What 11 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Smart Coupe

Sunday 3/23 I was driving west on 225 heading towards work, all of a sudden the check engine light comes on and all kinds of other lights on the dash came on. I got pulled over and looked in the rear view mirror I seen flames. Quickly grabbed my stuff and got out of the car. The investigation at the time stated most of the heat was coming from the engine

NHTSA ODI 11650674

The contact owns a 2015 Smart ForTwo. The contact stated while buckling the seat belt, he became aware that a metal cable through the eyelet bolted to the frame by the door jamb on the driver's side had started to fray. The contact stated that the vehicle was not driven frequently and felt that there could not be a wear and tear issue. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed and had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 65,000.

NHTSA ODI 11532331

The driver was sitting a red light when flames started emerging from the hood. The driver exited the car before the entire front of the car was engulfed in flames and ultimately destroyed. It is unclear what caused the fire but it might have been a wiring harness (or at least there was a wiring harness in the front drivers area under the hood). The car is available for inspection upon request. The safety of the drivers was at risk; he was lucky to be at a red light although he was forced to exit in the middle of a busy street. There is no problem to be reproduced but the incident was reported to Mercedes. The vehicle has not been inspected but the police and fire departments were on scene. There was no prior warning via lamps or other symptoms.

NHTSA ODI 11530259

The cable that connects the driver's seatbelt to the seatbelt tensioner (smart/Mercedes part number 4518600084) frayed. The car has less than 49,000 miles on it. Six of the seven strands of the cable frayed and broke, leaving just one strand connecting the driver's seatbelt to the car. I've attached photos of the tensioner as mounted in the car and removed from the car. The frayed cable is part of the tensioner (smart/Mercedes part number 4518600084). Mercedes of Portland said that the seatbelts are not covered under the warranty. I paid $252.23 to have the tensioner assembly replaced. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had been in an accident with this defective seatbelt.

NHTSA ODI 11463676

CAR HAS MAJOR DELAYS MANY TIMES WHEN YOU HIT THE GAS PEDAL - YOU CAN BE TURNING INTO TRAFFIC AT TIMES AND THERE'S A MAJOR DELAY TO PROPEL THE VEHICLE FORWARD WHEN YOUR FOOT IS ON THE PEDAL - THIS DELAY IN GETTING THE CAR MOVING COULD CAUSE A MAJOR CRASH. MOTOR MOUNTS WEAR OUT UNDER 50,000 MILES SEEMS TOO SOON WHEN COMPARED TO MOST OTHER VEHICLES - SUSPENSION (SHOCKS) COME SUPER HARD FROM THE FACTORY.

NHTSA ODI 11413227

I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY A SAFE DISTANCE BEHIND A LINCOLN NAVIGATOR WHEN THEY FOR NO REASON SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES AND STOPPED. I ENDED UP REAR ENDING THE NAVIGATOR. THE REAR OF THE CAR WENT UP INTO THE AIR CAME DOWN AND SPUN AROUND THREE TIMES BEFORE COMING TO A STOP. MY WIFE WAS INJURED. SHE SUSTAINED A BROKEN RIB CUTS AND SCRAPES AND CHEST PAINS. NO AIRBAGS NEVER DEPLOYED IN THE CAR AT ALL.

NHTSA ODI 11364499

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 SMART FORTWO COUPE. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THE GEAR SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL AND WOULD NOT SHIFT INTO DRIVE OR REVERSE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO MERCEDES-BENZ MANHATTAN (212-629-1600, LOCATED AT 770 11TH AVE, NEW YORK, NY 10019) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE ACTUATOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THERE WAS NO RECALL. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 56,700.

NHTSA ODI 11176356

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 SMART FORTWO. WHILE DRIVING VARIOUS SPEEDS, THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL KNOCKING NOISE COMING FROM THE ENGINE COMPARTMENT AND THE TRACTION CONTROL WARNING INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO MERCEDES-BENZ OF NORTH OLMSTED (28450 LORAIN RD, NORTH OLMSTED, OH 44070, (440) 716-2700) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE STEERING ANGLE SENSOR CAUSED THE ANTI-LOCK BRAKES TO SEIZE. ALSO, THE MOTOR NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND INFORMED THE CONTACT THAT THE WARRANTY WOULD NOT COVER THE REPAIR. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 12,000.

