Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| POWER TRAIN | |||
| 10/07/2010 | 25000 | 2 | |
| Attempting to leaving store parking lot, entered car, started engine, moved gear shift to r but transmission does not engage and the r does not appear in dashboard display. try moving shifter to d but still no transmission engagement or dash display.. shift back to p that now displays on dash. try r again, nothing. after several attempts to engage transmission fail, turn engine off, and restart. now it seems to be working correctly. this type of occurrence has happened many, many times over the last year. can't identify what might be causing this issue, i.e. cold engine, hot engine, rain, hot summer day, cold winter, it happens under any unexpected situation. | |||
| 07/07/2012 | 54000 | 1 | |
| It was a very hot day and had been driving on the interstate for about an hour. i slowed down to turn onto ramp and car went out of gear (while driving!). screen went blank. this has happened to me once before in a similar circumstance so i pulled over. turned off car and found advice on the smart car forum (this has obviously happened to others as well). after about 3 times of completing the cycle to reboot the system, it finally worked and i continued on my way. the first time this happened dealer did a software update at my cost ($200+) because it was out of warranty. this car is dangerous...will someone need to die before something is done with a recall of these cars? *tr | |||
| 08/21/2010 | 30000 | 1 | |
| Driving on interstate on a hot day. after approx. 1 hour of driving, slowed down to change lanes, put on brakes, screen went blank and there were no gears. nothing...the car was still running, but there was no way to move, as if it was in neutral. went online and found that other owners had same problem. went through a computer reset and it ran fine. took it to dealer and they charged me $200 for a software update (after i had to rent a car for $300 to get home). *tr | |||
| 07/07/2012 | 54000 | 1 | |
| It was a very hot day and had been driving on the interstate for about an hour. i slowed down to turn onto ramp and car went out of gear (while driving!). screen went blank. this has happened to me once before in a similar circumstance so i pulled over. turned off car and found advice on the smart car forum (this has obviously happened to others as well). after about 3 times of completing the cycle to reboot the system, it finally worked and i continued on my way. the first time this happened dealer did a software update at my cost ($200+) because it was out of warranty. this car is dangerous...will someone need to die before something is done with a recall of these cars? *tr | |||
| 08/21/2010 | 30000 | 1 | |
| Driving on interstate on a hot day. after approx. 1 hour of driving, slowed down to change lanes, put on brakes, screen went blank and there were no gears. nothing...the car was still running, but there was no way to move, as if it was in neutral. went online and found that other owners had same problem. went through a computer reset and it ran fine. took it to dealer and they charged me $200 for a software update (after i had to rent a car for $300 to get home). *tr | |||
| 07/07/2012 | 54000 | 1 | |
| It was a very hot day and had been driving on the interstate for about an hour. i slowed down to turn onto ramp and car went out of gear (while driving!). screen went blank. this has happened to me once before in a similar circumstance so i pulled over. turned off car and found advice on the smart car forum (this has obviously happened to others as well). after about 3 times of completing the cycle to reboot the system, it finally worked and i continued on my way. the first time this happened dealer did a software update at my cost ($200+) because it was out of warranty. this car is dangerous...will someone need to die before something is done with a recall of these cars? *tr | |||
| 08/21/2010 | 30000 | 1 | |
| Driving on interstate on a hot day. after approx. 1 hour of driving, slowed down to change lanes, put on brakes, screen went blank and there were no gears. nothing...the car was still running, but there was no way to move, as if it was in neutral. went online and found that other owners had same problem. went through a computer reset and it ran fine. took it to dealer and they charged me $200 for a software update (after i had to rent a car for $300 to get home). *tr | |||
| 07/07/2012 | 54000 | ||
