Citroen/DS 3 stop drive recall

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jimjames said:

I guess it depends how much you need the car. People drove cars for many years without airbags (and many cars on the road still don't have them with people using them perfectly safely)

In those days their car was not subject to a Stop driving prohibition, and the lack of an airbag meant that they would be less safe in a collision, rather than could be killed by a faceful of shrapnel.

Strikes me that Stellantis were hoping that the cold weather in the UK would prevent any deaths, but now we keep having these ghastly heat waves they can't hide from it- the fatalities so far have been in hotter climates, and the theory is heat causes the airbag cartridge to denature and explode when activated.

More "News" items are suggesting that Stellantis will get the RAC to do a mobile fitting service, like they did for Nissan, but that can't magic up the parts if there are none, simply reduce the wait time, and avoid Stellantis having to transport all the vehicles.

photome

ontheroad1970 said:

Clcatt91 said:

Well just to keep everyone updated, I finally got my letter through yesterday about the stop drive! Better late than never I guess. I am booked in to get my air bags done, 2 weeks time which to be fair is better than I was expecting. In the mean time im just relying on lifts. Not much else I can do by the sounds of it. Next car definitely won't be a citroen, that's for sure!

Quite hard to avoid Stellantis.  Vauxhall, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Peugeot as well as Citroěn

I would say it’s quite easy to avoid …I have owned dozens of cars over the years and never owned any of those.

it is getting harder to avoid wet belts and other engines with known issues

ThorOdinson

photome said:

ontheroad1970 said:

Clcatt91 said:

Well just to keep everyone updated, I finally got my letter through yesterday about the stop drive! Better late than never I guess. I am booked in to get my air bags done, 2 weeks time which to be fair is better than I was expecting. In the mean time im just relying on lifts. Not much else I can do by the sounds of it. Next car definitely won't be a citroen, that's for sure!

Quite hard to avoid Stellantis.  Vauxhall, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Peugeot as well as Citroěn

I would say it’s quite easy to avoid …I have owned dozens of cars over the years and never owned any of those.

it is getting harder to avoid wet belts and other engines with known issues

Just buy an EV, they are better all around and no wet belts.

Clcatt91

ThorOdinson said:

photome said:

ontheroad1970 said:

Clcatt91 said:

Well just to keep everyone updated, I finally got my letter through yesterday about the stop drive! Better late than never I guess. I am booked in to get my air bags done, 2 weeks time which to be fair is better than I was expecting. In the mean time im just relying on lifts. Not much else I can do by the sounds of it. Next car definitely won't be a citroen, that's for sure!

Quite hard to avoid Stellantis.  Vauxhall, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep, Peugeot as well as Citroěn

I would say it’s quite easy to avoid …I have owned dozens of cars over the years and never owned any of those.

it is getting harder to avoid wet belts and other engines with known issues

Just buy an EV, they are better all around and no wet belts.

Unfortunately EVs are out of my price range xD I spent so long trying to work out what would be a economical yet reliable car when I bought the ds3. And it has been a very good car up until now. Had it over 3 years, done 50k miles in it, and very little repairs for an older car. I only had 5k to spend

Al.e

I know some people are having an awful experience but I have to say a big thumbs up to Howards Citroen Taunton.  I called on Monday and the work was done today (Saturday).

Scotch_Pocket

For those concerned, I had an MOT today after the recall notice. I had no issues getting it done and gives me breathing room while waiting for the recall. Despite the numerous anecdotes of automatic failure and Which.com. 

I will contact my insurer Monday to see if they will fence sit or decide on cover or not. 

If they say they can’t cover me, should I push for partial refund? To be fair the situation is beyond mine or the insurers control. 

Scotch_Pocket

Al.e said:

I know some people are having an awful experience but I have to say a big thumbs up to Howards Citroen Taunton.  I called on Monday and the work was done today (Saturday).

Did they give any sort of indication of parts availability? There seems to be every story under the sun. From having the work done ASAP and some being told to come back in ‘26. 

Al.e

Scotch_Pocket: I didn't ask, but didn't get the impression they had an issue.  Their Service Dept is usually open Monday to Friday but they have set up to do this work at the weekends and seemed well organised 

jordyjordan101

Has anyone explored compensation from Citroen with regards to these issues? 

I have had a terrible experience with their customer care team so far and my car will not be repaired until the start of August. 

They were unable to offer a courtesy car due to shortages related to the issue. 

This will mean I will have been stranded without transport for 33 days 

MSE_Molly_G

Hi everyone. We've now published a news story on this: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/07/citroen-stop-drive/. Thanks!