Search the Community

Hey all! I just wanted to put this out there, I don't know if anyone else has ever experienced this, but here it is. I bought a 2006 Smart For Two in June 2014 (used, from a lady in my city), and she had taken really good care of the Smartie (I nicknamed it) when she ordered it in 2006. Given that she resides in the city, she did not need to drive very far to get to stores and stuff, so when I bought it, it only had about 35 000 km on it. She did take it out in the winter, she told me, because she said people who leave their Smarties sitting for long periods of time have trouble with the car. Everything was fine with it, I loved it SO much, the usual. Then, when it started getting cold here (November, when the average is -5'C and goes down from there), I found the Smartie making these rev-like noises just before it automatically changed gears. I thought it did this because it was cold out (maybe this is when I should have brought it in - I didn't know, I never had it in the winter before, shoot me!). So, on December 29, right before changing gears on a hill, the Smartie broke down, turned off, and the little screen on the dash had these 4 horizontal lines on it (??). The service dealer in my city fixed a few things, and we are now mid-January, he gives it a test drive, and it breaks down just like it did before. We get it towed to the next city to a Mercedes service place, and they find out it's the transmission that has broken. Question 1: when does a transmission break down? I have no idea about automobiles... Question 2: the service guy said when he looked in the transmission, the liquid was not its usual colour, but literally silver with the hundreds of specks of METAL, from somewhere in my car! What does that mean? Has the transmission been a shitty state for a while then? When does one "check up" on their transmission - why didn't the previous owner do so? So, end of my sob story: my Smartie is still in the city 1.5 hours away from me, they will not put in an old transmission (it's cheaper!) because of ethics, I know... I'm just a university student, you know how it is, and looking at piling costs, for (maybe) a transmission, new or old, the other parts that needed fixing, towing, and service pay for 2 different men. I don't know if I'll go all the way and fix it with new parts (but wouldn't it be weird to give an 11 year old Smartie an expensive new transmission?), or just let it go... But I love my baby Smartie! It's orange, and the only one in my city! Ok, done crying, if anyone has any transmission advice, I would be eternally grateful. Sorry for the long post! I am studying literature, so I'm used to writing a lot StudentBallerina