Smart Fortwo owners have reported 6 unknown or other related problems since 1996. Table 1 shows the 1 most common unknown or other problems. The number one most common problem is related to the vehicle's unknown or other (6 problems). For details of each of the problem category, use the links in the table.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Unknown Or Other problems |
2008 Smart car Fortwo, was south bound,when it left the road on the left and the front right tire dug into soft dirt. The vehicle rolled and came to rest upright. According to the police report, the driver had a pre-existing medical condition, which could have led to the accident, but could not be verified. Updated 01/24/12.
I am having a problem with my 2009 Smart Fortwo passion's transmission. We picked up our car on Saturday for the following problem: I was driving along & all of a sudden, the car seems to think it's in n. Even changing the gears prompts an "n" in the gear position. Once I turned the car off, it wouldn't start again & the dreaded three bars appeared. We tried the "teach-in" fix & it worked temporarily before acting up again. We had our car towed to the dealer for service and picked it up on Saturday after the service department supposedly fixed it. The service department did a diagnostic check and a code appeared. They then reset whatever need to be reset for $112. 98. We were also offered a software upgrade for $75 on the basis the service manager did not know what the upgrade does, but he did know it wouldn't fix the problem. Obviously, we turned down the upgrade. I have contacted mercedes to absorb the cost of fixing this defect. Our warranty expired only 6 weeks ago. Since there is a method to "limp" to a safe place in the user manual, it seems they anticipated this problem to begin with. From reading blogs about this, I was not surprised when the same problem started again on Sunday. Now we are having it towed in for service again. I urge mercedes-benz to activate a recall on this model! sooner or later this defect is going to kick in on the freeway and someone will be rear-ended or even killed. This is not simply a nuisance malfunction!.
Six weeks out of warranty - I was driving along & all of a sudden, the car seems to think it's in neutral, won't let me change gears - was only able to coast to a safe area off the highway. Any gear I shifted to kept coming across the dash as the neutral position. Once I turned the car off, it wouldn't start again & the dreaded three bars appeared. We tried the "teach-in" fix recommended in the user manual & it worked temporarily before acting up again. From the internet blogs I've read, this was a problem in the 2008 model - an upgrade was provided for a fix. My car is a 2009 and I feel Smart USA should recall the 2009 model due to this obvious defect. It's absolutely ridiculous I would have to pay for something like this when the car is only six weeks past warranty! our dealer keeps transferring us to mercedes-benz financial since they're the one who approve the warranty issue. No one from mercedes is answering or returning our calls.
After stopping at a stop sign, I begin to turn right onto another street and the car's transmission slipped out of gear and into neutral. I tried to put the car back into drive, but the car would not go into gear. I started and stopped the car several times and the car still would not go into either reverse or drive. I was pushed into a parking lot. I have had previous problems with the car's transmission before. There have been multiple occasions when I started the car and could not get the car to go into reverse. After I turned the car off and on several times, the car would finally shift into reverse.
Failed component - air conditioner (fan works but no cold air). Operation has been erratic. In the summer, this was a nuisance. In the winter, it is as serious as brake loss! I have now had three occurances of ninety percent loss of visibility as a result of complete fogging of all windows. This is the result of the right ambient temp. , humidity and interior temp. Incidents occurred after driving approximately 10 to 15 miles and were virtually instantaneous (less than 30 seconds). An ac/heat blend is needed to dehumidify windows. The local dealer had this car for one week (oct 15 to oct 23, 2010 while it was still a nuisance problem). Did not repair because problem could not be duplicated. First complete loss of visibility on this car occurred on Nov. 5th. When I was informed by my dealer that there were no service bulletins, a letter was sent to Smart customer service (address provided by local dealer) in bloomfield hills, mi. On Nov. 17, 2010 and received by them on Nov. 19th. No response to date. Repeat phone calls resulted in no solution. My final attempt was stopping at the dealer on Jan 17th to determine if a service bulletin was issued for this problem. According to my service advisor, no bulletins had been issued and I am not alone with this complaint. My three incidents happened on city streets allowing me to safely move my vehicle to the shoulder and play with the controls until the ac kicked in. My greatest concern is having this occur while driving at a higher rate of speed or having a guard rail prevent a safe stop! (this did happen with their loaner on walden creek rd which, fortunately, is a very little traveled mountain road. I was forced to stop on the road & play with controls until ac kicked in. That vehicle had less than 100 miles on the odometer. Date of occurrence for this new loaner was Saturday, oct. 23rd, incident was reported to dealer. ).
On or about 2 months or approximately 2000 miles I was driving my car and had stopped at my mothers driveway put the car on park and left the engine running for less than a minute while I handed something to my mother who approached the vehicle. When I tried putting the vehicle back on drivevto take off the engine was nonresponsive and read neutral. At which point I went back to park and tried again to put it in drive to no avail. I turned off the car and started it again and nothing. About the 5th attempt of off and on it finally went into drive gear. This has continued to happen eversince without any notice just randomly, even while I have been at intersections which has placed me and my passanger in great danger. I have taken the vehicle in numerous occasions to the dealer and the have no answers for me.