10424748¶

1 excerpts.

NHTSA Owner Complaint ODI 10424748¶

nhtsa.gov/complaints/10424748 · p. 1 · Applies to: 451

Manufacturer: SMART USA DISTRIBUTOR LLC Components: UNKNOWN OR OTHER Date filed: 09/12/2011 | Date of incident: 09/11/2011 Vehicles affected: - MY

Owner narrative: I AM HAVING A PROBLEM WITH MY 2009 SMART FORTWO PASSION'S TRANSMISSION. WE PICKED UP OUR CAR ON SATURDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING PROBLEM: I WAS DRIVING ALONG & ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE CAR SEEMS TO THINK IT'S IN N. EVEN CHANGING THE GEARS PROMPTS AN "N" IN THE GEAR POSITION. ONCE I TURNED THE CAR OFF, IT WOULDN'T START AGAIN & THE DREADED THREE BARS APPEARED. WE TRIED THE "TEACH-IN" FIX & IT WORKED TEMPORARILY BEFORE ACTING UP AGAIN. WE HAD OUR CAR TOWED TO THE DEALER FOR SERVICE AND PICKED IT UP ON SATURDAY AFTER THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT SUPPOSEDLY FIXED IT. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT DID A DIAGNOSTIC CHECK AND A CODE APPEARED. THEY THEN RESET WHATEVER NEED TO BE RESET FOR $112.98. WE WERE ALSO OFFERED A SOFTWARE UPGRADE FOR $75 ON THE BASIS THE SERVICE MANAGER DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE UPGRADE DOES, BUT HE DID KNOW IT WOULDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM. OBVIOUSLY, WE TURNED DOWN THE UPGRADE. I HAVE CONTACTED MERCEDES TO ABSORB THE COST OF FIXING THIS DEFECT. OUR WARRANTY EXPIRED ONLY 6 WEEKS AGO. SINCE THERE IS A METHOD TO "LIMP" TO A SAFE PLACE IN THE USER MANUAL, IT SEEMS THEY ANTICIPATED THIS PROBLEM TO BEGIN WITH. FROM READING BLOGS ABOUT THIS, I WAS NOT SURPRISED WHEN THE SAME PROBLEM STARTED AGAIN ON SUNDAY. NOW WE ARE HAVING IT TOWED IN FOR SERVICE AGAIN. I URGE MERCEDES-BENZ TO ACTIVATE A RECALL ON THIS MODEL! SOONER OR LATER THIS DEFECT IS GOING TO KICK IN ON THE FREEWAY AND SOMEONE WILL BE REAR-ENDED OR EVEN KILLED. THIS IS NOT SIMPLY A NUISANCE MALFUNCTION! *TR