Citroen house owners left stranded over airbag security danger | EUROtoday

An estimated 120,000 motorists within the UK have been left unable to drive their vehicles after a security alert over a doubtlessly deadly fault with airbags.

The automobile large Stellantis lately stated individuals ought to cease utilizing variations of the favored Citroen C3 and the associated DS3 altogether till they have been mounted.

The “stop-drive” instruction got here amid rising considerations in regards to the security of airbags fitted to those fashions, following a deadly accident in France final month.

A lot of house owners have since instructed the BBC they face lengthy waits to get their vehicles mounted. Stellantis stated it was “inevitable” that prospects can be inconvenienced.

Among these affected is Lisa Shackleton from Hull who contacted the BBC by way of Your Voice, Your BBC News. The 69-year-old owns a 2014 Citroen DS3. She wants it to take her aged husband to specialist medical appointments.

She has additionally booked a summer season vacation in a cottage a three-hour drive away, to be near her daughter, who’s present process chemotherapy. But now she is uncertain of tips on how to get there.

“I’ve tried to get the car fixed, but as I didn’t get to know about the recall soon enough, the earliest it can be done is the end of July,” she says.

“It’s booked in at a dealership in York, and that’s an hour’s drive away.”

Another motorist instructed the BBC she had not been capable of ebook her automobile in for the restore till January subsequent yr.

Stellantis, the multi-national agency which owns the Citroen model, stated it was “working to maximise” the variety of autos it may restore every day, and that precedence wanted to be given to these with probably the most pressing wants.

Stop-drive recollects, the place house owners are instructed to not use their vehicles in any respect because of security dangers, are uncommon. This one impacts all C3 and DS3 fashions constructed from 2009-2016, in addition to a handful of DS3s produced from 2016-2019. Stellantis stated they shouldn’t be pushed till airbags produced by the now defunct Japanese provider Takata have been changed.

It is the most recent growth in a long-running saga which has led to the recall of an estimated 100 million vehicles worldwide over the previous decade.

The problem was introduced again into focus final month by the dying of a motorist in northern France. A 37-year-old lady driving a Citroen C3 was killed after a minor collision in Reims when she was struck by flying steel from a defective airbag.

Takata was as soon as one of many world’s greatest suppliers of airbags, security gadgets which are supposed to shield individuals from impacts when accidents happen. But in 2013 stories started to emerge of individuals being killed or injured by their merchandise.

Explosive chemical compounds, used to inflate the luggage shortly within the occasion of an accident, have been turning into extra risky over time, particularly in heat and humid situations.

This may trigger them to blow up with an excessive amount of power, fracturing their steel container, and sending shrapnel into the cabin of the automobile.

Numerous automobile makers have been affected and quickly responded with a swathe of recollects. However Stellantis, then referred to as PSA Group previous to a merger with FiatChrysler, stated it had been instructed by Takata that airbags made in its European factories weren’t affected, they usually continued to be fitted in new autos because of this.

Takata filed for chapter in 2017, its repute destroyed by the affair.

Stellantis stated it had solely change into conscious of incidents involving European-made airbags in 2019, and initially believed solely vehicles in scorching and humid areas have been affected. It started a recall marketing campaign in these areas.

In April final yr the recall was prolonged throughout the entire of Europe, however individuals have been nonetheless allowed to drive their autos whereas they awaited a restore.

The C3 and DS3 have been already lined by this recall, however following the incident in northern France, Stellantis went additional, asserting a stop-drive motion throughout the continent, together with within the UK. This took impact on 20 June.

Since then, nonetheless, dozens of automobile house owners have complained to the BBC of poor communication from Stellantis and combined, generally contradictory, messages from Citroen and DS dealerships.

Despite the generally critical disruption prompted to automobile house owners’ day by day lives, Stellantis stated it had no plans to supply compensation whereas including that it had “mobilised the whole company” to supply the variety of substitute airbags required.

A spokesperson stated: “It is inevitable, with such a large number of vehicles affected, that customers will be inconvenienced in the short term.”

What isn’t clear is how prospects ought to get their vehicles to dealerships for the restore work, as they can’t be pushed. Industry specialists say drivers ought to examine with their insurers earlier than getting behind the wheel.

The firm stated it was “investigating options of airbag replacement at other sites, in addition to our Citroen network, including at [the owner’s] home”.

Meanwhile in France, the federal government has instructed drivers in Corsica and within the nation’s abroad territories, the place the local weather is hotter, to cease utilizing any vehicles of any model fitted with Takata airbags.

The similar instruction applies to autos on the French mainland constructed earlier than 2011. In complete, round 2.5 million vehicles are affected.

In the UK, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency stated it supported Stellantis’ resolution to problem a stop-drive recall and was working with the corporate to boost consciousness of the difficulty, however didn’t at the moment have any plans to order a wider recall.

Owners can discover out whether or not their automobile is included within the recall right here.