This video is excellent. My 2008 Smart just ran into this same exact problem yesterday. The video was very detailed, answers the questions I had and worked around the same issues I faced. I was able to open the tailgate hatch following these instructions.
Thanks a billion, i am trying to install a license plate back up camera and could not find a video showing how to remove/loosen up the tailgate storage panel for my 2008 Smart car so i could rout the backup camera cable. Your step by step video was a tremendous help. Again thanks.
My 13 years old MHD Smart has started to suffer a little bit for wear and tear. thanks a lot for your useful and detailed info about mechanisms, eventually I can repair the back lock which doesnt work anymore. Blocked in closed position.
Thank you so much for this! I needed to get back there to change my air filter and I was devastated when I saw the latch was broken. You're a lifesaver!!!
Thank you for this brilliant video ! The latch broke on my Smart Fourtwo last week and I was dreading how much it was going to cost to get fixed. Now, I have the part and will be doing it myself!
Perfect explanation on how to perform this latch replacement. THANKS!!! Oh and Torx sockets make it SOOO much easier, but it is a bit harder to keep a full set of this in the car if you have other things in the storage compartment in the back. :)
Wow.. here in L.A mechanic wont telk you how to doit..but dam by seing this video i can doit my self over and over again..way to go..thanks a million fro L.A.
Thank you so much for such a great video, smarts are complicated to find info and Mercedes try to get all your money. I wish my grand dad was alive, he was very handy as your are, and with your explanation probably he will fix it and a few minutes. Thanks 😊from Florida
My humble appreciation for a video well done. I have been putting off tackling the tail gate latch on my 2008 Smart car until I watched your video. I had ordered the part almost a year ago and finally decided to try to fix it. I had the Part, the Star wrench set and my cell phone with your video playing. I replaced the latch in a matter of 8 minutes and just when I was going to turn off your video, you surprised me with an additional segment that addressed a faulty door latch...PERFECT...my passenger door latch has not worked since I purchased the smart car over 2 years ago..After watching the additional segment, I was able to hot glue a single penny into position and POOF, my door latch was fixed...I was finally able to open the door from the outside instead of stretching across the inside to open it or tell passengers, "Just a minute I have to open the door from the inside"...Your video was instrumental in fixing two problems that My little smart car has been suffering with for 1-2 years...And I saved probably $1000 on repair bills from an established smart car repair center, which in my case is at least 200 miles away...thank you so very much....
That's awesome news! I'm glad you found my little video helpful. This spring, I brought my smart to a dealership (30 miles) for a vibration in the rear end. It turned out to be a tire issue (ply separation) but they managed to recommend $5000 worth of repairs. I declined all but new rear tires (front were new already) and recharging the a/c. That alone was $900! I'd been on the fence over what I wanted for my next car, but when I got home I placed a deposit on a new Elio. If you like quirky cars, check Elio Motors dot com.
Clear, simple instructions! Thanks. One question though - when getting the replacement latch - right or left? Is it the right from the rear of the car or from the front of the car?
If what you meant is where to find replacement parts, as I stated at the beginning of the video I needed to get the part from my local smart car dealership. This video is now several years old and smart dealerships are few and far between. I needed to drive 30 miles to mine, but I know some are much further away than that. I believe that smart doesn't even sell gasoline powered cars anymore in the USA, but don't quite me on that. I recommend finding a dealership and ordering the part or try searching on Amazon or Ebay. Good luck and thanks for watching.
Thank you thank you thank you! I have the same problem and Mercedes quoted me nearly $400 to fix it but I said no - I'm going to try and get it open myself like you did and go from there. Can you tell me where you ordered the part?
Thanks! I know what you're saying, but technically... RU-vid is part of the Internet. In any case, I hope my video helped and you are successful in repairing your tailgate.
Smart parts are often hard to find in local auto parts stores. This one, being an unusual piece that might need replacement, might be impossible. Afterall, how often does a right-side tailgate latch need replacing? In order to find this part, I needed to go to my local smart dealership. Even at that, they needed to order the part from their supplier. I consider myself lucky having a smart dealership only 30 miles away. I've heard of people whose closest dealerships are more than 300 miles away.
What about if i have to change the internal handle? My one , has the lace broken so i cannot open the door from inside..how can i repair it by myself? Thenks
I wish I could answer your question, but I'm sorry, I can't. I'm not a mechanic or anything like that. My video addresses only the specific problem I had with my car and how I resolved it. The purpose of the video is to potentially help anyone else with the same issue. Sorry I couldn't more helpful. Good luck resolving your issue!
At the 0:28 second mark in the video, I did say that I purchased my latch at my local smart car dealership in Hartford, Connecticut. You can also find them on ebay and Amazon. You can also try auto parts stores.
They should have known to make that out of a stronger, durable plastic knowing its gonna easily break. Its disappointing I've already had to make MANY repairs on Mine by the time it had 30,000 miles on it. The water pump also went out at 32,000 miles🤨
Good point! I should have included a pert number in the video, but I'm sorry to say that I do not have the part number. I bought the part through an authorized dealership so I didn't have to bother looking up part numbers.
