Electrical System. Review the 6 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Power Train. Review the 3 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Visibility. Review the 2 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

2 crash reports1 fire reports2 injury reports

Electrical System complaints

6 reports

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17,000 miles · Jan 6, 2015

Electrical System

FAN BLOWER MOTOR WILL NOT WORK TO MOVE HEAT TO WINDSHIELD TO DEFROST IN WINTER. I CAN NOT SEE OUT OF WINDSHIELD.

NHTSA ODI #10670499

95,000 miles · May 23, 2014

Electrical SystemFire

HAD BEEN DRIVING ON HIGHWAY FOR APPROXIMATELY 25 MILES WHEN A STRONG ODOR OF ELECTRICAL WIRING BURNING BECAME EVIDENT. WINDSHIELD WIPERS, HORN, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, AND DASH LIGHTS BEGAN TO MALFUNCTION. PULLED CAR TO SIDE OF ROAD AND NOTICED SMOKE COMING FROM DASH. DRIVER EXITED THE VEHICLE AND THEN FLAMES BECAME EVIDENT FROM DAS…

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NHTSA ODI #10593762

Mileage unknown · Apr 2, 2014

Electrical System

HAD ISSUES 5 OR 6 TIMES WITH IGNITION TURNING OFF WHEN I'M DRIVING ALONG AND CAME CLOSE TO GETTING KILLED! HAVE ALSO HAD ISSUES WITH TRANSMISSION NOT GOING INTO GEARS RIGHT, ALWAYS HAVE TO LOOK TO BE SURE I'M IN RIGHT SPOT ON SHIFTER, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING SOMETIMES WHEN YOU SHIFT INTO DRIVE OR REVERSE.ALSO, CONSTANTLY …

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NHTSA ODI #10576681

21,850 miles · Mar 4, 2013

Electrical SystemPower Train

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(1) POWER TRAIN ISSUE; NO RHYME OR REASON THE VEHICLE WILL NOT SHIFT INTO GEAR. AFTER SOME TIME, I DISCOVERED THAT YOU MUST SHUT THE VEHICLE OFF AND RE-START TO SHIFT THE TRANSMISSION INTO GEAR. THIS SEEMS TO BE HAPPENING MORE OFTEN OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS! I HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN AFTER PULLING OUT OF A PARKING SPOT AND TRYING TO PLACE THE VEHICLE INTO R OR D, I HAVE TRIED PLACING THE CAR INTO N AND BACK TO EITHER R OR D WITH NO LUCK, AGAIN HAD TO RE-START WHILE BLOCKING TRAFFIC! THIS SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING ON A NEWER VEHICLE. (2) ELECTRICAL ISSUE; NO RHYME OR REASON THE HEATER/AC BLOWER WILL NOT POWER ON AND IS INTERMITTENT ISSUE. AFTER SOME TIME NOW, I HAVE DETERMINED THAT I HAVE TO RAP ON THE DASH BY THE GLOVE BOX TO START THE BLOWER. I HAVE ALSO HAD THE BLOWER STOP WORKING WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD AFTER HITTING A POT HOLE OR A BIG BUMP. IT APPEARS THAT THERE IS A SHORT IN THE WIRING, BUT I,M UNABLE TO LOCATE IT. REALLY WORRIED ABOUT A VEHICLE FIRE OVER TIME? (3) ELECTRICAL ISSUE; I HAVE HAD TO REPLACE BOTH HEADLAMPS SEVERAL TIMES SINCE OWNERSHIP OF VEHICLE. THIS APPEARS TO BE AN ISSUE OF THE FIXTURE NOT SEALING CORRECTLY. LUCKILY, I HAVE ONLY LOST ONE HEADLAMP AT A TIME, WHY HAS THEN NOT BEEN ADDRESSED? *TR

NHTSA ODI #10501295

48,000 miles · Dec 23, 2012

Electrical SystemVisibility

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BLOWER MOTOR OPERATING INTERMITTENTLY. SOMETIMES IT WILL COME ON AND SOMETIMES IT DOESN'T, NO RHYME OR REASON TO IT. HEATER AND AC FUNCTION PROPERLY, BUT WITHOUT A FORCED AIR SYSTEM. THIS BECOMES A MAJOR PROBLEM WHEN THE WINDOWS FOG UP DURING RAINY OR COLD WEATHER AND THERE IS NO WAY TO CLEAR THEM. I HAVE READ OF MANY OF THESE COMPLAINTS ONLINE EVEN ON THE SMART CAR FORUM. SMART DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANY PROBLEM. OUT OF 20 OR SO CARS IN MY LIFE I HAVE NEVER SEEN AN ISSUE OF THIS NATURE AND IT CAN CREATE A HAZARD DUE TO INABILITY TO SEE WHILE DRIVING. *TR

