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smart forfour. A car with problems?

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  • smart forfour. A car with problems?

    Hello smart forfour drivers!

    As an obviously slightly smart-brand obsessed person... I just wanted to ask the forfour owners a question:
    A couple of friends of mine are planning on changing their cars at some point in the not-too-distant future. I, ofcourse, would love them to get a fortwo, roadster or forfour; but both friends say that a four seater is the only option for them, so the forfour is the only contender.

    However, I have read many rather disturbing reports about the forfour in the press (and here in the forum from time to time). Is the forfour a bit leaky, with an unpleasant clutch/gearbox and unreliable generally? At the local smart dealer there are lots of offers for new and nearly new forfours and I would really appreciate some genuine advice about which model to go for. Fuel economy would be good in the diesel and I understand that the diesal engine is actually made my Mercedes rather than Mitsubishi. Is that an advantage or is the Japanese petrol less problematic. Neither of these friends are normally brand new car buyers, but the current offers are very tempting for them.

    Lots of cars than can be a bit of trouble have a cult following (I have a friend who has driven only Lotus cars all his driving life and said he'd never change, despite endless garage visits and things going wrong very regularly with every vehicle he's owned (he's owned five of them since 1979).

    But, neither of these people are particularly car orientated and need a reliable and fun car. One of them drives a five year old Ford Ka and the other a four year old Fiat Punto. The Fiat has been surprisingly reliable (despite a dodgy reputation) and the Ka is constantly at garages having things done. Both love the concept of the forfour (both of them marvelled at the glass roof of the passion model), but feel nervous about buying a car that is no longer made and has received a mixed press.

    Any comments would be appreciated both for and against, before I start pushing my friends to do test drives, etc!

    Thanks in advance!

    Matthew
    (driver of a fortwo passion cabrio in black/jack black called Benoit, bought new in June 2005. Still smile everytime I drive anywhere... and off to Austria next week for the massive Alpine smart meeting called Smart Times in Kaprun/Zell am See)
    Last edited by Smartfahrer; 18-08-06, 01:17 PM.

  • #2
    Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

    I've got a 1.3 Passion (petrol) it's 95bhp and a lot of fun, it's never leaked, and has a great mitsi engine, which of course being japanese is lovely and reliable! The semi-auto box is pretty good, but takes a bit of getting used to, a bit like a fortwo, and the manual is just like any other manual really.

    Hope this helps

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

      leaky?? i've never heard any forfour owners with a leaky car.

      they'd have trouble finding a brand new forfour as there's no brand new forfours avaliable apart from the brabus.

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      • #4
        Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

        Whoops! Sorry about the 'leaky' comment then...
        It's actually a little unfair. In Germany, the smart forfour has been sold since April with a FOUR YEAR WARRANTY! I see in GB that we not only pay more, but they only have a two year warranty. Hmmm. Grrrrrr... Daimler Chrysler meanness again, I suppose...

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        • #5
          Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

          Originally posted by HoagieKat
          I've got a 1.3 Passion (petrol) it's 95bhp and a lot of fun, it's never leaked, and has a great mitsi engine, which of course being japanese is lovely and reliable! The semi-auto box is pretty good, but takes a bit of getting used to, a bit like a fortwo, and the manual is just like any other manual really.

          Hope this helps
          It certainly does help. Thanks.

          "they'd have trouble finding a brand new forfour as there's no brand new forfours avaliable apart from the brabus."

          I shall now question what the salesperson at the smart centre meant when he said he'd got "...plenty of new and nearly new forfours in stock at the moment...". If they're all BRABUS, then they'll be quite a bit more expensive than expected!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

            Ive driven the 1.3 & 1.5 petrol manuals and the diesel 1.5 95bhp semi auto. 1.3 isnt much slower that the 1.5 personally, but im sure more top end speed is where it would differ. The diesel is fantastic! so quick and very cheap to run. The semi auto tho has a feirce creep function which takes a little gettin used to.

            Reliability though i cant comment. Ive heard stories that the 1.3 and the semi auto are most likely to fall out with each other. And the reverse gear crunches.

            otherwise, i wouldnt be worried about them not being produced. Any manufacturer has to keep enough spare for 5 years AFTER the car has ceased production. The only exception is a company that has gone bust, and DC are unlikely to do that for a few years yet

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            • #7
              Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

              Hi ...... I also have the 1.3 petrol , passion with lots of nice toys .... I've had it almost 2 years ( since it was released here ) it's been a VERY good car .... like hoagie says the semi auto box takes a little getting used to but once you do it's fine ( there are a couple on nice tricks it does that are not mentioned in the manual ) as for economy I think its pretty good ..... most of my driving is around London but it averages around 30 mpg ...... the other week I finally remembered to do a proper computer check as I was away and did a lot of motorway driving ..... I was well pleased ....... aveage worked out at 48 mpg .... and i wasnt hanging around ..... as for it not being made any more , to me thats good ,,, it makes it even rarer on the road .... but theres no need to worry as MB have to provide back up for it for a number of years ...... so Id say buy one ..... but then I would wouldnt I .... lol :goodlk:
              Last edited by brulaw1; 18-08-06, 07:39 PM.

