2008 Smart Fortwo Cabrio Electrical system Problems

“We drove about 12 miles to a friends, parked in driveway, went inside to visit. In 10-15 minutes was a knock on the door by a neighbor who said your car is on fire . We called 911, emptied a fire extinguisher to no avail. I took many photos from start to finish while waiting for the fire department. They put out the fire. Insurance tow truck took the car to their lot. The whole back half was badly damaged. Afterwards I found many reports of fires like mine. The portland, oregon mercedes dealer would not talk to us. No one was injured. The car seems like a total loss. …”

“Can not turn ignition key to start the car. Car was parked in a parking lot. After several hours had to pry up console to switch the the yellow up. Then had to put gear in neutral. Put oil in gear shaft area. Plus blow out any debris that might have fallen in key hole. Also put lubricant in key shaft. With several attempts the key finally turned over. After being stranded for four hours in 0 degree weather. My vehicle remains in a parking lot. Have no idea where to take this vehicle due to no dealers work on a Smart car. Have no idea what or how to fix this problem. …”

“1. High failure rate of heater blower motors. 2. High replacement cost (price gouging) for a blower motor based on the believed high current failure rate. 3. 3 blower failures in 54k miles. 4. Vehicle was new in 4/2008, I am original owner 5. No heat creates a high safety risk to consumer who use the vehicle in extreme weather conditions. 6. No heat can create visibility issue due to inability to properly defrost the windows. 7. No heat presents a health issue to older users in cold weather who may have limited circulation. 8. No heat presents a safety issue to other drivers due to: a. …”

“I have a 2008 Smart fortwo, the ignition key is between the seats. At least eight times in traffic, I have accidentally turned the car off by bumping the key fob. The car sits dead in traffic until I can restart it. It has everything to do with the placement of the key. I challenge anyone over 200 lbs to take a hard left turn as in a avoidance maneuver and try not to slide to the right and accidentally kill the engine. Someone is going to die in these small cars.”

“The contact owns a 2008 Smart Fortwo Cabrio. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH the vehicle shut off. The vehicle was restarted some time later. In the interim, the dealer was notified and informed the contact that there was an electrical failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for repairs to the diode. The failure and current mileage was 68,500. Updated 2/4/13 the consumer stated the entire vehicle shut down. The key could not be removed and the shift lever could not be moved. …”