Used Smart Forfour Hatchback 2004 - 2007 reliability
Category: Small car
It's the best car Smart has made, but it's expensive and not as good as its rivals
What should I look for in a used Smart Forfour Hatchback hatchback?
The Forfour came out in July 2004, so it's still too new for a fair assessment of its reliability. Being a fairly minor manufacturer, Smart is rarely included in the majority of reliability surveys, so details on this are also fairly sketchy.
Our own experience of the Smart has been disappointing. We ran one on a 12-month test, and during that time, it suffered two severe breakdowns in the space of 1000 miles, along with a few other niggles.
One thing we can say with confidence, though, is that if any non-warranty repair work needs doing, it will probably be costly. Because Smart is part of Mercedes-Benz, most main dealers are tacked onto Mercedes outlets, meaning you'll be paying close to Mercedes prices for labour.
These are extremely expensive, certainly much more than most supermini owners will pay. Finding a good independent garage can cut these rates by half.
