smart preliminary evaluation PE16016
Engine Compartment Fire. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this preliminary evaluation about the engine on 5 model years (2008–2009). Opened Dec 16, 2016, closed Nov 20, 2017 after 11 months. It led to safety recall 18V273000. became a recall
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn December 16, 2016, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE16-016 to investigate eight complaints alleging incidents of engine compartment fire while driving or shortly after engine shutdown in model year (MY) 2008 through 2009 Smart Fortwo vehicles. The complaints appeared to indicate an increasing trend, with all eight fires occurring since January 2015. As part of PE16-016, ODI analyzed information related to incidents reported to the Office by consumers, analyzed field data and technical information submitted by Mercedes-Benz USA (Mercedes) in response to the PE16-016 information request letter, and analyzed non-crash vehicle fire claim data provided by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).To date, ODI's analysis of incidents reported by consumers and provided by Mercedes has identified 27 incidents of open flame fires originating in the engine compartments of the subject vehicles, 14 of which were reported to ODI by Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and 18 involving complaints or field reports to Mercedes (5 of the incidents were reported to both ODI and Mercedes).One incident reported to Mercedes includes an allegation of an injury from smoke inhalation. Nineteen (19) of the incidents occurred since January 2015. Mercedes has only investigated 2 of the 27 fire incidents, and the company was unable to identify a vehicle-based cause for either incident. To further assess incident rates and trends, ODI requested fire claim data for the subject vehicles and eight peer vehicles from the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI).HLDI collects insurance claim data from companies representing over 80 percent of the market for private passenger vehicle insurance in the United States. ODI?s analysis of the HLDI data, which covered the period from 2010 through late-2016, found that the MY 2008 Fortwo vehicles had a significantly higher claim frequency than its peers and, similar to ODI?s complaint trend, experienced a sharp increase in claims in 2015. This investigation has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA17-003) to continue to investigate the high frequency and increasing trend of non-crash engine compartment fire incidents in the subject vehicles. The VOQs associated with the opening of this investigation were:10676359, 10780222, 10790017, 10820891, 10872656, 10944676, 10916505, 10924311, 10924637, 10939504, 10945296, 10993895, 11011100, 11011565.
A Preliminary Evaluation is the first formal stage: NHTSA has decided the complaints and other information it screened are worth a closer look, and asks the manufacturer for its own data on the condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one became a recall. The campaign page carries the manufacturer’s filed defect, risk and remedy, the build window and every model year covered; whether one specific vehicle is included is settled by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themAlso named: 2008 smart Fortwo; 2009 smart Fortwo; 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio; 2009 smart Fortwo Cabrio; 2008 smart Fortwo Coupe.
A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs PE16016 a recall?
No — it is the investigation that led to one. Recall 18V273000 is the campaign; its page carries the remedy.
Is PE16016 still open?
No. It closed on Nov 20, 2017 and led to recall 18V273000.
Which vehicles does PE16016 cover?
NHTSA opened it on 5 model years: 2008 smart Fortwo, 2009 smart Fortwo, 2008 smart Fortwo Cabrio, 2009 smart Fortwo Cabrio, 2008 smart Fortwo Coupe. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.