Smart Car is maybe not so smart after all

Q: I took my 2008 Smart Fortwo to a dealership about three hours away (that’s the closest one), due to the car occasionally not going in reverse. We left it with the dealer and went on vacation close by, with plans to pick it up on way home. I got a call, saying the problem was the “clutch adjudicator,” at $750 just for the part. With fewer than 48,000 miles on the car, I agreed, but received another call on our way to get the car. That’s when they told me I needed a new clutch motor, for $450. So now they wanted $1,675 for the work. At that point, I said “no,” and told them to put the old part back in; I’d live with it refusing to go backward once in a while. They said they couldn’t put the old part back in because the car was now permanently stuck in park. They kept it for a while, and I finally got it back some weeks later with both new parts. But it still has problems going in reverse. And now the service manager is not returning my calls. Would any mechanic be able to tell me if these parts really were replaced? What should I expect as far as reimbursement from this dealership, since the car is still having problems? — Bonnie

A: I’d expect full reimbursement. They presumably charged you $1,675, left you walking for weeks and didn’t fix the problem. If they were decent guys, they’d be falling all over themselves apologizing and offering to come to you, pick up the car, give you a loaner, $1,675 in credit, then fix it, return it and refund whatever portion of the $1,675 is left.

But they have no idea how to fix it, Bonnie. They’re guessing. That’s why they all run into the bathroom and hide when you call.

I have to say that in my opinion, this car has been the opposite of Smart. We find it unsafe, uncomfortable, unreliable and, worst of all, mediocre on fuel economy. What exactly is the advantage of driving one of these things? That three-hour buckboard joy ride to the nearest dealership?

OK, some people say parking is easy. Sure. If you live in downtown Rome, I can see why you’d want a car with a tiny footprint. But in the United States? You could buy a Prius C, a Ford Fiesta or a Honda Fit and get room for four, cargo space and the same or better mileage in a real car.

I think it’s unlikely that you’ll find an independent mechanic who knows how to fix this thing, Bonnie. Even the dependent mechanics can’t figure it out. These are oddball cars, and there weren’t many sold, so experience on them is very limited.

So if the dealer won’t return your calls, you may have to resort to small-claims court to get your money back. But do it quickly, before he goes out of business.

Q:

I live in Kigali, Rwanda. I have a 1995 Toyota RAV4 two-door with an automatic transmission with 132,000 kilometers on it. It had, at some point, been converted from right-hand drive to left-hand drive, before being imported. It has crazy gas consumption — I get one kilometer per liter. The air is really dusty here; the car is covered with red dust all the time. Could this dust be clogging the filters and causing increased gas consumption? Could the odometer be running slow, so it is not recording accurately? Any thoughts, suggestions or advice? Thanks. — Anne A: Wow. That’s some epically lousy mileage, Anne. Congratulations. According to our metric-to-English conversion chart, you’re getting about 2.5 miles per gallon. That’s low enough to make a 2003 Escalade jealous.

We don’t work on a lot of African RAV4s, Anne. While all the RAV4s we see are fuel-injected, it’s possible yours is carbureted to make it simpler to fix. We don’t know.

But here are a few things that come to mind: If you have a carburetor, one thing I’d suspect is a very filthy air filter. That won’t affect your mileage if the car is fuelinjected, but without computerized engine management, the dust could clog up the air filter enough to throw off the fuel-air mixture and cause gasoline to pour into the carburetor. If you remove the air filter and hold it up to the sun, you should be able to see light coming through it — looking the long way. If you can’t, it’s plugged up

Then you’d call Kigali Toyota and get a new filter. Or, if that’s not an option, you’d find someone with an air compressor, blow the dust out of the filter and reuse it. You may have to do that every few weeks if it’s as dusty as you say it is.

It’s simple enough to try that as a test. You replace the filter, or clean it well, put it back in and see what your mileage is.

