Smart Cars Offering a Transmission Upgrade.

Smart began in 1993 as a joint venture between Daimler-Benz and Swiss watchmaker Swatch, creating a company known as Micro Compact Car. (It would later move to Germany and be known simply as Smart.) Its “city cars” would feature the build quality and engineering expertise of Mercedes-Benz, while Swatch would contribute its funky design philosophy. The resulting two-passenger Smart City-Coupe was designed for a European urban environment, with a specific emphasis placed on fuel economy and parking ease. The City-Coupe could theoretically be able to park perpendicular in a parallel-parking spot.

Anyway, it’s not exactly a recall, but if you own a Smart Fortwo, you might want to return it to the dealership for a free repair.

Apparently, since its debut, the Fortwo has had one consistent problem, a jerky transmission that drives owners crazy. Some customers called it the car’s “Achilles’ heel,” saying, “This sort of rough shifting is unacceptable in any car at any price.”

And plenty of owners have apparently called Smart to complain about it.

Now, Kicking Tires reports, “Smart is sending letters to 24,622 of its 2008 Fortwo owners telling them they can bring their cars in for a transmission upgrade.” The upgrade is not mechanical. It’s just a software fix. Smart altered the software that runs the transmission for the 2009 Fortwo, and is now offering to upgrade 2008 models to the 2009 software. Smart claims it will minimize the balk between shifts that has been the source of some complaints.

The letter says the fix takes about 90 minutes.

According to Autoblog, it won’t necessarily make everyone happy. “While the fix supposedly makes a difference,” they report, “The few people we’ve talked to who’ve driven the 2009 model assure us that while the shifting is better, it’s still very far from perfect.”

Consumers agree, calling the 2009 Fortwo’s transmission “noticeably improved,” but adding that it “still has worlds to go.”

Some owners have found that If you shift manually, using either the paddle shifters or the floor mounted shift lever, the transmission is excellent. With that in mind perhaps you want to try shifting in this manner until the final update is made.

For more information concerning transmissions and updates you may want to examine our blog. If you are here for a replacement transmission, Call GotTransmissions.com @ 866-320-1182