2015 SMART Fortwo

WE WERE STUPID TO BUY A SMART!!!

Comfort Rating: 1 Performance Rating: 1 Interior Rating: 1 Reliability Rating: 1 Safety Rating: 2 Technology Rating: 1 Value Rating: 1

We purchased the Smart fortwo thinking we will save money on gas and save on maintenance as the car is relatively simple compared with today's sophisticated vehicle standard. WRONG! The MPG is okay not comparable to other vehicles in the same or larger size range. The battery which is located under the passenger carpet died twice within the first 8K miles and by the time we accumulated 20K, we had to have the Smart towed to the dealer because it abruptly died in the middle of traffic and would not restart. The BIG SHOCK was the dealer's $15,000.00 estimate of repair... If you're thinking that the engine or transmission failed, you'd be wrong. According to the dealer, whoever replaced the battery the second time failed to properly ensure that a condensation hose that runs from the AC over the top on the battery and through the floor was reconnected properly. The condensation accumulated between the foam under the carpet and the metal floor, and shorted out the transmission module under the driver's seat and wiring harness. The carpet above never got wet so we had no clue this was occurring underneath. After further inspection, it was evident that the hose actually pops off by itself and it was more of a design failure than a battery installation error. Besides, is it SMART german engineering to run an AC condensation line with a pop off break directly over the battery? The $15,000.00 was a joke since you can almost buy a new Smart for that. So we called Mercedes/Smart customer service for assistance and after a one month run-around, they offered nothing! Not even an acknowledgement that they have a design problem even though it's well documented on Smart Blogs. It is no wonder that the Smart Car made it on both Consumer Reports' Worst new cars of 2014 list and Edmunds The 17 Worst Cars You Can Buy. In fact, It's No.1 on Edmunds list with the subcaption "Friends Don't Let Friends Buy These Vehicles" Save your money, don't be so dumb as to buy a Smart!