Smart Fortwo DCT Mechanical Problem

nlel1975 said:
Even the main dealer seems to be having trouble getting hold of the rear under tray. They are going chase the supplier for an ETA. So if they can’t get them what hope for an independent.
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An independent will ring a local breakers and get the part for 50 quid.

The reason they don't have any available is nobody would be mad enough to pay £400 quid for a bit of trim on such a car.
 
dLockers said:
An independent will ring a local breakers and get the part for 50 quid.

The reason they don't have any available is nobody would be mad enough to pay £400 quid for a bit of trim on such a car.
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I’m in Jersey there are no local breakers besides why look down on my car just because it’s a Smart. Even if we did have a local breaker whose to say they’d have the parts available anyway.

The rear under tray is £103 anyway not £400.
 
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nlel1975 said:
I’m in Jersey there are no local breakers besides why look down on my car just because it’s a Smart. Even if we did have a local breaker whose to say they’d have the parts available anyway.
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I'm not "looking down" on your car. I am not just not placing it on a pedestal. At the end of the day, it isn't a "future classic" and it will do nothing but depreciate to £0 (or just above scrap). You're just adding cost in to your total cost of ownership with no way to recoup it. And just because "you can afford it" doesn't mean it is a sensible thing to do.
 
dLockers said:
I'm not "looking down" on your car. I am not just not placing it on a pedestal. At the end of the day, it isn't a "future classic" and it will do nothing but depreciate to £0 (or just above scrap). You're just adding cost in to your total cost of ownership with no way to recoup it. And just because "you can afford it" doesn't mean it is a sensible thing to do.
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It’s still my car and relatively new 2019. I paid £15000 for it brand new which for me is a considerable amount, therefore I want to look after it. It’s not some old banger I picked up for £1000.
 
nlel1975 said:
It’s still my car and relatively new 2019. I paid £15000 for it brand new which for me is a considerable amount, therefore I want to look after it. It’s not some old banger I picked up for £1000.
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And no-one is saying "don't look after it". What we are saying is that only an absolute lunatic would accept £75 for 10 screws as a valid answer.
 
dLockers said:
And no-one is saying "don't look after it". What we are saying is that only an absolute lunatic would accept £75 for 10 screws as a valid answer.
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I haven’t really got much choice they’ve already got hold of the screws and wouldn’t look kindly on me for offering to supply my own assuming the ones that were linked to earlier were they correct type and even those are £4.34 each from China.

Theres not a whole lot of difference between £7.50 a piece then waiting 4 weeks to get some for £4.34 each from China and they don’t post to Jersey either.
 
nlel1975 said:
You were spot on, a piece of the plastic under tray has broken off and is causing the rubbing. They are delivering the car back to me and ordering a replacement part. They’ve temporarily removed it so it doesn’t make the noise.
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nlel1975 said:
Been in contact with the Smart main dealer today as they still haven't got all the parts to repair my car. They have the front undertray part number A453 684 08 00 costing £95.50 and the Combi-Self Tapping screws part number A415 990 54 00 costing £7.55 each which I need 10 of so £75.50.

But they don't have the rear undertray part number A453 684 11 00 costing £103. So the parts cost £274 and the labour charge is £86 so £360 in total. They've quoted me £371.70 so might be slightly more.
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I'd be questioning them on why you need the screws at all, given it was only a part of the undertray that broke off, it doesn't sound like the original screws need replacing anyway.

That's probably why they've 'already got' them, they're probably going to charge you £75 to sell your own screws back to you.
 
Kenai said:
I'd be questioning them on why you need the screws at all, given it was only a part of the undertray that broke off, it doesn't sound like the original screws need replacing anyway.

That's probably why they've 'already got' them, they're probably going to charge you £75 to sell your own screws back to you.
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As they're a main dealer they probably just sell you the "assembly" listed in the book whether you need it all or not.
 
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£45

Fiver for screws and clips, £50 for someone to install it, and you've saved over £200.

Honestly in the time you've been in this thread trying to justify this ridiculous expense you could've had that tray installed 10 times over.

Three additional points:

Mechanics are mechanics, it's always a gamble. I've seen back alley mechanics with impeccable pride and craftsmanship and I've seen main dealer mechanics who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a screwdriver.

It's a body panel, it'll screw on and that's the end of it. It won't affect performance, it won't affect fuel economy, it won't leave you stranded and it won't affect resale value.

It's a Smart car, not a Mclaren F1.

Stop wasting money on it, get it repaired at a friendly mechanic and put the money towards something else.

Christ drive it to London and I'll even fit it FOC for you.
 
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dLockers said:
And no-one is saying "don't look after it". What we are saying is that only an absolute lunatic would accept £75 for 10 screws as a valid answer.
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It is ridiculous sometimes - I needed 3 shakeproof washers to fix something on one of my cars and the dealer wanted £30 for 1x of the original part (though I think 3 as a set would have been less than £30x3 but I didn't pursue that further).

Though I did pay £45 in parts and £72 labour for changing the aux belt on my pickup which would have been £17 to buy and 5 minute job to do myself - but then I was still bad from COVID and the weather was rubbish so not ideal to do myself.
 
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