Citroen/DS 3 stop drive recall

_Arlow_

fb1969 said:

A quick google of the number given in the post above (almatty47) brings up warnings of it being a potential scam number.  I have reported the post accordingly, could be wrong but moderators can check.

The number is genuine, they rang me yesterday & left a message saying they had a date for replacing my airbags at my home.  I did the same and googled the number, and also found some reports of spam, but it isn't.  They rang again today and I have an appointment for the 30th of July.  

carl4954

With all the frustration directed against Citroen, rightly so. I have been told that as the stock of parts have run out, it could be next year before my C3 is road worthy.
So as a protest and to save money, don't forget that if you have parked your car on private ground you can declare it SORN.
Then not only can you reclaim any outstanding road fund tax, if like me you pay annually, you can also stop your direct debit payments if you pay monthly as well.
It might seem trivial for one owner but if all the reported owners register their car as SORN then the increased workload for the DVLA and the mass refund/loss of tax revenue may force the Department of Transport to intervene.

Mactheknife2

I am also insured with "Esure" and am still insured to drive as normal, just as well as I live in a rural area.

Had I not been insured I would have 3 options assuming I have to wait 6 months or more for repair,option 1 hire  a car, cost over 3k ,2,  buy a used car again around 3k, 3, if one could be sourced? pay my local garage to replace the airbag, cost around 1k.

I am registered with the RAC home repair, as yet no date given.

I like my 2014 C3 Selection, never let me down and apart from a window switch this year only needed wear and tear items replacing, wet belt replaced at 10 years as specified, car is serviced every year

To put this in perspective, there are over a dozen brands with the airbag recall, VW have one ongoing on the VW Polo, non of them have put a "Do Not Drive" notice on their cars. [only very hot humid countries]

Also as yet the exploding airbag has not been an issue in the UK

What is bad is that newer cars had the faulty airbags fitted even after the Japanese firm had gone bust in 2017 and Honda raised the issue with the airbags around 2010

DS3isamazing1

I had just posted my ad for selling my DS3 2016 when i received the stop drive recall order (quite a timing).
The first available date in my local dealership was 1st of September, however, i managed to get a RAC mobile appointment within 3 weeks.

The issue is that despite receiving an official certificate that the airbags have changed and the recall is done, the RAC mechanic left my car with an airbag light on which he said he can't fix but it should be an easy fix from the dealership.

I asked the dealership to fix and they declined because they said it's not them that they have changed the airbags. Went to different mechanics but a simple reset with an OBD2 diagnostic tool is not working so it's probably a wiring/electric issue. The one and only certified garage that can do the work in my area has a backlog of 6 weeks.

Those who registered with RAC, know that there is not a specified number you can call about the recall, it was just an online form you complete and they give you a call.

So after 3 weeks of not driving my carl and losing a ton of value/selling ability  (who is going to buy a recalled car, no matter if it's fixed), I am stuck with a problem I can not resolve. In the meantime I leave the country in 1 1/2 weeks permanently and selling my car with an airbag issue is even more impossible.

And recommendations?

paul_c123

Do you have a local garage that can look at it? What did the "different mechanics" do, diagnose it????

DS3isamazing1

paul_c123 said:

Do you have a local garage that can look at it? What did the "different mechanics" do, diagnose it???

Most garages don't go into wiring/electrical issues with airbags. So essentially if they can not reset the airbag light through the diagnostic tool then there is nothing they can do.

paul_c123

DS3isamazing1 said:

paul_c123 said:

Do you have a local garage that can look at it? What did the "different mechanics" do, diagnose it???

Most garages don't go into wiring/electrical issues with airbags. So essentially if they can not reset the airbag light through the diagnostic tool then there is nothing they can do.

That's a shame, given you're trying to sell it. How long is the MoT?

DS3isamazing1

paul_c123 said:

DS3isamazing1 said:

paul_c123 said:

Do you have a local garage that can look at it? What did the "different mechanics" do, diagnose it???

Most garages don't go into wiring/electrical issues with airbags. So essentially if they can not reset the airbag light through the diagnostic tool then there is nothing they can do.

That's a shame, given you're trying to sell it. How long is the MoT?

Feb 2026. Loved the car, had no issue with it, very fuel efficient (I got the Diesel 1.6 120 bhp), low maintenance, good looking.... I am just moving countries so kind of forced to sell. I wish I have done it one month earlier before the recall was issued.

facade

Meanwhile on Reddit, someone is asking if it is wise to accept an Ambulance Chaser's offer of a "free" (= Credit Hire) car while they deal with his claim for compensation against Citroen.

Took them long enough....

This is going to cost Stellantis* a lot, and make some Lawyers a lot of money, they should have made their offer of reasonable compensation more public and sooner...... 

*well cost me a lot as obviously Stellantis shareholders won't pay, and I will end up paying somehow, even if only through increased prices in Tesco because someone somewhere is paying more for something from Stellantis like a delivery van........

paul_c123

VW survived Dieselgate and that was a huge collection of payouts. 

Typically manufacturers are well able to cope with a huge recall programme, although obviously its dead money and has some impact on the overall finances. The problem Stellantis is having is its just too rubbish. They have decimated the Citroen and Peugeot brands, and worn down the Vauxhall/Opel brand from something once great (okay, reasonable middle-of-the-road) to an economy brand too. They created DS on a bunch of fake crap such as diagonal trim, weird colour combinations, dark grey showrooms (just by splitting an existing Citroen one in half) etc etc but there's no substance, no difference in the engineering or innovation behind the cars. Contrast with VAG who actually have Audi-specific engineering such as the MLB platform, an Audi technical development team who are separately located.

Hopefully this airbag stop-drive recall is the final nail in the coffin to bin off the DS brand and concentrate on core economy cars, on which they are quite terrible and might be bought out by the Chinese in 5-10 years anyway.