| It was a very hot day and had been driving on the interstate for about an hour. i slowed down to turn onto ramp and car went out of gear (while driving!). screen went blank. this has happened to me once before in a similar circumstance so i pulled over. turned off car and found advice on the smart car forum (this has obviously happened to others as well). after about 3 times of completing the cycle to reboot the system, it finally worked and i continued on my way. the first time this happened dealer did a software update at my cost ($200+) because it was out of warranty. this car is dangerous...will someone need to die before something is done with a recall of these cars? | |||
| 08/21/2010 | 30000 | ||
| Driving on interstate on a hot day. after approx. 1 hour of driving, slowed down to change lanes, put on brakes, screen went blank and there were no gears. nothing...the car was still running, but there was no way to move, as if it was in neutral. went online and found that other owners had had same problem. went through a computer reset and it ran fine. took it to dealer and they charged me $200 for a software update (after i had to rent a car for $300 to get home) | |||
| 07/07/2012 | 54000 | ||
| It was a very hot day and had been driving on the interstate for about an hour. i slowed down to turn onto ramp and car went out of gear (while driving!). screen went blank. this has happened to me once before in a similar circumstance so i pulled over. turned off car and found advice on the smart car forum (this has obviously happened to others as well). after about 3 times of completing the cycle to reboot the system, it finally worked and i continued on my way. the first time this happened dealer did a software update at my cost ($200+) because it was out of warranty. this car is dangerous...will someone need to die before something is done with a recall of these cars? | |||
| 08/21/2010 | 30000 | ||
| Driving on interstate on a hot day. after approx. 1 hour of driving, slowed down to change lanes, put on brakes, screen went blank and there were no gears. nothing...the car was still running, but there was no way to move, as if it was in neutral. went online and found that other owners had had same problem. went through a computer reset and it ran fine. took it to dealer and they charged me $200 for a software update (after i had to rent a car for $300 to get home) | |||
| 04/19/2012 | |||
| I have a smart fortwo having trouble with the reverse call the dealer they told me that it was a software problem and that this is the second time that they had to up date it so the reverse would work i have call many smart car dealers thru out the states and it is a problem so my question is why isnt this a recall because i have to pay for this because the factory waranty is up and my reverse went forward to i dont think its fair that i have to pay for this sincr this has been an on going problem with these cars please help | |||
| POWER TRAIN - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION | |||
| 01/29/2011 | 56150 | ||
| Tl. the contact owns a 2008 smart for two. the contact stated while driving 20 mph the vehicle suddenly shut of without warning. the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the dealer stated the clutch coupling motor needs to be replaced. the dealer replaced the clutch coupling motor. the contact stated this component should not have malfunctioned and could have caused a crash. the failure mileage was 56,150. jo | |||
| 10/11/2010 | 11271 | ||
| I have a transmission problem with my 2008 passionfortwo, which has occurred four times in the 28 months and 13k miles of ownership. i'm happily driving along until i reach my destination, then i need to go into reverse to park. the shifter works flawlessly and the display clearly shows the correct position of the shifter. but, the transmission does not engage, nor will it engage if i reselect drive. the first two times that this happened, i eventually turned off the key and restarted the car and all was well. the last two times, that work-around had no effect. i turned off off the car and let it sit for five minutes and one hour, respectively, and then had no problem selecting any gear. a car that suddenly will not go into gear is dangerous. | |||
| 02/08/2010 | 36585 | 2 | |
| On my 2008 smart car passion at 36,585 miles the clutch plate and actuator became defective after only three months of driving. i repaired this issue and at 81,000 miles the same issue on the same part became defective. i put on high miles do to the nature of my business which is a courier company. i am worried for the safety of my drivers. i have expressed this issue to the smart dealership as well as the national reps. they have no interest in exploring that this could be a major defect with their car. brakes are a issue i take very seriously since the amount of driving my employees do. *tr updated 03/15/10 | |||
| 12/13/2008 | 5334 | 1 | |
| My car's shifter is stuck in park. i cannot shift to n (neutral), d (drive), or r (reverse). this effectively renders the car inoperable. *tr | |||