I was entering an intersection and missed judged the traffic light and was a bit to far forward, so I tried to reverse but the car would not shift to reverse. I have had an actuator replaced but the problem still happens intermittently where it will not shift to reverse. I have logged into smart car forums online and it seems to be an ongoing problem with many smart cars. I have not had the manufacturer look at it yet. Many on the forum said in some cases it is a software issue. But it is dangerous.
smart Fortwo won't shift problems
24 of the 346 owner complaints about the smart Fortwo describe stuck in gear or won't shift, most of them for the 2008 model year.
- owner complaints
- 24
- worst model year
- 2008
- typical mileage
- 29,650
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
Driver seatbelt will not stay in tension ring. At times stuck in park & when unstuck will not engage any gear and stopping at red light while in drive soon after starting car it will not move when accelerator is engaged. In all cases engine must be turned off then turn to power on only for 10 to twenty minutes during which eventually clicking/clunking sounds are heard. After hearing these sounds start and shift. Repeat sometimes twice before transmission unlocks. You must leave one hour early to work or appointments anticipating transmission lockup and reset process. Using the yellow lever under shift console will unlock shifter but will not aide with gears engaging. Using google search I found other owners experience the exact same problem.
Car doesn't shift from park to reverse or it goes into neutral this is a safety issue .im not the only person with this issue and apparently smart knows of this problem.this problem is putting people into neutral when they start and leaving you in the road..they need to be held responsible and knowingly putting people at risk. I was sitting in a parking lot when I couldn't shift into reverse . I've read and heard from others smart is saying a software error
Transmission gets stuck in park and sometimes seems like it struggles to change gears.
I bought the car and less than two weeks the transmission went there was flashing and beeping and the car would not go into gear. I bought a 2009 and in 2008 there was a recall on that model for that transmission problem sometimes the car won't start sometimes now and the hood latch is broken
Failure to reverse transmission software car is in park will not go into gear
First start of the day it will not shift into r or d. It will show p and n when you shift but it will not go into gear for reverse or drive. You have to restart the car several times to get it to shift. Just spoke with smart car on the phone and they deny knowing anything about it. However searching the web you will see its very common. Its a factory defect that smart car is denying.
It will stop working and will not go into drive at all the car just sit there and will not drive at all, this is not good when sitting in traffic lights
Transmission will go into three bars and not shift on highways and parkways, usually able to safely drive under power to side of road sometimes goes into neutral and have to coast to side. Occurs with elevated ambient moisture. Started at 32,000 miles. Known issue, transmission has a limp mode for this occurrence. Very difficult to diagnose, appears electrical in nature. Smart dealership will not address.
Know issue with transmission. Will not go into reverse half the time. Making it dangerous if needed quickly. Parallel parking on a busy street, the car would not go into reverse, holding up traffic for a very long time. Having to push it into the spot! Mercedes says it is a software problem. But that should be a recall because that is their problem. Many people have had the same issue. Driving down the highway at 70mph and the car instantly starts flashing neutral and beeping. Car slows and will not go into gear. We need this car to be recalled!
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the smart Fortwo won't shift
Which smart Fortwo years have stuck in gear or won't shift problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2008 (14 complaints), 2009 (7 complaints) and 2013 (2 complaints).
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