Can not turn ignition key to start the car. Car was parked in a parking lot. After several hours had to pry up console to switch the the yellow up. Then had to put gear in neutral. Put oil in gear shaft area. Plus blow out any debris that might have fallen in key hole. Also put lubricant in key shaft. With several attempts the key finally turned over. After being stranded for four hours in 0 degree weather. My vehicle remains in a parking lot. Have no idea where to take this vehicle due to no dealers work on a smart car. Have no idea what or how to fix this problem. This faulty mechanism needs to be recalled.
The worst 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Electrical5
- Transmission5
- Body2
- Engine2
- Seat belts2
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Electrical5
- Transmission5
- Body2
- Engine2
- Seat belts2
- Airbags1
- Fuel system1
- Locks1
- Seats1
- Visibility1
Recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Defect investigations
Engine Compartment Fire
On April 30, 2018, Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, (Mercedes-Benz) submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to the federal safety agency regarding a defect that could result in a vehicle fire starting from the engine compartment in 42,781 model year (MY) 2008 and 2009 Smart Fortwo cabrio and coupe vehicles (451 platform).According to Mercedes-Benz?s DIR, ?the rear insulation mat within the engine compartment might deform, deteriorate, loosen and over time, subsequently be able to contact hot components of the exhaust system.This could lead to an ignition of the insulation mat and possible fire in the engine compartment.?The US-specification exhaust system has an external catalytic converter packaged close to the insulation mat, where temperatures in the vicinity of the insulation mat reach high values.Over time, these temperatures can lead to a change in the insulation mat's material characteristics and ultimately allow the material to deform. Depending on the magnitude and the specific location of the deformation, the insulation mat could contact hot components of the exhaust system and ignite.Mercedes-Benz will replace the rear insulation mat on the affected vehicles with the improved mat first implemented in the United States in MY 2010 vehicles.ODI?s analysis of fire incident field data reported to the federal safety agency and Mercedes-Benz show an increasing trend of non-crash fires in the subject vehicles that begins after 4 years of service and accelerates after 7 years of service.The analysis shows that this trend is driven by fires occurring in the engine compartment.Forensic investigations of fires occurring in the past year identified the insulation mat as a likely or possible cause of most of the fires originating in the engine compartment.This investigation is closed based on Mercedes-Benz insulation mat recall.For more information about field data trends and fire investigations, see the closing resume in the document file for this investigation.
EA17003
Engine Compartment Fire
On December 16, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE16-016 to investigate eight complaints alleging incidents of engine compartment fire while driving or shortly after engine shutdown in model year (MY) 2008 through 2009 Smart Fortwo vehicles.The complaints appeared to indicate an increasing trend, with all eight fires occurring since January 2015.As part of PE16-016, ODI analyzed information related to incidents reported to the Office by consumers, analyzed field data and technical information submitted by Mercedes-Benz USA (Mercedes) in response to the PE16-016 information request letter, and analyzed non-crash vehicle fire claim data provided by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).To date, ODI's analysis of incidents reported by consumers and provided by Mercedes has identified 27 incidents of open flame fires originating in the engine compartments of the subject vehicles, 14 of which were reported to ODI by Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and 18 involving complaints or field reports to Mercedes (5 of the incidents were reported to both ODI and Mercedes).One incident reported to Mercedes includes an allegation of an injury from smoke inhalation.Nineteen (19) of the incidents occurred since January 2015.Mercedes has only investigated 2 of the 27 fire incidents, and the company was unable to identify a vehicle-based cause for either incident.To further assess incident rates and trends, ODI requested fire claim data for the subject vehicles and eight peer vehicles from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).HLDI collects insurance claim data from companies representing over 80 percent of the market for private passenger vehicle insurance in the United States.ODI?s analysis of the HLDI data, which covered the period from 2010 through late-2016, found that the MY 2008 Fortwo vehicles had a significantly higher claim frequency than its peers and, similar to ODI?s complaint trend, experienced a sharp increase in claims in 2015.This investigation has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA17-003) to continue to investigate the high frequency and increasing trend of non-crash engine compartment fire incidents in the subject vehicles.The VOQs associated with the opening of this investigation were:10676359, 10780222, 10790017, 10820891, 10872656, 10944676, 10916505, 10924311, 10924637, 10939504, 10945296, 10993895, 11011100, 11011565.
PE16016
Technical service bulletins for the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio 7
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Highline can only be operated to a limited extent or not at all; the input points (contact points) are...
- PreConditioning of the vehicle via the Vehicle Homepage or the instrument cluster does not function or is...
- Range does not meet customer's expectations
- If the Radio 9 was switched off while driving, it can switch itself back on again the next time the engine...
- Smart: high-voltage battery software update
- Pdi procedure CAN be accessed through the smart usa dealer portal
What 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
This concerns the federal safety agency recall #18v273. I bought this car new at a dealer 30 miles from my home. Smart has left the us market and their website shows the closest dealer is 220 miles away (one direction). Their website says that authorized mercedes-benz dealers can perform the recall work. I tried my local mercedes-benz and they referred me to a dealer that is over 100 miles away (one way). Doesn't the manufacturer have a responsibility to perform the recall in a reasonable manner? I bought the car from a local dealer, now it will take me doing a 200 mile trip to get this recall done. Shouldn't the manufacturer be required to arrange for a local service center to do this recall?
Recall campaign number 2018060010. I live in boise, idaho. The closest dealer that can do the recall work is in draper utah. The dealer wants me to drive the car to utah to have the recall done. Doesn't seem like a safe idea for me.
