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Another 451 fire
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After the fire, he said, he called customer service at Mercedes-Benz to inform it of the location of the car so it could investigate.
"They were in total denial, [saying] that they'd never heard of such [an] occurrence and this was the first time," said Matharu, who discovered for himself the U.S. investigation of the 2008 Smart Fortwo.
Yeah right... ask about the smart in Mercedes warehouse in Germany that is burned up inside. That was back in 2009 as I recall... I was there!!
"They were in total denial, [saying] that they'd never heard of such [an] occurrence and this was the first time," said Matharu, who discovered for himself the U.S. investigation of the 2008 Smart Fortwo.
Yeah right... ask about the smart in Mercedes warehouse in Germany that is burned up inside. That was back in 2009 as I recall... I was there!!
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Maybe aging smarts are about as flammable as your average Galaxy Note 7? 
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This has signs of turning into a debacle similar, to that of the Audi 5000 in the 80's...
The NHTSA could by mandate make the ForTwo safer, by forcing MB to address various safety issues, but I’m not holding my breath. My fire-hazard-ready, gasoline leaking 2008 Pure could reveal so much more than countless fire-consumed skeletons of Smart cars. My early infatuation with the ForTwo has evolved in 8 years of ownership from joy to disappointment. I’ve filed a number of complaints with the NHTSA over my two 2008 Smarts for a gasoline leak, seat adjustment mechanisms failing (won’t adjust forward or rearward), defective seat belt receivers, and transmissions that sometimes will not find forward or reverse gear, and other times get stuck in PARK. My Pure has been parked since at least September 2017 due to raw gasoline odors and gasoline leaking from a weep hole in the pan when running, and it’s definitely a fire hazard ready to happen. I wrote letters to both Mercedes and NHTSA suggesting my 2008 Pure is a great opportunity to examine a fire-hazard before it actually catches fire, but sadly neither expressed any special interest. Transmission issues: in the past, we’d always looked for parking spaces that we could pull forward through, because we couldn’t be sure reverse would work. The Cabrio is now parked after the transmission pretty stubbornly stuck in PARK. There may be a hint of raw gasoline odor to it as well. I’ll revisit the problems when weather is better in the Spring, but ultimately, they both have to go. I wouldn’t take another 2008 Smart for free, based on my personal experience. I’d urge any 2008 ForTwo model owners to sell asap before the worst problems reveal themselves. When you have 2 of the same model both demonstrate serious operational defects, you know thousands of others are (or will) be suffering the same defects, it’s just a matter of time. I’m really praying for the NHTSA to intervene to address the fire hazard before some folks die to bring focus to the issue. Anyone interested in a couple problematic 2008 ForTwos? Not likely.
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Is Ralph Nader, still alive?
Our 2008, never gave us, a bit of trouble. The seat belt issue was fixed under Kansas State Federal, 10 year safety restraint law. The blower motor fixed twice. Known issue. The little smart, was of the most reliable cars, I ever bought, next to our Honda products. It was fun to drive. I won’t say, it the most refine automobile, I’ve ever bought. That it isn’t, by any means. What do you want $14.5k.
If you driving around a car, any car. You smell gasoline. You might want to take it into a shop, and have it looked at.
Instead of waiting for the vehicle to burst, into flames. That pretty ignorant.
Our 2008, never gave us, a bit of trouble. The seat belt issue was fixed under Kansas State Federal, 10 year safety restraint law. The blower motor fixed twice. Known issue. The little smart, was of the most reliable cars, I ever bought, next to our Honda products. It was fun to drive. I won’t say, it the most refine automobile, I’ve ever bought. That it isn’t, by any means. What do you want $14.5k.
If you driving around a car, any car. You smell gasoline. You might want to take it into a shop, and have it looked at.
Instead of waiting for the vehicle to burst, into flames. That pretty ignorant.
Now 09 451 Passion Cabriolet Met Blue & Silver First 08 451 Passion Cabriolet Yellow & Black
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Really, 40 year old technology vs 10 year old tech.
Reports range from 27 to 180 deaths as a result of rear-impact-related fuel tank fires in the Pinto, but given the volume of more than 2.2 million vehicles sold, the death rate was not substantially different from that of vehicles by Ford's competitors. The far more damaging result for Ford was the PR disaster.
Rear impact vs spontaneous combustion while driving or parked.
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But those are the quirks that are endearing to smart owners ????? Not me but some. :shrug:
I owned a 08 cabrio and currently an 09 cabrio. Even though, neither of my smarts have given me any problems, I have to agree with the Other smart salesperson on the this forum the car is a turd.
Had my smarts not been droptops I would not have had any interest in the brand.
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A car that goes into reverse and is able to backup when the shift selector is moved to R. That would be a novel idea.
A car that doesn't catch on fire while being driven. I believe only one poster den458 reported smelling gas.
I also believe DEN458 HAS parked the smarts until spring when he can revisit the problems, his words.
