Your fleet running reports

[GG.]

Jesus! I'll err omit to mention to my wife that this could happen... To be honest as she doesn't do over 30 anywhere around here I imagine the risk is somewhat lower.

[Jobbo]

The glass panasonic [sic] roof on the Smart went pop on the M3 last night, whilst I was still 90 mins from home in the pouring rain. Luckily the journey was largely motorway which meant that I could keep to speeds above 50mph and the airflow would keep the rain out the car, so I just kept moving and chucked a tarp over the car when I got home.

Seems that it's as known phenomenon and Merc no longer have any stock of the replacement glass. Sourced a replacement plastic roof from eBay that I'll try and fit at the weekend.

What's the scaffolding stuff which appears to be attached to the back? Could any part of that have cracked it?

[Sundayjumper]

Bike rack, and no, it doesn’t touch the glass roof at all.

5ec01b4de2099f3d102a22a9.jpeg (19.63 KiB) Viewed 493 times

[Gavster]

That's a genuine Smart bike rack which I had collected from @Sundayjumper the same day. I wondered if it could have played a part, however, that's fairly unilkely being that it's a genuine Mercedes part. Also, it's known that old glass Smart roofs do occasionally go pop

Either way, I'm glad my new roof is plastic

[Matty]

You know they do proper Smart cabriolets, right? No need to smash the roof to make one

But yeah, seems to be a known but rare problem. Same thing happens with the big glass boot on the VW up - randomly likes to go pop. Pressure and temperature variations, I think?

[PaulJ]

As feared our door seal leak has been fixed using the expensive method, and we pick up an orange new/pre-registered Abarth 595 Turismo on Friday. We got £9300 trade-in which I suppose is good for a 5 and a half year old car that cost about £16k new.

Sad times, but still a reasonable price....didn't you buy before the price hike though? So it's not even that much deprivation.

How are you finding the Abarth in comparison?

Apparently we got the Up for £14,600 - Bargain.

The Abarth is being run-in at the moment as we are old fashioned like that, but It does seem really torquey between 2 and 4000 revs. 165 hp should make it nippy enough for a tiddler though. That said she has decided to have look in at a local Abarth specialist session next Friday. Rolling road sessions and re-chipping being the subject of the meeting...

The ride is noticeably harder than the Up, as expected, and the farty exhaust fun factor is on a different level.

[Sundayjumper]

Apparently we got the Up for £14,600 - Bargain.

For a moment I thought this was the insurance thread and that was the premium

[DeskJockey]

Apparently we got the Up for £14,600 - Bargain.

For a moment I thought this was the insurance thread and that was the premium

Don't jinx it!

[davejevons]

Bike rack, and no, it doesn’t touch the glass roof at all.


5ec01b4de2099f3d102a22a9.jpeg

That’s a throwback to our Smart which we used to carry bikes round the country.


The rack bolts directly into the steel Tridion shell which also holds the panoramic roof. It’s not impossible that as it was tightened the steel moved slightly and changed the pressure on the glass roof. Equally, it could be random. They do just go. Might be worth ensuring the bolts are torqued equally. I seem to remember there is a bespoke tool for fitting the bike rack.

Fun fact on the smarts, lots of the access panels are designed to be opened with a coin rather than a screwdriver as they thought the target audience (urbanites living in flats) were unlikely have a toolset.

They are fun cars that fit how many people use a car day to day. Very characterful and twenty years ahead of its time.

[mik]

The rack bolts directly into the steel Tridion shell which also holds the panoramic roof. It’s not impossible that as it was tightened the steel moved slightly and changed the pressure on the glass roof. Equally, it could be random. They do just go. Might be worth ensuring the bolts are torqued equally. I seem to remember there is a bespoke tool for fitting the bike rack.

Fun fact on the smarts, lots of the access panels are designed to be opened with a coin rather than a screwdriver as they thought the target audience (urbanites living in flats) were unlikely have a toolset.

You don't post often Dave (I just checked - nearly 3yrs since your last input in the Disco vs RR thread) but you always bring good insights.

[GG.]

Another Smart related malady!

No exploding glass but my wife rang me on the way into work this morning to say she'd got home from the school run and the car had proceeded to refuse to relinquish the key. Even more annoyingly this was stuck in the "1" position with the accessory power on which would flatten the battery so even just locking it in the car with the spare was not a solution.

Anyway numerous calls (and visits) ensued to several local garages who all refused to help because they were "busy" and the RAC who refused to help because she had made it home

Most irritatingly a 10 second google had confirmed it was almost certainly the ignition solenoid which required 5 minutes of removing the steering cowl with 4 torx bolts and detatching the solenoid and throwing it in the bin...

Ended up one of our good friends (who rebuilds Saabs on his driveway) happened to be at home and managed to fix it for us (no Jimmys involved). Part is only 30 quid to replace so i will mend it myself when I get 5 minutes.

[Delphi]

Decided to address the Boxster display issue this lunchtime. My first step was to disconnect the battery for 5 minutes. Went out to the car, unlocked it, opened the driver's door and all the displays were working again! Hurrah for self-fixing cars!

Volvo told me it wanted a service this morning so I'll book it in. I'm going to sort out the rear tyres and MOT separately as the Volvo dealer will undoubtedly bend me over and go in dry with items like that.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Had the pulleys done on the 330 yesterday. Tensioner and idler, along with new belt obvs, and also an oil service. 18years and 136k on the original pulleys and they still weren't in too bad condition. Tensioner one is a bit noisy an the idler one a bit gritty feeling, but the main reason for replacing was that it had started to chirrup on startup and it looked as though the tensioner pulley had a bit of lateral movement in it.

[Jobbo]

New sporty red toy has arrived.



It has a V-twin but does not sound like a Ducati. Maybe needs an Akrapovic. The key looks very easy to bypass with a screwdriver; Lock Picking Lawyer would not consider it terribly secure so it is obviously now locked in the garage. Looking forward to sitting on it for hours.

[scotta]

New sporty red toy has arrived.



It has a V-twin but does not sound like a Ducati. Maybe needs an Akrapovic. The key looks very easy to bypass with a screwdriver; Lock Picking Lawyer would not consider it terribly secure so it is obviously now locked in the garage. Looking forward to sitting on it for hours.

Ive currently got a V-Twin sat in the garage...It does however have 125 written on it...Which isnt preceded with Intercity either!

Helping my Nieces fella out with a non charging battery issue. They've just got a house so my labour rates are cheaper than a garage.

[mik]

New sporty red toy has arrived.

We need a full report on the handling impact when that grass collector reaches full, and don’t think you can get away without posting an e-start video.

[integrale_evo]

Does it have a decent cup holder?

[Mito Man]

Jobbo spotted a short while later

V-twins generally sound awesome though.

[Jobbo]

Does it have a decent cup holder?

It does have a cup holder! I wouldn’t say it is decent necessarily - it is just a circular indent moulded into the bodywork. But I will work out which beer receptacles fit

[GG.]

New sporty red toy has arrived.



It has a V-twin but does not sound like a Ducati. Maybe needs an Akrapovic. The key looks very easy to bypass with a screwdriver; Lock Picking Lawyer would not consider it terribly secure so it is obviously now locked in the garage. Looking forward to sitting on it for hours.

911-esque levels of stagger on those rims.