NHTSA ODI 11166341

WAS DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AND MY VEHICLE SUDDENLY DIED-WAS NOT OUT OF GAS- TOOK A WHILE AND STARTED BUT SHOOK VIOLANTLY AND DIDN'T STAY STARTED- WAITED A WHILE LONGER AND IT STARTED AND WAS ABLE TO DRIVE IT HOME.

NHTSA ODI 11010314

WHILE DRIVING, BRAKES FAILED, BRAKE PEDAL BECAME IMPOSSIBLE TO DEPRESS WITH NO BRAKE RESPONSE, AND A WARNING LIGHT INDICATING A BRAKE FAULT CAME ON. FORTUNATELY, DRIVER WAS ON A SLOW MOVING CITY STREET AND WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND STOP USING HAND BRAKE FOR AN EMERGENCY STOP. OTHER ELECTRICAL RELATED GLITCHES IN THIS CAR CAN BE 'RESET' BY TURNING OFF CAR AND RESTARTING. DRIVER TRIED THAT, ERROR CLEARED, DRIVER PROCEEDED CAREFULLY, TURNING ONTO A QUIET RESIDENTIAL STREET. BRAKES WORKED FOR TWO BLOCKS, BUT ON 3RD BLOCK SAME THING OCCURRED APPROACHING A STOP SIGN - BRAKE PEDAL BECAME UN-USABLY STIFF WITH NO APPARENT BRAKE RESPONSE, INDICATOR LIGHT CAME BACK ON, BRAKES DID NOT WORK, HAND BRAKE WAS AGAIN USED TO SLOW AND STOP VEHICLE. TWO MORE ATTEMPTS TO RESET, NO CHANGE, USED HAND-BRAKE WHILE MOVING VEHICLE OUT OF STREET AND INTO A LEGAL PARKING SPOT. VEHICLE TOWED TO DEALER. DEALER INDICATES THERE IS A SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT THIS ISSUE, FIXES PROBLEM, BUT DEFLECTS ALL QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER THIS IS A SERIOUS DEFECT THAT SHOULD BE PART OF A PRODUCT-WIDE RECALL. DEALER NOTES ON REPAIR FORM ARE EQUALLY EVASIVE, CLAIMING THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO RECREATE THE PROBLEM BUT DID FIND FAULT CODES IN THE COMPUTER. I AM DEEPLY CONCERNED THAT SMART/MERCEDES IS TRYING TO HIDE A KNOWN BRAKE FAILURE DEFECT THAT COULD EASILY RESULT IN A CATASTROPHIC AND FATAL CRASH - HAD THE DRIVER BEEN ON THE FREEWAY OR A VERY FAST MOVING BUSY STREET, THIS MIGHT NOT HAVE ENDED WITH A SIMPLE HAND-BRAKE PANIC STOP. THIS ISSUE, A RUBBING WIRE HARNESS THAT THEN CAUSES A SHORT, IS WELL KNOWN ENOUGH THAT THEY HAVE AN INTERNAL SERVICE BULLETIN ABOUT IT - IF IT IS THAT COMMON, THEY NEED TO RECALL ALL IMPACTED VEHICLES AND FIX/REPLACE/IMMOBILIZE/REINSULATE THE DEFECTIVE WIRE HARNESS WHERE IT RUBS ON THE FRAME, AND THEY NEED TO DO IT BEFORE SOMEONE IS GRAVELY INJURED OR DIES DUE TO A KNOWN DEFECT.

NHTSA ODI 10983170

I HAVE TAKEN CAR BACK TO DEALER WITH COMPLAIN THAT SPEED INDICATED ON SPEEDOMETER IS 10% LOW. THEY SAID COULD NOT FIX AND MERCEDES SAYS IS WITHIN TOLERANCE. SINCE MY WARRANTEE IS BASED OFF OF MY ODOMETER AND THE CAR AND IT IS INCORRECT BY 10% I AM LOOSING 10% OR MY WARANTEE. THEREBY THEY ARE VIOLATING THE AGREEMENT OF WARANTEE AT PURCHASE. THEY ARE REFUSING TO CORRECT PROBLEM OR ISSUE EXTENDED WARANTEE.

NHTSA ODI 10778617