2016 smart Fortwo problems
Owners have filed 39 complaints with NHTSA about the 2016 smart Fortwo. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 23% of complaints. After that come fuel system (18%) and electrical system (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 39 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 11 and 4
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 4,000 miles 22 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 17 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 0 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 22 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 4,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 11 complaints mention a crash; 4 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 99% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2016 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 4 model years of the smart Fortwo with enough data (33 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
The brakes are slipping bad. They have been slipping since I bought the vehicle in 2016. The gas tank is leaking and has leaked into the cab of the car. The gas tank has been replaced 3 times.
On steep uphills and when you have come to a stop because of a red light or a stop sign, the engine seems to be too weak to push the transmission forward and actually the car my roll back and brakes go in a lock mode which creates a big safety issue.
Tysinger replaced the fuel tank on 08/30/2018. The car has had problems with the fuel tank since I purchased the car. The car has been making a loud bang and then there is a strong smell of smoke afterwards. This has happened at least 45 times since I purchased the car, I thought the problem would go away, but it has not. The car stalls at red lights and during stop and go traffic, there is a strong smell of smoke after it stalls.