape with the car? Color coordinated of course!
I hope so...... BUT I think dealerships lie wayy too much. I call B**LS**T!
Sorry but I must correct you; it is "Water Displacement" (not Water diffuser) . It was the 40th experiment. As an engineer, I am a 'Stickler' for exactness
You are absolutely correct about the lemon law, being surrounded by attorneys all day long, I should have been more precise in my usage.
You have a good point, perhaps most early adopters love to tinkle with their toys. Sadly I don't have enough free time to fall into that category, when I buy something, I expect it to work. Perhaps that's why I have such a hard time understanding why I should learn how to fix a brand new car myself.
I do hope smart would quickly address some of the open issues identified by the early owners and fix the car ASAP. Once they run out of early adopters, the expectation from the majority of its future customers will be very different from those on this forum.
And the issues with new car models your pointed out is exactly why smart should not launch a new brand with such a short warranty. The brand is not proven in our market, and they should do everything they can to win over consumer confidence.
BTW, the two year warranty is the norm for smart for many countries, so I don't think we got "special treatment" in the U.S. just because of our exchange rate.
I understand there is a way to release a stuck shifter without having to disassemble the shifter console. We need a diagram on this. Can anyone help here?
The damage to plastic/nylon shifter parts is caused by forcing the shifter after it sticks. So when it happens to you, don't use force or you won't get home.
I have a 2008 Smart Passion Cabriolet that I purchased in January, 2008 in San Diego, CA. My car was delivered with 9 miles, and currently has 583 miles and is 2.5 months old. I have the exact same problem. I have an appointment for the dealer to fix it on Monday, April 7, 2008.
I started noticing it when I had difficulty shifting the car from drive/neutral into reverse or park. The trouble progressed very quickly. On Friday, April 4, 2008, I called the dealer to set a repair appointment. I realized that if I was careful, and put the car in drive, and then depressed the gear shift trigger completely, I could put from drive into park. I was initially not having any problem getting the car from park to drive. By Saturday, April 5, 2008, when I put the car into park, it took me 4-5 minutes to get the car from park into drive. Since then it has only been in neutral or drive. Currently, I have the car parked in my garage with the key in the ignition in neutral so i will not have to have the car towed to the dealer on Monday.
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