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Mods, if possible, can we merge all recent fire discussion to one thread? It would be beneficial if fire discussion didn’t go like both the fuel tank and panoramic roof discussions where there were multiple simultaneous threads on the same subject.
If the information on the NHTSA site eventually reveals a trend, then most of smart 451 fires are 2008s and 2009s. However, it needs extra noting that not everyone is going to report a fire, so the issue can still be aging.
The EDs seem the least fire-prone of the bunch. That could either mean that the EDs don’t get enough miles, the issue is specific to ICE, or the issue is related to vehicle age.
Based on the (not extensive) information we do have, it would seem age isn’t a primary factor. If it were, we should be seeing 2010s, 11s, and 12s going up in flames by now. Instead, we just have scattered instances of later years going up (I’m still not convinced that my fire wasn’t caused by a transphobic contractor at work).
Is this because the later years are built better? Or is this because the owners of later years just aren’t reporting their fires?
At any rate, the NHTSA will hopefully conclude their investigation soon and shed some light on this.
If the information on the NHTSA site eventually reveals a trend, then most of smart 451 fires are 2008s and 2009s. However, it needs extra noting that not everyone is going to report a fire, so the issue can still be aging.
The EDs seem the least fire-prone of the bunch. That could either mean that the EDs don’t get enough miles, the issue is specific to ICE, or the issue is related to vehicle age.
Based on the (not extensive) information we do have, it would seem age isn’t a primary factor. If it were, we should be seeing 2010s, 11s, and 12s going up in flames by now. Instead, we just have scattered instances of later years going up (I’m still not convinced that my fire wasn’t caused by a transphobic contractor at work).
Is this because the later years are built better? Or is this because the owners of later years just aren’t reporting their fires?
At any rate, the NHTSA will hopefully conclude their investigation soon and shed some light on this.
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You might want to watch smart car fires, on You Tube. Some have smarts, have started on fire while driving. The owners smell smoke. Got out of vehicle, before bursting into flame. You still don’t drive any vehicle, if you smell fuel. Get it fixed. Why wait for spring?
Seems den458 reported a lot of non life issues to the NHTSA. Cried wolf. If his so unhappy with his smart cars. They death traps. Car Max, will take them off his hands, for $1.5-2k a piece.
While our 2008 cabrio remains a garage queen, regardless of marquee at the slightest hint of gasoline and it would be parked outside, far away from any buildings, with the keys safely locked away.
By the very nature of the smart rear engine design, we quite literally sit under the hood.
After 8 or 9 years and unknown miles - stuff happens regardless of marquee. The source of any gasoline odors or leaks should be beneath/behind or to the right of you and at this point could be a maintenance (fitting, hose, failing part) item?
In our lifetime, we have made quantum leaps from the days when a manual fuel pump had a useful life of something short of 30,000 miles before spewing and fuel injection rails sprung leaks. Those failures were more easily located under the hood or bonnet.
Safety should be top of list for all of us, especially those who choose to drive such a small vehicle. We can't wait for the Nanny State and NHTSA to save us. The NHTSA 2017 budget totaled $1,181 billion and included $250 million for Vehicle Safety, $145.9 million for Behavioral Safety, $585.3 million for State Grants and High Visibility Enforcement Support and $200 million for Autonomous Vehicle Development AND in 2018 is between government shutdowns.
If I were truly concerned with the potential of a 451 ICE spontaneous combustion, in the interest of safety I would rid myself of that vehicle today. :shrug:
Citation (his words)? - "the car is a turd," don't think that is a direct quote of "the Other smart salesperson?"
And with all due respect - the car (smart) is what it is . . .
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I believe this is what you are looking for.
Anything else I can help with?
Anything else I can help with?
Thanks for refreshing my memory. Didn't realize that FiveSpeed was selling new smarts/M-B's on Erf?
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Sorry, where was NEW mentioned ?
FiveSpeed's words - "I've worked for Mercedes for 10+ years and sold smarts for 4 years. I knew the district reps, managers, trainers, etc..."
And your label - "the Other smart salesperson."
All of which would "suggest" NEW car sales?
New, used or pre-owned IDK and done! :shrug:
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Fact is that smart tried to come to America with a SUV then failed at it after they ran out of money. Maybe MB USA had confidence issues with the 451, however smart itself has always wanted to come to America and had almost succeeded to do so before the 451 ever came into existence. The only thing that stopped them was running out of money...ironically because the roadster was terrible for reliability and the company couldn't turn a profit, not the then non-existent 451.
And it's not like MB is even that great at gauging the market anyway. Remember when MB refused to sell Sprinters through their own dealerships because they were too afraid of making their usual customers mad? As it turns out, their usual customers really didn't even care. Some of them probably even bought MB-branded Sprinters for their own businesses!
You keep reiterating this comment, but such logic is implausible until the “aging” effect can be factored in.
What changes do you believe were made to 2010+ cars that then made them less prone to auto-immolation?
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