general problems of the 2008 Smart Fortwo

Engine fire destroyed vehicle while driving on interstate at 65 mph. Vehicle was serviced and maintained per manufacturer maintenance schedule at authorized dealer. No prior issues with vehicle. Vehicle also passed emission check on 09/29/2021 with no obd error codes reported during inspection. Mileage: 60k.

Spontaneously caught on fire while driving.

On July 28 2017 I was driving on the highway and my car "died". Luckily I was able to coast to the side of the road and the car that was following me also pulled over and the man was yelling that my car was on fire. I had no previous warning. No smell, no sounds, no alarms--nothing other than my car died while I was on the highway. I had gotten out to see what I could of the situation (not mechanically inclined), saw smoke and small flames so went to get keys and cell pnone out of car and 2 other people were parked in front of me, having passed by me, and were yelling "get out of the car it is on fire" by now, only a few minutes later, the rear of my car was entirely engulfed in flames. The smoke inside the car now was thick, grayish in color, while the exterior seemed to me melting before my eyes! the entire car was destroyed. All that is left is the basic metal frame. Several bystanders took video and pictures of this as it was horrible and fast. I did not hear anything when I was driving to alert me there was a problem initially. If the car hadn't died, as fast as this happened, I would be dead I am sure. As far as I know there were no recalls on this car. I had less than 30000 original miles on the vehicle and all mandatory upkeep was performed (oil changes etc) there are chp files im sure, I have a claim in with my insurance (usaa) and as I said there is video documentation of the fire. At this point my car, and virtually everything in it is charcoal. The car is not salvageable. I was a shocked beyond belief that such a thing could happen to a well maintained vehicle and I am still afraid to think of driving alone.

Not sure if you are interested in a canadian complaint (sorry, used the closest state and zip code for address) but I think this is important. After replacing the muffler on our Smart car, as I drove away I smelled a burning odor. Thinking it was just burn off from the new parts I continued driving. Not much further away at a stop a man approached me and said there was smoke coming out the back. I got out to look and the amount of smoke quickly increased and was coming out through the rear body panel sections. I have video of this. I opened the hatch on the engine compartment and smoke poured out. I called the mechanic who immediately came and drove it back to the shop (not sure why he thought that was a safe thing to do?) they reported that the fire wall fire insulation was deteriorating and a large chunk had fallen down onto the engine and was smoldering. As a result they ripped all the fire insulation off the engine compartment door hatch. Could this be the cause of all these reported fires? I consider myself lucky that a fire didn't break out as I was on my way to pick up my 93 year old father.

My car started on fire while it was being driven! my friend escaped a fiery death by merely seconds! I have had this car since 2008. I have been very impressed with it for the most part as, other than regularly scheduled maintenance, there have absolutely no problems with the car for the first 100,000 miles. Until this incident, I was considering purchasing a new Smart car. My friend was driving the car down the freeway yesterday when a driver next to him began flagging him frantically and fortunately forced him off to the shoulder of the road. My friend first thought that he was looking at a case of road rage until his savior jumped out of his truck yelling at my friend to "get out of your car, it is on fire!" my friend jumped out of the car, and within 10 seconds, the very spot where he had been sitting was totally engulfed in flames! he stood there and shot the attached pictures as the car burned, and then after the fire department had put it out. Without the assistance of the good samaritan, I suspect that he would be dead or seriously maimed. There was absolutely no warning sign of any kind prior to the incident! it just had it s 100,000 mile oil change last week. I see where this has happened to others. Will it take a death or serious maiming before mercedes will be forced to remedy this problem?.

Often times after starting up vehicle and going into reverse vehicle will not reverse. I often times get stuck in spots because I am unable to reverse. This is a safety hazard especially when there is oncoming traffic behind me.

The car was in motion the engine cut off then I coasted to a parking lot the vehicle was then stationary I got out and noticed smoke then saw flames coming from the rear of the car by the time I ran a safe distance away the flames had more than doubled.

I was in an office building when I a city fire marshal came in and informed me my car was on fire in the parking lot. I found this to be very hard to believe as it had been parked for over an hour and one half. The fire dept. Had broken my passenger side window, opened the car and sprayed it with chemicals. I was informed the fire had started from wires in the engine compartment. Fortunately, it was caught early and damage was minimal, but the car was not attended nor was the engine hot as it had not been in use for some time. Had it been in a closed garage it could have been a disaster.

Strong odor of gasoline in and around the car but no visible leak. Learned on the that this 2008 car if prone to fire. Took it to dealer and did not find a problem am I driving a little ww2 mercedes oven?.

Shift lever will not go into park. Ignition key cannot be removed. Subsequent failures resulted in not being able to select reverse and park with the shift lever, and therefor, unable to remove ignition key.

In traffic, attempting to parallel park, car fails to shirt into "r" must turn car off in middle of road, restart three times to finally get car to engage "r" or "d" to move the car safely out of traffic. 1- this has happened to me many dozens of times, I previously reported a similar problem. 2- I see many other similar complaints. Why has there not been a recall issued?.

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The plastic composite material that makes up the clear roof panel on Smart Fortwo passion models has been known to "craze" or haze over with fine marks, that catch and reflect the sun. This makes the roof's material appear to wear down due to the sun's uv light. Owners that park their cars in garages have fewer symptoms, and adversely, those who always keep their car outside and exposed to sun see exasperated issues. There have been reports of the material warping due to wear and experiencing leaks around the edges. As the panel is not a sun roof, but instead the vehicle's roof itself, the problem is not cheap to repair. The material has been known to "craze" since the Smart Fortwo was updated in 2008, and as of 2012 the problem still exists.

Car makes loud loud noises and they telling me it was normal nothing wrong I don't think that's true can some one help me it's been like this sense I n ought it at annapolis dealership seat belt steering wheel loud noises.