NHTSA ODI #10489554

16,700 miles · Sep 17, 2011

Electrical SystemVisibility

BLOWER MOTOR BECAME INTERMITTENT THEN FAILED AT ONLY 16,000 MILES. CAUSES SAFETY ISSUE WITH INABILITY TO DEFROST WINDSHIELD AND SIDE WINDOWS, DRIVER DISTRACTION FIDDLING WITH CONTROLS, DRIVER DISCOMFORT AND DISTRACTION FROM HIGH HEAT IN CABIN DUE TO LOSS OF AIR CONDITIONING IN OVER 100 DEGREE F WEATHER. *TT

NHTSA ODI #10425900

Official recalls

No recalls in this snapshot.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

EA17003 · Engine Compartment Fire

Opened Sep 1, 2017 · Closed Aug 21, 2018

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine

On April 30, 2018, Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, (Mercedes-Benz) submitted a Defect Information Report (DIR) to NHTSA regarding a defect that could result in a vehicle fire starting from the engine compartment in 42,781 model year (MY) 2008 and 2009 Smart Fortwo cabrio and coupe vehicles (451 platform).According to Mercedes-Benz?s DIR, ?the rear insulation mat within the engine compartment might deform, deteriorate, loosen and over time, subsequently be able to contact hot components of the exhaust system.This could lead to an ignition of the insulation mat and possible fire in the engine compartment.?The US-specification exhaust system has an external catalytic converter packaged close to the insulation mat, where temperatures in the vicinity of the insulation mat reach high values.Over time, these temperatures can lead to a change in the insulation mat's material characteristics and ultimately allow the material to deform. Depending on the magnitude and the specific location of the deformation, the insulation mat could contact hot components of the exhaust system and ignite.Mercedes-Benz will replace the rear insulation mat on the affected vehicles with the improved mat first implemented in the United States in MY 2010 vehicles.ODI?s analysis of fire incident field data reported to NHTSA and Mercedes-Benz show an increasing trend of non-crash fires in the subject vehicles that begins after 4 years of service and accelerates after 7 years of service.The analysis shows that this trend is driven by fires occurring in the engine compartment.Forensic investigations of fires occurring in the past year identified the insulation mat as a likely or possible cause of most of the fires originating in the engine compartment.This investigation is closed based on Mercedes-Benz insulation mat recall.For more information about field data trends and fire investigations, see the closing resume in the document file for this investigation.

PE16016 · Engine Compartment Fire

Opened Dec 16, 2016 · Closed Nov 20, 2017

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Engine

On December 16, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE16-016 to investigate eight complaints alleging incidents of engine compartment fire while driving or shortly after engine shutdown in model year (MY) 2008 through 2009 Smart Fortwo vehicles.The complaints appeared to indicate an increasing trend, with all eight fires occurring since January 2015.As part of PE16-016, ODI analyzed information related to incidents reported to the Office by consumers, analyzed field data and technical information submitted by Mercedes-Benz USA (Mercedes) in response to the PE16-016 information request letter, and analyzed non-crash vehicle fire claim data provided by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).To date, ODI's analysis of incidents reported by consumers and provided by Mercedes has identified 27 incidents of open flame fires originating in the engine compartments of the subject vehicles, 14 of which were reported to ODI by Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and 18 involving complaints or field reports to Mercedes (5 of the incidents were reported to both ODI and Mercedes).One incident reported to Mercedes includes an allegation of an injury from smoke inhalation.Nineteen (19) of the incidents occurred since January 2015.Mercedes has only investigated 2 of the 27 fire incidents, and the company was unable to identify a vehicle-based cause for either incident.To further assess incident rates and trends, ODI requested fire claim data for the subject vehicles and eight peer vehicles from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).HLDI collects insurance claim data from companies representing over 80 percent of the market for private passenger vehicle insurance in the United States.ODI?s analysis of the HLDI data, which covered the period from 2010 through late-2016, found that the MY 2008 Fortwo vehicles had a significantly higher claim frequency than its peers and, similar to ODI?s complaint trend, experienced a sharp increase in claims in 2015.This investigation has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA17-003) to continue to investigate the high frequency and increasing trend of non-crash engine compartment fire incidents in the subject vehicles.The VOQs associated with the opening of this investigation were:10676359, 10780222, 10790017, 10820891, 10872656, 10944676, 10916505, 10924311, 10924637, 10939504, 10945296, 10993895, 11011100, 11011565.