While driving, brakes failed, brake pedal became impossible to depress with no brake response, and a warning light indicating a brake fault came on. Fortunately, driver was on a slow moving city street and was able to pull over and stop using hand brake for an emergency stop. Other electrical related glitches in this car can be 'reset' by turning off car and restarting. Driver tried that, error cleared, driver proceeded carefully, turning onto a quiet residential street. Brakes worked for two blocks, but on 3rd block same thing occurred approaching a stop sign - brake pedal became un-usably stiff with no apparent brake response, indicator light came back on, brakes did not work, hand brake was again used to slow and stop vehicle. Two more attempts to reset, no change, used hand-brake while moving vehicle out of street and into a legal parking spot. Vehicle towed to dealer. Dealer indicates there is a service bulletin about this issue, fixes problem, but deflects all questions about whether this is a serious defect that should be part of a product-wide recall. Dealer notes on repair form are equally evasive, claiming that they were unable to recreate the problem but did find fault codes in the computer. I am deeply concerned that smart/mercedes is trying to hide a known brake failure defect that could easily result in a catastrophic and fatal crash - had the driver been on the freeway or a very fast moving busy street, this might not have ended with a simple hand-brake panic stop. This issue, a rubbing wire harness that then causes a short, is well known enough that they have an internal service bulletin about it - if it is that common, they need to recall all impacted vehicles and fix/replace/immobilize/reinsulate the defective wire harness where it rubs on the frame, and they need to do it before someone is gravely injured or dies due to a known defect.
| VIN Pattern | WMEEJ9AA*FK****** |
| Manufacturer | MERCEDES-BENZ CARS |
| Make | SMART |
| Model | Fortwo Electric Drive |
| Model Year | 2015 |
| Body Class | Coupe |
| Vehicle Type | PASSENGER CAR |
| Other Engine Info | Electric motor |
| Primary Fuel Type | Electric |
| Electrification Level | BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) |
| Front Air Bags | 1st Row (Driver and Passenger) |
| Side Air Bag | 1st Row (Driver and Passenger) |
| Seat Belts | Manual |
| Seat Belt Pretensioner | Yes |
| Other Restraint System Info | Type 2 seat belts with load limiters and pretensioners for driver and front passenger., Load limiters and Pretensioners for driver and passenger |
| Plant Company Name | Mercedes-Ben |
| Plant City | HAMBACH |
| Plant Country | FRANCE |