door won't shut!

[jrjones9]

My door just started not latching, after 1 year and 5K miles. So far, pulling the inside handle always fixes it, and today, pulling the outside handle and letting it go th snap back in fixed it. I had planned to pull the door panel to see what is going on inside, and perhaps lubricate the mechanism, but after reading the other posts, it sounds like that is a wast of time. Unfortunately, I am 90 miles from the dealer, so the trip to and from the dealer, plus wait time while they fix it is an all day affair. I wonder if I could get them to mail me the new latch parts??

[SLIVERS]

My friend had problems all winter and into the spring with the door not closing. We live 550 miles from nearest smart dealer so we took door panel off and checked everything out. Sad but true it appeared to be in the latch mechanism. Like post above if the door was opened with the inside handle it would then close.
He had his car at a smart dealer for updates and a new fan motor but had to talk like a crazy man to get them to install a new door latch. They replace it to his pleasure and the door hasn't acted up since. The dealer claimed they had "never" heard of a door problem.
I think that this forum should be required reading for all smart car dealers!

[davidvalentin]

I had the same problem this evening. Thanks for all your advice out there on this site. I close the door with the inside handle up, and after two tries, the latch re-engaged.

[amoore007]

My smart is in the Jackson smart center (MB) today with door latch failure. I'll let you know how it ends.

[orngandblack]

every once in a while it happens to me, all I do is to pull on the inside handle a couple of times and it latches shut.

[amoore007]

Hey ornganblack, one day that will no longer work for you.
Sorry.
I drove 90 miles with a rope tied door to door on the inside. The repair was $249 parts plus labor with a one day wait for parts, three day rental....wow But they did a good repair its fine now. AL

[fortow]

With unusual and intermittent problems like this there's always the additional problem with hypotheses and a misapplication of cause/effect.

This same sort of thing has happened to my car several times with the rear glass hatch not wanting to lock. No matter how I try it won't lock and there is no way of predicting when it will happen. Strangely, as has been described with the door lock in this thread, after walking away and leaving it for awhile it magically decides to lock. If I crossed my fingers when it decided to lock the conclusion would be that the solution is to cross the fingers.
Dealer solution was to replace the latch as described in this thread - Rear Window Latch Problem or the lock and cable as reported by another poster. Of course after doing anything it would be working properly just as doing nothing lets it work after a short period of time. But there was also the suggestion that it is the micro switch that is faulty, and of course the usual other suggestions such as being weather related, or an air-tight cabin.

This is just another of the electrical gremlins that plague the smart car. The electrical switch is obviously at fault. Electrical problems happen with the ABS brakes and hill hold feature, gearshift issues, door locks and I don't know what else. Things go wrong then correct themselves for unknown reasons.
Some of the solutions that have been described may actually have no effect but when the system desides to work for reasons unknown then the proximity of correction attempt and the part working leads people to believe they have found the solution. That may or may not be true. Replacing the latch mechanism may not even be the solution - time and experience will tell.
Perhaps the factory knows the issues and has TSB's to solve the problems but, with the secretive attitude of MB dealerships and factory, owners are not included in the circle of information. These threads alert owners to problems and may actually lead to solutions so this is good.
For my money I think it best to go for this as the cause and solution - Evilution - Smart Car EncyclopaediaEvilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia

[orngandblack]

fortow,
that is my issue. If I take it back to the dealer, I am sure I will hear the "We couldn't get it to do it" story and it will be a waste of time. The MB dealer in my area does not have Saturday hours, so I would have to do it during the week and have to put up with the inconvenience of going in late, taking the shuttle to and from work, just to be told that they couldn't duplicate the issue.
I will wait until I have to rope the door shut before I will take it back.

[unicycle]

I had no trouble getting it repaired, and it was only about $150 parts/labor, same day. It's been fine since.