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              • #8
                Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                I would possibly stear clear of a semi auto one, but today I too was told there are no non BRABUS forfour's left. If you can, get a CDi - they seem to be the only ones that hold their money!

                Mine has had a lot of niggly little things go wrong with it, but despite that i'd have another.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                  I have a 54 plate 1.3 semi auto that I bought two months ago and I am the third owner. It has 7000 miles on the clock and has just had it's B service. I do like the car, but I don't think it's going to be without it's faults. I do have a leak somewhere and it's apparent when I put my seatbelt on after a downpour and find it's very damp.
                  The excellent garage that did my B service told me that the rear shock absorbers have started to leak and the clutch actuator is noisy and should be replaced. It's booked in to the local Smart dealership in September for these two repairs and that will give a bit of time to find more as the warranty runs out on september 20th.
                  This morning there was a horrible juddering effect from the clutch and when I bring the car to a halt on a hill the clutch seems slow to disengage and jerks the car to a halt.
                  I think DC have pulled a fast one ceasing production after two years because nobody else actually seems to have any proper reliability data except for DC. People have had repairs done under warranty, but how many people can actually provide any idea of repair costs and how much these cars are going to cost to keep on the road or just how many have gone wrong. We hear that spares must be available by law for 10 years, but how much will they be and how much aftermarket stuff will be produced. Also if you look round these forums people are waiting now and have been before for weeks to get parts for WARRANTY repairs. My observations on the softouch gearbox is that it isn't going to be reliable. From cold 2nd and 3rd sometimes clunk and the whole thing is so reliant on electric motors and the ECU. I bought my car on a whim because I was actually looking for a Renault and this caught my eye. Maybe I've been a mug, but I actually drove the car home before I actually found out about production ceasing the nice dealer certainly didn't tell me. If you do a search nationwide on autotrader you'll see dealers all over the country seem to have loads on their forecourts still and prices are all over the place. Smart dealerships seem to be putting a premium on them, but they don't seem to be selling very fast.
                  Overall I suppose I've got a lovely car that is fairly rare and people notice it, but I have a nagging feeling that we're all due for quite a bit of grief in the long term

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                    I hope your car is reliable for you basilbrush. Don't think you've been a mug buying it. As for parts/prices etc they shouldnt be that expensive. The running gear (engines gearbioxes etc) are shared with the Mitsubishi Colt and they outsold the forfour 2 to 1. so doubt prices will be higher than normal

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                    • #11
                      Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                      I'm afraid the parts will be expensive. Just take a look at the price of accessories. The gearbox is made by Getrag who will not supply parts for gearbox repairers. If your gearbox goes when the warranty is up a new one will have to be ordered from the makers for probably over £2000. My local Mercedes garage wanted £310 for a B service so I found an excellent specialist locally, but it still cost £248. That is still a horrendous price to pay for a service for a small car, but that's what you have to do when the garage must have the Star diagnostics. You can't even buy an oil filter in Halfords.
                      Since the B service the auto function has had a software update and it is definitely better and it changes into 3rd at a much higher speed. I tend to use the gearbox as a manual out of town and slip it into auto mode when I hit traffic. I really like the car, but wouldn't recommend it as a buy to anybody whose worried about their motoring costs.
                      Anyway we shall have to see what happens on this forum in the future. As more and more forfour owners lose their warranty status all will be revealed on here and we will know the cost of running a forfour. Nobody has even tried buying an exhaust yet.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                        Just to let you know that all ForFours sold since April 2006 have a 4 year warranty as standard. I have a letter from DC to confirm this which i obtained from Smart in Birmingham.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                          Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but have DC got something to hide. A four year warranty for the last few sold!!! Why not extend all our warranties after all it's supposed to be a quality car and they've dropped everybody in it. So there's going to be even more cars that will be having work done that nobody will be able to cost. There are areas of the Forfour that give problems. Shock absorbers, gearboxes and clutch actuators and wheel bearings to name but a few. I was parked next to a 1.3 passion like mine, but an 06 model and mine is a 54. When I looked he'd got drum brakes on the rear whereas mine has discs. What's that all about? Why have disc calipers been replaced by drums?

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                          • #14
                            Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                            there are odd forfours lurking...

                            i can get my hands on a 1.5 manual passion with leather kit and a few more extras... new and on the 0ish% deal... but cars are very very very limited now..

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: smart forfour. A car with problems?

                              G'Day All
                              We down here in the land of OZ we get 3-years unlimited kms but pay big $ for a small car. My 1.5 Auto with sport suspension and 17' alloys, extra dials, air, smart sound was $34k with $3.5k discount thats with on roads costs. to convert to pounds divide by 3. my pocket rocket is currently in with DM having its gearbox fixed. The smart dealer here in Sydney is the factory outlet and they have guaranteed me that all problems will be sorted, they have even paid for a rental car while mine has been off road. will post a pic soon. happy smarting.
                              Last edited by aussiesmart; 29-08-06, 12:03 PM.

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