Problems so far..

[Garcia]

I've had my Smart Passion since January 2008 and have 15,000 miles on it. The problems so far: A cracked windshield (half moon about 8" wide at the center bottom) that happened 6-25-09 during the day while the car was parked. Replacement cost is $900. The heater/AC temp adjustment is only On-Off at the 80-degree mark. No adjustment, either hot or cold. Also, I was shocked at the oil change cost of $125. I had oil changed in my Acura MDX at the Acura store for $30.

[forestacademy]

1- Windshield - What cused the crack, Quite often a small rock chip will expand in a temp shift and that can happen while parked
2- Was the AC/Heater issue handled by smart, and how was it handled. Did they take care of it for you or is it still unresolved.
3- Oil change cost, Not just oil change. Its your 10K or 1 year service check and includes a Mobile 1 oil change. The price can vary greatly from dealer to dealer. $125 is on the low end of and some have reported prices as high as $250.If I went to my local oil change place I couldn't get the oil changed for $30

Are you complaining or just saying?

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Garcia

A cracked windshield (half moon about 8" wide at the center bottom) that happened 6-25-09 during the day while the car was parked. Replacement cost is $900.

That's not a "problem". It's a byproduct of owning a car, and isn't unique to Smart.

The heater/AC temp adjustment is only On-Off at the 80-degree mark. No adjustment, either hot or cold.

Well, that's obviously broken. Have you had it back to the dealer? If so, and they didn't fix it, go to another dealer and/or complain higher up the Smart food chain.

Also, I was shocked at the oil change cost of $125. I had oil changed in my Acura MDX at the Acura store for $30.

It's a synthetic oil, so it will cost you a bit more than a regular oil change. And you only have one a year, as opposed to every three months with other cars. And you probably paid twice as much for your Acura.

[smartHHO]

Originally Posted by Garcia

I've had my Smart Passion since January 2008 and have 15,000 miles on it. The problems so far: A cracked windshield (half moon about 8" wide at the center bottom) that happened 6-25-09 during the day while the car was parked. Replacement cost is $900. The heater/AC temp adjustment is only On-Off at the 80-degree mark. No adjustment, either hot or cold. Also, I was shocked at the oil change cost of $125. I had oil changed in my Acura MDX at the Acura store for $30.

OMG, your smart center bent you over for that one. I just had mine changed to get out the crap at 5k. Dealer cost me $40 for oil change. I would find another dealer. They suck badly.

[John_H]

Different dealers == different prices, absolutely.
But $40 for a synthetic change? What a bahgin!

[smartHHO]

Originally Posted by John_H

Different dealers == different prices, absolutely.
But $40 for a synthetic change? What a bahgin!

Remember, I am dealing with Round Rock which was number one in customer satisfaction last year. They Rock for sure. And yes, they put in the synthetic moble oil. Took about 30 min tops and car was done.

[jefferios]

Wow, $40 at round rock. Nice deal!

[jimvw57]

Mobil 1 oil synthetic sells for around 6-7 bucks a quart at Walmart. Add in a dealer markup, filter and labor rate and you probably got by cheap for a dealer. Some dealers charge less, take the loss and try to sell you add-ons. Overall, you didn't do too bad on the 10K checkup/oil change.

The heater is a different issue. Hopefuly you took it in and they got it working under warranty. Windshield, I think Smart covers the first year, but not 100% on that one.

[forestacademy]

Originally Posted by smartHHO

OMG, your smart center bent you over for that one. I just had mine changed to get out the crap at 5k. Dealer cost me $40 for oil change. I would find another dealer. They suck badly.

Interesting,
THey just charged you for an oil change at an unscheduled time.
This was not your 10K/1year Service most folks pay $120+ for.
If you go back in 5K miles and then get hit with the $120 service (not just oil change) then you have already spent $40 more than me.

But, If you one of the folks who buy into the oil industry myth you need to change it more often then $40 is a good deal, sort of

Did I just open a can or Worms?

[MPrice2984]

Garcia - I get where you are coming from. What people don't understand is that both Chicago area smart dealers are in areas where the average house is over $850,000 and there are more Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Bentley's than you can shake a stick at. The dealers put smart in so the Mercedes driving parents could buy a smart as their first cars and then move up in a couple of years. The
treatment is really high end but so are all of the prices. Loeber quoted me $34ea
for OE spark plugs, $18 for an oil filter.