Urgent knowledge on the Smart Car

harveybobbles

OnTheUp wrote: »

hmmm thats what I was thinking!!! its just strange that she had no probs what so ever before the crash and now she needs a new engine!

Engines are at the back, which wasnt helped by the smash I guess...

goldspanners

i have heard of a few smarts engines going. usually between 35k and 50k miles.

this will sound bad but there may be some truth in it.
i think it might be due to most being driven unsympathetically by thier mainly female drivers,who don't really know or care how to check and top up fluids.

plane_boy2000

I had a smart roadster and they are quite sensitive little things - you have to remember that its a fairly high output turbo engine so it gets worked hard. 40K does sound short for a failiure, and there are many with far more miles, but they are quite fussey regarding on time servicing, correct oil etc

vikingaero

plane_boy2000 wrote: »

I had a smart roadster and they are quite sensitive little things - you have to remember that its a fairly high output turbo engine so it gets worked hard. 40K does sound short for a failiure, and there are many with far more miles, but they are quite fussey regarding on time servicing, correct oil etc

I've never seen a Smart car being driven slowly. They all seem to bomb down the motorway at maximum velocity to surprise other car drivers how fast they can go.

plane_boy2000

vikingaero wrote: »

I've never seen a Smart car being driven slowly. They all seem to bomb down the motorway at maximum velocity to surprise other car drivers how fast they can go.

Mine was quite brisk and although only 80 BHP is weighed in at about 750 Kgs so quite a good power to weight ratio. The size and !!!! just off the ground feeling made it feel a lot quicker than it was in reality, but surprisingly refined at motorway + speeds, however, not worth the money they charged for them (mine was ex demo so was 6K under list with plenty of extras).

If they had dropped that stupid gearbox and put a nice slick manual in and sold em for under 10K then they would have sold in thousands and not the hundreds they managed

Exemplar

OK.... I worked for a Smart dealer on and off for 4 years.......SO! I have seen an engine with 225K on with no probs and an engine go at 10K..... It really depends on the driver/driving style etc.... A new/reconditioned CAN be bought and fitted from as little as £695. Have a word with Liam or Paul at Smarts4U in Nottingham, they are fab guys (if you can travel). As for the paintwork it was in scratch black therefore it should be returned to scratch black, end of.

daveyjp

Just reading the post again.

It is very easy to overfill a smart with oil as they don't take much and the dipstick isn't too clever. Being a turbo means it can be bad news as the oil finds it's way in there.

Oil changes must be done on time, anyone driving them hard should consider changing at half recommended intervals and always simmer the turbo for a minute or so before switching off after a long journey.

A friend has one with 80,000 in the clock and no issues, but he does look after it.

OnTheUp_2-2

Just an update. I advised her yesterday to take it to Mercedes and get diagnostics done and they came back today and said engine is in ruins. Have not got full picture but went along line that the sparks plugs had disintergrated and something had fallen down into to something else and so fourth.

They quoted £4k for a new engine. My dad has got a quote somewhere else for £1700 and obvioulsy look into the above mentioned at £700. i understand my dads point though about Notts, what if there is a problem, its a long way to go back up there.

Could people give me an idea on what they think in terms of options...

She brought the car for 5k 2 1/2 yrs ago
Its a 52 plate
Should she do scrappage
Toyota Swappage?
Sell it as is and walk away?
re con engine and keep it
re con engine and get rid
or same agin but with a new engine?

OnTheUp_2-2

just a little bump :-0