But do resist the temptation to take out the filter and leave it out. Because then all that red dust will scratch your cylinder walls and ruin the engine. Then, for every kilometer, you’ll be burning one liter of fuel and one liter of oil.

If the air filter’s not plugged up, then the mechanical fuel pump could be the culprit. The diaphragms in those pumps can fail, sending 25 percent of the fuel to the carburetor and the other 75 percent onto the ground. And the stuff that’s on the ground won’t help your gas mileage.

If your RAV4 is indeed fuelinjected, then you’ve got to look for a leak somewhere. Or a thief. Maybe a locking gas cap will solve your problem?

Q:

What is it that car dealers do to a car once I’ve signed the papers but before I drive it off the lot? This has happened during my last two car purchases, a Buick and a Ford: They take the car in the back, out of sight, and they keep it quite a while. They tell me they are “just cleaning it up.” But it doesn’t look any cleaner. Are they removing something I purchased on the car? Are they dismantling a theft monitor, something required by the government or their insurance company? What are they doing to my car once I have purchased it? Thanks for any insight into this puzzle. Thanks. — Anita

A: What are they doing? They’re depreciating it by about 30 percent. Seriously, I don’t know what they’re doing. I’ve never been present during this mysterious process.

I’m guessing that they do wash it. And they probably clean the glass, inside and out. They remove the plastic coverings that protect interior parts from getting coffee stains on them while other people test-drive the car.

They probably check the tire pressure and the battery output. They may set the navigation system for your region so the first time you use it, it doesn’t ask you, “What part of Manitoba would you like to visit?”

They put your license plates on it, and make sure the oil and windshield-washer fluid are topped off. They may install whatever last-minute accessories they talked you into — like the down-filled velour floor mats. They even might drive it down the street and put some gas in it.

If the car’s been sitting on the lot for a while, it also might need a software update, or even a technical service bulletin repair taken care of.

And there are two possible reasons why it takes so long. One is that the 19-yearold kid who is in charge of removing the Saran Wrap from the door sills is busy or out to lunch. So the car sits there for half an hour until he gets back.

The other possibility is that it gives the “finance office” an extra 45 minutes to sell you an extended warranty and some gold- plated fuzzy dice.

But I don’t know for sure, Anita. Maybe some of our readers who are dealers can tell us exactly what they do during this final delivery inspection. Fellas? Gals? Does my description sound about right? Q: I’m thinking of buying a new Prius Two. Will the battery system need replacement after, say, eight to 10 years? Does replacement hinge on driving habits, or luck of the draw? I am retired and live in a city with constant traffic congestion. I don’t drive more than 5,000 miles a year, mostly stop-and-go. The low carbon footprint and great gas mileage of a Prius appeal to me; however, the expense of a new battery system in a few years is worrisome. Shall I forget the Prius and opt for something more reliable, such as a Camry? — Lois

A:

Well, the Prius batteries are warrantied for eight years and 100,000 miles in most places, 10 years and 150,000 miles in any state that has adopted California emissions laws. How many years and miles are you under warranty for, at this point, Lois?

Seriously, the drive-train battery pack on the Prius has proven very durable over the years. In all the years we’ve been servicing “Prii” at the shop, I think we’ve had one customer who needed a new battery pack. And that customer had over 150,000 miles on his Prius.

That doesn’t guarantee that you’ll never have a problem. But in our experience, the Prius has been extraordinarily reliable. And so has its battery pack.

For 2016, Toyota is introducing new, lithium ion batteries on some higher-end versions of the Prius. And we don’t yet know how well they’ll hold up over hundreds of thousands of miles. Write to me if you’re still around in 15 or 20 years, and if I’m still around, I’ll tell you.

But the Prius Two that you’re considering uses the tried-and-true nickel metal hydride batteries that are still powering tens of thousands of Prius taxis in urban stop-and-go traffic all over the country.

So, the batteries are not a reason to shy away from the Prius, Lois. The looks, perhaps. But it’s a great car, and if that’s what you want, get it.