Steve_Perry
MB Enthusiast
Seems that if you have a Smart with toughened glass roof that they are prone to shatter/self destruct without warning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog
Anyone remember the old issue of exploding rear windscreens because of the design of the rear demister wires?
S.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog
DaimlerChrysler aren't too forthcoming at fixing the problem under warranty eitherWATCHDOG
2nd December 2003
Smart Car
As Pauline Hutchinson was driving along, the roof of her Smart City Coupe Passion seemed to 'explode' showering her in broken glass. Although she was unhurt, Pauline was very shocked by the experience.
Jodene Went has the same car. Her roof went off with a loud bang while it was standing empty in a car park.
The glass roof on the Smart City Coupe range is made of toughened glass and meets all legal requirements. If toughened glass breaks, it shatters safely into thousands of tiny, blunt, pieces. If laminated glass breaks, it will stay in one place because of a plastic sheet between the layers of glass. It won't fall in on you.
Toughened glass can shatter spontaneously. If a tiny stone hits the roof, it can cause a crack, invisible to the naked eye, which spreads through the glass so that it shatters at a later date due to other external factors (e.g. temperature).
Smart has added a plastic strip to the front of the roof to give additional protection against stone impact. For the last year it's been standard on the City Coupe range, but this won't help the thousands with an older Smart.
Smart say they are aware that in a small number of cases the glass roof of the City Coupe has broken, but this is almost always due to an external impact.
They say the roof is made from state of the art tempered safety glass and fulfils all statutory stipulations - and they emphasize that safety is an essential part of Smart's DNA.
Anyone remember the old issue of exploding rear windscreens because of the design of the rear demister wires?
S.
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