Service

[StephenA]

I've just tried to book my car in for its first service as the app suggests that it is due in 34 days or 9,550 miles. The car has covered around 9,100 miles and was registered on 30th Sept 2023. The dealer has confirmed that a service is due at 2 years or 20,000 miles.

[StephenA]

So, the car is now displaying a "schedule service appointment" message. It is booked in at the dealership for a mid May visit. In the meantime, the dealer is talking to Smart UK to clarify the servicing situation. In any event, there is no cost to me as the first three years' service need is covered within the purchase cost of the car.

I'll update once there is some clarity.

[StephenA]

So, the service advisor told me that Smart say that I need to bring the car in for service because it is saying that it needs one, despite the fact that the car was registered on 30th Sept 2023 and has covered about 9,300 miles and thus is not outside the two years or 20,000 mile service intervals. You will all know that Smart only now sell cars out of the major regional dealers, so my dealer is at least an hour away from me in Stockport, so any visit needs me to set aside some time. Since the appointment was arranged, the seatbelt recall notice has arrived, so I arranged for that to be done whilst it was in for the visit. My wife and I decided that, given the nice weather, we would make a day of visiting various museums and historic stuff in Stockport.

When I dropped the car off at 10:00am, the service manager said that they knew nothing of the integrated service package that includes services for three years, and that he would follow this up with Smart. At about 4pm I got a call from the the dealer saying that they had carried out the recall work but that Smart would not authorise the service as it isn't due until two years or 20,000 miles! Frustrating!!! The dealer claims to have tried to persuade Smart to authorise the service given that I was there with the car and had travelled a distance to get there, but Smart wouldn't move. The dealer also claims to be unable to reset the service indicator, suggesting that only Smart can do this, so I have to drive around until September being reminded about an unnecessary service. If it proves to be an issue, I will contact Smart directly. The service manager suggested that my car may have been built in May 2023 and had just reached two years since manufacture.

Interestingly, other than Motability cars, I suspect that this was the first car that the dealer has had in for service. It seems that Smart don't pay for Motability cars as Motability do that.

[Martinprice]

My smart too came up saying service due. I thought it was 2 years too. Took it into mercedes dealer who checked it over but said service due at 2 years. They couldnt reset the service indicator, so now it just keeps saying service overdue. Reported to smart 6 weeks ago, who have been in contact with dealer they say, but noting resolved as yet. Seems they dont have a fix for it

[StephenA]

My smart too came up saying service due. I thought it was 2 years too. Took it into mercedes dealer who checked it over but said service due at 2 years. They couldnt reset the service indicator, so now it just keeps saying service overdue. Reported to smart 6 weeks ago, who have been in contact with dealer they say, but noting resolved as yet. Seems they dont have a fix for it

It seems that our cars were probably built two or three months before they were shipped to the UK. Thus the service indicators, set at the factory, are advising that a service is due based upon the build date. It was explained to me that if the dealer resets the service indicator now, it will not trigger until another two years has passed from the date of reset. The dealer can't access the setup for the service indicator as this is done by the factory. We will just need to ignore the indicator until such time that our cars are due for service. Once the reset is done at that time, the service indicator will be back on the correct schedule. I am not expecting a fix for the issue.

[Dinteloord]

Hi, same apparent problem with my car. Different story from the dealer, however. The car (and app, recently updated but still short of the mark IMO) flagged an upcoming service at about 9500-ish miles. I've had the car for 6 months but its first UK registration date is 8 months ago. Bought from dealer with zero miles on the clock. Anyway, I called the dealer who booked the car in for the service and said the service interval was 1 year, not the 2 I thought and had read. I will discuss this with them when I take the car in.

A couple of other funny things: First the satnav - works OK (bit quirky) in the UK but in France, Germany and so on it finds the route but doesn't advise you to turn off left or right along the way. It just says something like "stay on the road for 350km".

They should have a button for the fog lamp in the lamp control cluster to the right of the steering wheel, and not somewhere in a display screen menu.

Lane assist is massively aggressive, especially in roadworks areas on motorways and on smaller roads.

Other thing about services, impossible to set up a service plan. One rep says it's because the car was a demo and not brand new and another says you can't take out a plan unless the car has done 2500 miles (all Mercedes/Smart people saying this).

[StephenA]

The #1 comes with an Integrated Service package that covers the first three years servicing (actually only one service). This should be applicable to your car, notwithstanding that is is a demo. This same package also extends the warranty to three years for the UK. The Integrated Service package documents came to me in digital form when I bought the car. I've attached my document that sets out the terms of the ISP. There is a real risk that Smart will not authorise payment for the service at this mileage and age. You might want to get the dealer to check with Smart before you take the car in if you are to avoid a wasted trip. Alternatively, and quite likely, the dealer will have no idea about the service package and will be expecting you to pay for the service so will be happy to tell you that it is one year. In my case, Smart again confirmed it is two years (see my earlier ramblings) and would not authorise payment for the service until less than 90 days before the due date.

I don't use the native sat nav so can't comment on that. My lane keep assist has become calmer through the various software updates. It is still too fidgety and nothing like as subtle as the system on my wife's Kia e-Niro. I guess that you can always turn it off within the Driver Setup if you wanted to.