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Just noticed that my passenger door panel is peeling at the very top. I have an 08 Passion, electric blue. Haven't gone thru all of the thread yet; if no one has posted a DIY fix, anybody have a good idea or two?
 
Noticed recently that my solid roof is changing colors from Black to a purple color. Maybe from the washer fluid?? no peeling yet, but it is a 2009 Black... I had some scratches on the rear and front bumper corners from rubbing sand encrusted snow banks, I buffed them out with a leftover headlight kit, but ended up going through the clear coat. I used a clear paint spray (in a can) and it came out OK,... cheaper than a new panel .

I would think that once the clear coat started to peel, it would continue so a repair may not be the way to go. Might need to remove all the clearcoat and get a fresh start.
 
Discussion starter · #163 ·
Getting something for a non safety issue sounds more than fair to me.

I do not understand why people keep trying to make this smartUSA's problem.

The car was sold by Penske, they should be making it right.
Why should the seller be responsible for a manufacturing defect, unless he knew of the defect before hand? Since this was not a problem until a couple of years after smarts were first introduced into the US Penske did not know of the problem when the '09 reds were sold. I find Penske blameless and hold Daimler wholly responsible.
 
Back in 1979, My 1975 Chrysler Cordoba , (silver) had the paint peeling off in sheets, sometimes as I was driving down the road. When they replaced the windshield, they taped a carpet to the roof with masking tape. when they removed the tape, the paint came with it...Nobody gave me a new paint job, or even would admit there was a problem with the primer not sticking to the paint, And I worked for the Chrysler dealership!! Just about every Dodge, Plymouth and chrysler that was silver, both cars and trucks had the same paint peeling problem.
 
Paint technology has advanced quite a bit in the last 35 years and I don't feel that MB has a leg to stand on in this case. They screwed up in a number of red '09s and they should replace those panels or lose the respect of their buying public. Either you make a quality product or don't advertise that you make your product to last more than a couple of years without looking like a piece of carp.
Any car company can make a mistake and this was a mistake that they should own up to and make right. They have a reputation that they should want to uphold.
If my car's paint job goes bad in another year I will be extremely ticked as I have invested a lot in stripes etc. with the assumption that MB makes a quality product. There just isn't an excuse for peeling clear coat within a couple of years in this decade.
 
These cars that were affected were 2008 and 2009, correct? Warranty is 4 years. All of these issues are long out of the warranty period. Two stage paint has always been an issue since they hit the scene in the late 70's & 80's (almost every single BMW, MB & Porsche had issues with clear coats on their metallic paints for a decade and a half).


It is the nature of the beast. Yes, paint has come a very long way, agreed. But, clear coat issues do and will still pop up. The panels for Smarts are stupid cheap... Just replace the panels that are problematic? The issue was corrected and quite a few replacement panels were offered up to correct the problem even after the 4 year warranty was up. They can't continue to keep replacing 7 year old panels forever.
 
The 08s and 09s had a two year/24K mile factory warranty. That didn't change until M-B took over smart USA and they grandfathered in some very late 2011 models. smart USA has never really acknowledged this issue (seems to be a Mercedes trait...) and handles each case separately. Just like the crazed pano roofs and the bad valve/misfiring issues. :)
 
The 08s and 09s had a two year/24K mile factory warranty. That didn't change until M-B took over smart USA and they grandfathered in some very late 2011 models. smart USA has never really acknowledged this issue (seems to be a Mercedes trait...) and handles each case separately. Just like the crazed pano roofs and the bad valve/misfiring issues. :)

Oops! Forgot the crappy 2 Year/24,000 warranty. All I am saying is, even as late as last year MB offered to pay 1/2 the cost of an entire set of new Red panels on a 2008. We went to bat for him... But, how long can they keep doing 'good will' offers?
 
Bought a low mileage used 2009 blue smart a few months ago that had been sitting awhile and the paint was perfect. The day I bought it I was playing with all the controls and spraying the rear windshield wiper fluid like a kid with a squirt gun. Been so long since I've had a rear windshield wiper and this was great fun...so I thought. The next day I noticed above the license plate on the lip a bunch of small pinholes in the clear. Didn't think much of it. A few days later a dime sized bubble of clear...two months later the whole lip above the license plate has clear coat cancer. After hours of googling here and other car forums some of this stuff will eat clear. I smelled the fluid and was much stronger chemically than I thought it should be, could have been the original washer fluid from the factory. I'm thinking some evaporation took place and left a solvent concentrate? I think then fluid settled on the lip and Ebola took its course. I have now flushed the fluid with new and hoping this is why?
 
My 09 Cab peeled.
I talked to MB, they said it was out of warranty (by a few months) and so there was nothing they could do.
I said fine.
Pressure washed the peel off.
Wrapped her in matte red for around 200 bucks and one weekends work.
Very happy.

(Sorry about the lack of links/photos, it seems new members can not attach files or links to photos).
 
Anybody have problems with the clearcoat peeling on their smart? I've got a 2009 red smart, solid color, and a 2008 red smart, painted, and the '09's clearcoat is peeling. I use the same soap & wax on each but only the '09 is peeling. The '09 has the red plastic, the '08 is red painted over a black plastic panel. Could the fact that the clearcoat was applied to the plastic, not paint be the cause?
I have a red 2009 Pure. Everything was fine until we got our first chip in the clear coat. The clear began to peel away from the chip and now 50% of the clear on the whole car is gone. I inquired with the dealer about having it repair as a factory defect, which it obviously is, but I got a negative reply. Other than the fact that is obscenely ugly, it has been a decent little car. I just left it ugly and tell everyone who inquires that the car is good but customer service is lousy. Good luck
 
Panels may be "stupid cheap" where you are but from the information I can find they are about 15% of the cost of the vehicle. Apparently you clear is not peeling!

Spending a few bucks to get a brand-new exterior – of any color – after six years isn't a bad idea. Shop for some some previously-loved like-new panels and install 'em yourself. You'll increase the value of your car, and recoup your investment in the panels. Every car needs upkeep of one sort or another. This is what yours needs.
 
I have been shopping for panels for over two years and haven't found any at a price I thought I could recover when I sell. This problem didn't happen after six years. It happened about 3 months after the warranty ran out. I have also looked into getting the car painted. Every body shop I have talked to says they can't believe the factory didn't take care of it because it is obviously a defective paint job. What my car really needs is a new owner who will buy it cheap because it looks like crap and maybe knowing this going in he won't get angry every time he looks at Mr. Ugly, as the original "Little Red" has become known in the family. Do you work for Smart?
 
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