Can anyone help?? my smart is just over a year old, at it's service I reported that it sometimes wouldn't go into reverse unless I turned the ignition off and on again. They looked, 'made a small adjustment' and said if it continued I would have to let them have it for a few days. Well, it still did it, I was out with a seriously ill person, taking them out for an hour for a drive following their direction. Came to a point where I had to turn around, did the first part of a 3 point turn and lo! no reverse. The ill person got out of the car, and was going to walk away so I had to get them back, and move the car. It wouldn't shift into gear no matter what I did, so I felt the only solution was to try to push the car away from the wall it was facing, blocking the road. I couldn't move it without getting out of the car, and when it moved, it caught the camber of the road and began to roll backwards.. by the time I managed to jump in and pull the handbrake it hit a parked vehicle.. no damage to them, but big pushed in fender on my little smart from their bumper. I feel that smart is to blame, as if it had worked I wouldn't have had to get out; I had to get the patient back to hospital, and my only experience of smart assist was waiting 3 hours for the AA which I didn't have. Any thoughts please
Replies to This Discussion
-
Should or shouldn't I can't say but I am thinking they are going to say they did all they could and thought it was likely working when you pulled out.
I feel for you and likely would have done the same thing. I just don;t see this as one you will win.
-
Permalink Reply by Herb Bell on -
The miserly 2-year warranty on the Smart should ring a clear warning to every prospective buyer that even the reseller of Smarts in the USA thinks it's a bad risk when it come to electro-mechanical failures.
Apart from the car's "cool" and "tiny" factors, why would anyone want to expose themselves to the fiscal damage of owning a car that even the reseller deems to be risky?
Mind you, I haven't experienced any of the typical problems reported by other Smart owners to date, but, Gee, folks, how bad does it have to get before people buy a Hyundai with a 10-year warranty?
One Canadian owner told a harrowing story of getting stuck with a Smart that just wouldn't "go" in the middle of a severe snowstorm, a potentially life-threatening situation caused by crappy transmission programming.
Even under ordinary driving conditions, I have never owned a car with such a quirky transmission. I know that the Smart uses a computer-controlled manual transmission to get maximum mpg. But why does it have to be run in Manual mode to get a proper 1-2 shift? Try running the car in "D" with the gas pedal on the floor to see what I mean. Apart from the excuse that the factory has set up the transmission to give maximum mileage, is there not a better way to make this tranny shift in a more "normal" manner? How about an "economy" vs. "sport" switch?
Don't get me wrong. I love my Smart 451 in spite of its shortcomings, but with a little real engineering, this car could become a planetary sensation.I know enough about German Engineers and Management to realize that the problem lies with management, not the engineers. Hey, guys: "FEEX Eet!"
-
Permalink Reply by linda bowers on
-
thanks for your replies, We heated and pushed out the dent (if you could call it that!!) and I'm saving for a new light fitting lol!
-
you need a new clutch plate assembly to fix the problem...had ours done under warranty.you are not the only one that had this issue
Welcome to
451 smart fortwo
Latest Activity on 451s
Hi all,
Maybe this is not the best spot for this discussion. But I am looking for a local smart dealer in Annapolis County, NS, Canada.
I just moved into the area from Holland and looking to buy a Smart to drive back and forth to the Halifax Inter…
I bought the little side cargo net for the side plastic panel but I am struggling with the install!!
Does anyone have a good clear pic of theirs installed, or are there any tips for installing this?
Thanks in Advance!!
smartCar on Facebook/Twitter
