I thought I did my due diligence. I learned all about BAP and the basic warranty had 8 months left on it. Bought my 2014 off lease Smart ED from a local dealer that had quite a few on the lot. They had me sign a photocopy form that explained the BAP but not the actual lease. They said they'd give my info to MB and that MB would contact me which of course never happened. So I contacted MB after a month they sent me the lease I signed it and paid the fee and about a week later I was in the system. Then about a month later I started the EV and got the error message Drive Sys. Engine Off. Waited 5 minutes and started again no problem. This happened twice. I brought it into MB to have the annual BAP battery check and to diagnose this also wanted to find out when the last service was done as I had put 2k on the car and hadn't gotten any message to bring it in for service. The car is supposed to message you when it needs to be serviced.
So the service advisor at MB tells me the car, now at 22,000 miles, has NEVER been serviced. He said this may cause problems down the road getting it serviced under warranty as having regular maintenance is required to maintain the warranty and the BAP. I asked how is this possible? There is no message on the car. He says oh you can get a youtube video to show you how to reset that. But I say this is an off-lease sold to an auction house by MB why wasn't it maintained before sale? He says oh the auction house probably signed a waiver. I said ok then how did MB let me sign a new BAP lease when the battery has NEVER been checked? No answer.
So this was today and the car needed to be kept overnight and the 20k service (plus 2 software updates and 2 recalls) will be $322+Tax. Fine I expected to pay to get it serviced. But he was very vague on the status of the warranty. Said it would depend on how bad the desiccant in the battery is. If the desiccant not being inspected caused the battery to fail it would potentially not be covered and a new battery is $24k. WTF???
So I wait and see. I'll update when I know the outcome. But this just leads me to believe that the BAP is unsustainable and situations like this with off-lease units are just more complicated. Used car dealers are shady already and this just tarnishes the reputation of Smart and MB. I forsee class action lawsuits ahead!
TL;DR: I love the car but you need to do extra due diligence if you are buying one of these off lease and don't forget to get the maintenance history before buying!
So the service advisor at MB tells me the car, now at 22,000 miles, has NEVER been serviced. He said this may cause problems down the road getting it serviced under warranty as having regular maintenance is required to maintain the warranty and the BAP. I asked how is this possible? There is no message on the car. He says oh you can get a youtube video to show you how to reset that. But I say this is an off-lease sold to an auction house by MB why wasn't it maintained before sale? He says oh the auction house probably signed a waiver. I said ok then how did MB let me sign a new BAP lease when the battery has NEVER been checked? No answer.
So this was today and the car needed to be kept overnight and the 20k service (plus 2 software updates and 2 recalls) will be $322+Tax. Fine I expected to pay to get it serviced. But he was very vague on the status of the warranty. Said it would depend on how bad the desiccant in the battery is. If the desiccant not being inspected caused the battery to fail it would potentially not be covered and a new battery is $24k. WTF???
So I wait and see. I'll update when I know the outcome. But this just leads me to believe that the BAP is unsustainable and situations like this with off-lease units are just more complicated. Used car dealers are shady already and this just tarnishes the reputation of Smart and MB. I forsee class action lawsuits ahead!
TL;DR: I love the car but you need to do extra due diligence if you are buying one of these off lease and don't forget to get the maintenance history before buying!
