2013 Smart Fortwo Recalls

No recalls on record Updated July 2026

No NHTSA recalls on record for the 2013 Smart Fortwo. That means NHTSA has no open safety campaign for this vehicle — it does not guarantee the absence of problems. Owners have filed 35 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the seat belts. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Complaints by component

SEAT BELTS
7
ENGINE
6
1fires
POWER TRAIN
5
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
3
1fires
SEATS
2
STRUCTURE:BODY
2
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
2
1fires
AIR BAGS
1
EQUIPMENT ADAPTIVE/MOBILITY
1
EXTERIOR LIGHTING
1
Total complaints35

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“Seat belt anchor to vehicle on driver side of vehicle frayed and broke away with normal routine use.”

SEAT BELTS · reported 2024-12-03

“The drivers side seatbelt connecting floor (I think it's the belt force limiter) has a cable that has broken off. This is the 2nd time this has happened to my smartcar. It is a design flaw because the cable runs against the metal of the seat cutting thru the cable. It isn't usually noticed until…”

SEAT BELTS · reported 2022-06-01

“Software for power control module is not correspond to the series level software configuration. Basically it doesn't want to take charge due to the software issues from manufacturer.”

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM · reported 2021-10-27

“The gear cannot go reverse. It stuck at neutral. I can drive forward, neutral but not go reverse.”

POWER TRAIN · reported 2021-05-11

“Regarding lightning: water/humidity had access to the sam unit and the right-side signals/stop light stopped working. The vehicle was in motion when it suddenly stopped working. Regarding body/other: some of the convertible-roof steel frame/bars got bent when closing the top and the bent bars…”

STRUCTURE:BODY · reported 2020-10-10

“Regarding lightning: water/humidity had access to the sam unit and the right-side signals/stop light stopped working. The vehicle was in motion when it suddenly stopped working. Regarding body/other: some of the convertible-roof steel frame/bars got bent when closing the top and the bent bars…”

EXTERIOR LIGHTING · reported 2020-10-10

“Regarding lightning: water/humidity had access to the sam unit and the right-side signals/stop light stopped working. The vehicle was in motion when it suddenly stopped working. Regarding body/other: some of the convertible-roof steel frame/bars got bent when closing the top and the bent bars…”

UNKNOWN OR OTHER · reported 2020-10-10

“The driver side seat belt mount, which in this case is a steel cable, has mostly broken and frayed rendering it unsafe to drive. In the event of an accident, it would certainly break completely. I only noticed it yesterday while cleaning, the breakage would've happened while driving it. I've…”

SEAT BELTS · reported 2020-06-03

Defect investigations

Investigation DP22005 Opened 2023-01-27 · closed 2023-08-07

Pedestrian alert sounds

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for…

Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2013 Smart Fortwo as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.