451 smart fortwo

smart Car

I have owned my smart for two years now and bought it new. Is it totally necessary to pay the fees that go into the maintenance for each year. It's almost $500.00 every other year and almost $300 on the even years. Do any of you do the oil changes or maintenance yourself. The most I've done was refilled my windshield wiper fluid.

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I also would love to know that as well. I hate the dealership where I picked my car up from and they are the only one near me, an hour away. I ordered my car online and had no choice as to where to pick it up being it was one of the first Smartcars to be shipped to Florida

You can do everything yourself and have receipts for things bought at the autoparts store, and work done at any local repair center... Print and Edit the list as necessary, and check off and sign it that the work was done... Then take it to the dealer for a small charge to have them put their computer on it to complete the Warranty checkup...

You can buy most of the service parts at local Auto parts stores for the smart now

http://owners.smartusa.com/10_000_Miles_One_Year.aspx

Magnuson-Moss Act

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Magnuson-Moss+Warrant...

http://plymouthstationauto.com/auto-repair/magnuson-moss-act.html

Depends what it needs based on my skill set. I guess i am very fortunate to have purchased and get service on my smart at the smartcenterOrlando dealership. I have had my oil changed using the specified oil and filter at a service center that was not smart. I fill my own washer fluid, check my own fluid levels, keep both the A/C and intake filters clean etc... I do however prefer to have the dealership handle the 'major' service periods. The value of them looking over the car with a trained eye to see things that I may not is significant. There is a balance between what most can do or have done and what should be done by an authorized smart tech.
Find a place that you can trust.The warrantee is so short that it makes no sense to go back to the dealer.It's a car, not a Swiss watch,and should not require the $255 oil change that I got in Sarasota.Fool me once, but not EVER again.I thought that Roger was smart.Go figure.Would I buy another one?No.I feel abandoned by a company that only wanted to sell me one vehicle.The short warrantee should have warned me, but I was smitten. And in spite of all this, I like the thing.
I change my own oil. No big deal. That's all I've done, but that alone is a lot cheaper than the dealer. What a ripoff they are!
I wouldn't buy another one, either! I had such high hopes for my new Smartie, and it has been very disappointing.
i take my smart to local oil change place every 5000 miles, just tell them the plug is like 3 inches long, they can manage after that. i've had my smart over 3 years. the fookers changed my cabin filter @ 10,000 miles at the dealership. in 3 years i ran the AC about one hour, the cabin filter is only used for the AC. i replaced my air filter with a K&N filter a while ago. after 10,000 miles, the dealer will check to make sure everything is snug. i'm not one to change brake fluid or coolant every 20 or 30,000 miles, that's plain silly! i avoid the dealer like the plague! good people that they are, not wallet friendly. they go "by the book" (make as much money as possible for each service). the warranty is done in 2 years, so dealer service is done by then anyways.

I'm driving my Smart sence 2008 and didn't spend a dollar for service. I do oil chenge my self and will try to do my self any repair if I 'll need to.

It didn't effect the warranty. My Smart was repaired onece under warranty( bad shifter sensor), they didn't say a word about my oil chenge, but tried to sell me 30 000 ml service. I refused.

I, too, do my own maintenance - piece of cake! But, if you don't feel like getting the stuff necessary to do an oil change (it isn't everyone's idea of a good time!), look for a local Quik-Lube (or equivalent - I have a Grease Monkey here that works) - tell them your requirements (Mobil 1 0w-40 Euro oil (or your preference), Mobil 1 M108 filter (or equivalent), blah blah blah. The local place does the change for me for $10 more than I can do it myself (I had to show them that the engine was in the back first, but since then, no problems!).

Except for the first oil change/10,000 mile maintenance we have done all of the maintenance. Oil change, air filter change, cabin filter change, etc. Getting ready to do the 40,000 mile maintenance ourselves. We may have someone else do the coolant and brake fluid change if they need done.

You may want to check the coolant first. Its most likely good... If you have it changed by local shop, be sure to tell them there is a bleeder at the back of the head... If you don't bleed the air out, you burn it up...<:-((

http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Test-System-COO311519-CoolTrak/...

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