Smart problems by model
Owners have filed 314 complaints with NHTSA about the 1 Smart model with enough data to profile here, covering 2 model years from 2008 through 2009. The Fortwo draws the most at 314, 100.0% of the make's total.
Complaint volume tracks how many cars a make sold as much as how they held up, and NHTSA complaints are unverified owner reports rather than confirmed defects. Nothing on this page compares Smart against another manufacturer. Use it to find the model, then the model year, then read what owners of that year actually filed.
Every Smart model
| Model | Model years | Complaints | Most-reported year | Top system that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortwo | 2 2008–2009 | 314 | 2008 175 | Engine (18.9%) |
Model years shown are those with at least 100 complaints on file, the gate every page on this site has to clear.
Reading the numbers
Across every Smart model year on the site, power train is the system named most often — 58 complaints, 26.9% of those filed under a named system. Individual model years diverge from that sharply, which is the reason to read the year rather than the badge.
Of the 314 complaints, 11 describe a crash, 54 describe a fire and 1 report a death.
Most-reported Smart model years
The single heaviest model year of each Smart nameplate, 2008–2009. Heaviest is not worst — read it alongside the model page.