I am the original owner of my continuously maintained 2008 smart car. On 12/3102015 at 11:50 am. (sunny, 80 deg. F) I went thru a city intersection, at about 15 MPH, to turn left, I was hit broadside ("t" boned), into my drivers side door by a ford e250 van, filled with air-conditioning equipment, which was traveling at about 35mph. My side airbag failed to deploy, but the front steering-wheel air bag did deploy. But my injuries are on my left side of my head and body and are as follows: concussion (continued mental confusion/short term memory loss); broken sternum-clavicle--jaw (2) places (surgery implanted 2 metal plates); shattered upper femur (rod surgery inserted to knee); broken upper and lower dental plates that lacerated my tongue. Two week hospitalization. I bought my smart car, believing the sales hype, that this was a safe care with "good" ratings in front and side crash tests. Even the pictures of side crash tests showing side airbag deployment, showed much less damage than mine. Failure of my driver's side airbag not deploying, I suffered extenuating injuries that would have been less severe if had my driver's side airbag deployed. Does someone need to die before this issue is addressed?
We drove about 12 miles to a friends, parked in driveway, went inside to visit. In 10-15 minutes was a knock on the door by a neighbor who said "your car is on fire". We called 911, emptied a fire extinguisher to no avail. I took many photos from start to finish while waiting for the fire department. They put out the fire. Insurance tow truck took the car to their lot. The whole back half was badly damaged. Afterwards I found many reports of fires like mine. The portland, oregon mercedes dealer would not talk to us. No one was injured. The car seems like a total loss. We were never warned there was any danger from fire.
I own 2 of the 2008 smart fortwo automobiles (pure & cabrio). Both have periodically been balky shifters (stuck when trying to move the gear selector out of park). One has briefly refused to shift into any gear, independent of the gear indicated. Both have briefly refused to shift out of park... Until today when my wife was stuck in park at a red light. The ABS light had come on, my wife decided to see if she could clear the indicator. She quickly put it in park, engine off then on, but vehicle remained stuck in park. A deputy moved traffic around her. I arrived & after repeated attempts for 20 minutes, it finally released from park into drive. I drove it home & thoroughly lubricated the shifter mechanism per posts on the smart car of america forums. As I re-read this thread containing 4 years of contributors, there is an impression that the factory released a 1st, then 2nd generation of shifter replacement hardware. There is abundant owner feedback that there is a reliability issue in gear-shifting, at least on the 2008 model. Per my local dealership in st charles, il, there is no factory recall for this issue. The dealership will run a $120 diagnostic, but repair is at the expense of the owner. Apparently, I am on my own to purchase updated shifter hardware, or self-maintain sufficient lube on the original, balky shifter hardware. If one ever pulls over in a remote or dangerous area & puts the transmission in park, he may be stuck there permanently, until rescued. In dangerously cold weather, this mechanical failure could be fatal. In traffic, this could have LED to a serious accident. On what other vehicle would this behavior be tolerated? If 2 out of 2 of my vehicles exhibit this issue, it is widespread, & a danger to operators of this vehicle. I'm going to report it using my other 2008 smart fortwo VIN next.
Could not shift into reverse. This problem has gotten worst. The failure to shift into reverse happens almost daily. The smart dealer stated I need a new clutch. This start at about 20,000 miles. All other manual and automatic shifting is normal. Several times I have had to push the car backwards to get out of a parking space. My wife refuses to drive this car because it is unsafe and can not be trusted (I have had to get help getting out of a parallel parking space). The car now has 55,000 miles and shifts fine except when I want to go into reverse (it still has the original clutch).
I attempted to secure my right front seatbelt clip into the designated right seatbelt receptor but it would not completely insert nor lock into place. Then, I checked if any debris had became lodged in the seatbelt receptor that may have blocked the seatbelt receptor entry way. No foreign debris was found so I tried again, but resulted in not locking.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 smart fortwo cabrio. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was restarted some time later. In the interim, the dealer was notified and informed the contact that there was an electrical failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs to the diode. The failure and current mileage was 68,500. Updated 2/4/13 *cn the consumer stated the entire vehicle shut down. The key could not be removed and the shift lever could not be moved. The dealer advised there has been reports of electrical back flow via the cigarette lighter which caused the shut down. The dealer advised not to charge cellular devices or GPS in the outlet. Failure did not recur. The vehicle was repaired 12/28. Updated 2/21/2013
The transmission won't engage into reverse. Called for help. They had me reach under gear shift and release a cable to move car, after I did that I went to work and car wouldn't shift out of gear into park. Called and they picked it up to fix it, came back and I had no problem for a while and then it would shift but not lock into gear, rocked the car, pushed it and finally it worked, this is a repeat thing. I am having problem right this moment, I can't drive my car. I looked on line to see if there is a resolution and the internet is full of complaints of people having the same problem. Pages and pages of them. If this is an on going issue why has there not been a recall to fix all these cars? I cannot be the only complaint that came to you. There are thousands.
Compare the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio
Other model years
20082009
Questions about the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio
Is the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio reliable?
Owners have filed 17 complaints about the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio, close to a typical Fortwo Cabrio model year.
What is the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio year score?
The 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio scores 75 out of 100 (average). The score compares it with the other model years of the smart Fortwo Cabrio: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.
What is the most common problem with the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio?
Electrical system, with 5 complaints. Next is transmission (5).
How many recalls does the 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio have?
No recalls on record.
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