[10470]

Need a new "used" 453 fuel tank?

For those of us who received replacement fuel tanks as part of the "fix", did you ever wonder where our old fuel tanks might end up?

Look what I found on eBay... a used 453 fuel tank assembly from an otherwise "good-running" 2016 with 4,566 miles.

Did anyone here get a tank replaced at that mileage? (Check your tank-replacement RO!)

16 Smart Car ForTwo W453 Gas Fuel Tank Assembly 4534710701 | eBay

The seller, TI Automotive, appears to be in Tampa, Florida. The date on their inventory label is 07/07/2016. Of course, the tank could've come from anywhere in the US prior to the referenced date.

I'm curious how TI Automotive acquired a used fuel tank assembly that's potentially (likely?) one of the defective take-offs. Seems to me that those would've been destroyed, not resold.

 

[jimvw57]

Well, lets see... if my gas tank was leaking and needed to be replaced, would I really be concerned about if it said full or if it was leaking all over the ground... Priorities I guess.

 

[10470]

Need a new "used" 453 fuel tank?

Well, lets see... if my gas tank was leaking and needed to be replaced...

C'mon on, Jim.

You've been around this forum long enough to know that we've only seen **one** reason that fuel tank assemblies were replaced on "good-running" 453s.

Leaking has never been an issue. (When was the last time you heard of any new car with a leaky fuel tank?)

 

[DowneasTTer]

Boy that's some very pricey used plastic! You could almost buy a nice running 08 451 WHOLE car for that or maybe a used Fiat 500.

 

[Paul Va]

16 Smart Car ForTwo W453 Gas Fuel Tank Assembly 4534710701 | eBay

 

[WhiteNBlack08]

Boy that's some very pricey used plastic! You could almost buy a nice running 08 451 WHOLE car for that or maybe a used Fiat 500.

Kinda what I was thinking.

I guess $70 for a brand new tank for my Daytona is a steal by comparison...

 

[10470]

Yup, $787.14 is a hunk of change... especially if the tank assembly is a defective one that should never have re-entered the marketplace. Is it possible that a smart/MB dealer is dumping tanks this way?

 

[MB DNA]

(When was the last time you heard of any new car with a leaky fuel tank?)

1970, my brand new Olds Cutlass 442 . . .

Clamshell two piece tank (top/bottom) halves had not been sealed - filled the tank only to have the top half leak onto the ground.

 

[DowneasTTer]

1970, my brand new Olds Cutlass 442 . . .

Clamshell two piece tank (top/bottom) halves had not been sealed - filled the tank only to have the top half leak onto the ground.

Must be a GM thing. My dad bought a new 1960 Buick Conv, filled the tank and parked it in the garage (a split level with my bedroom above said garage). By the morning the tank was half full, the house filled with gas flumes not to mention the flumes from my dad. We had a trip planned from Bangor, Maine to DC the next day. Saw a LOT of filling stations on the trip! Took over two months for a replacement tank to arrive at the dealers.... yep the two halves were missing the seal.

 

[10470]

Those sorts of incidents from nearly 50 years ago (including the legendary exploding Ford Pintos) were the catalysts for an overhaul in fuel safety standards.

Gas tanks don't leak anymore. Can you imagine if the 453 gas tank for sale on eBay had been leaking? That'd make the fuel capacity issue pale by comparison!

 

[jimvw57]

You know, I just might have to jump in and buy that tank,,, just in case I buy a 453 someday, I will have a spare tank for it... from what I have read in here they are all bad and need to be replaced... (just Kidding)

 

[Jo e Lefors]

It would be nice if someone personally knew the seller, so you could ask them if you could fill the tank inorder to check how many gallons it really held. Farfetched, but what the heck.