Around 100,000 motorists in Britain have been told they must stop driving their cars immediately – and may not be allowed back on the road for weeks or months.
The owners of two popular Citroens from the past decade have been hit by an urgent so-called ‘stop-drive’ action, which bars them from using their cars until they can have a dangerous fault repaired.
But Money Mail has heard from a dozen Citroen owners who have been told that they may have to wait weeks or months for a repair due to delays in sourcing the necessary replacement parts.
With no offer of a courtesy car, owners are being forced to buy new cars, ask for lifts to work, change their work shift patterns – and even move home to be closer to work.
Their plight will raise fears among all motorists that anyone can be forced off the roads at a moment’s notice and indefinitely if their car is subject to a stop-drive action.
Citroen parent company Stellantis made the recall notice following the death in France last month of a Citroen C3 driver, who was struck by shards of metal from the car’s faulty airbag during a minor collision.
Makeshift: Tony and Linda Curtis from Stourbridge (pictured) bought a £3,000 Ford runaround after being ordered not to drive their Citroen
C3 and DS3 models produced between 2009 and 2019 are now not roadworthy as a result. Driving them before they are fixed is illegal and will invalidate insurance.
Since June 20, 96,000 UK owners have been ordered to park up their cars indefinitely until the devices can be replaced – and are trying to book repairs with dealerships.
Bought a Ford Ka to get by
Tony Curtis, 66, a retired butcher and his wife Linda, 63, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, have a 2016 DS3 that Linda relies on to get to work at a coffee shop.
When they returned from a fortnight’s holiday on July 6, they found a red-bordered ‘urgent’ stop-drive letter buried among a pile of post on their doormat.
‘I called the local Citroen dealer and they said they haven’t got a clue when they will get the parts to get the work done,’ Tony says.
‘I rang the Citroen helpline and they said all I can do is register my car in their system and someone will be in touch. I’ve not heard anything since. We’ve been told they can’t provide a courtesy car.
‘Where my wife works, you can’t get there by public transport, so I’ve been left no choice but to buy a second car – a Ford Ka run-around for £3,000.’
Tony claims there has been a lack of information from Citroen and Stellantis. ‘No one is telling us what is going on,’ he adds.
Jackie Senior, 60, and her daughter Claudia, 21, from South Somercotes, Lincolnshire, both own Citroen DS3s.
Jackie, who works 12-hour shifts in a care home in Cleethorpes some 16 miles away, has resorted to negotiating shorter shifts so that she can use the bus service.
She says: ‘Work has been understanding but if this goes on and on for weeks, it’s going to affect my job. A taxi is too expensive.’
Claudia, a supervisor at a coffee lounge also in Cleethorpes, is staying on a friend’s sofa so she can get to work.
Jackie said: ‘She’s only 21 and paying around £90 a month for her insurance. She’s wasting all this money but doesn’t want to cancel her policy in case we get a call to say her car can be fixed.’
Jackie’s husband, who has been off work with a disability, has called the helpline three times, each time waiting on hold for an hour before being cut off.
She says: ‘We asked the dealer about courtesy cars but they won’t give us one let alone two. We were told to go to our insurers. Mine told me because it’s not an engine-related issue, it would not supply a replacement car.’
Illegal to ignore order
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) warns ignoring a stop-drive order or any safety recall could result in legal repercussions. If involved in an accident, drivers could also face prosecution, fine, penalty points or a driving ban.
A DVSA spokesman said: ‘We are continuing to discuss with the manufacturer how it is managing the stop-drive recall and have received reassurances it is working hard to arrange repairs and minimise disruption for their customers.’
The DVSA says it is up to the discretion of manufacturers to provide hire cars or compensation for travel costs.
The Association of British Insurers says drivers must always adhere to a manufacturer-issued stop-drive instruction and inform their insurer.
DS3: Citroen DS3 and C3 models produced between 2009 and 2019 are not roadworthy due to a dangerous fault with the airbag system
C3: Driving the vehicles before they are fixed is illegal and will invalidate insurance, but Citroen is not offering courtesy cars
Can’t drive for 5 months
Andrea Richards, 56, from Cheltenham has to wait until November 13 for her DS3 to be fixed at a dealership 25 miles away in Worcester.
‘How can Stellantis claim to be dealing with this matter in a timely manner and then expect me not to drive my car for the best part of five months? It’s unacceptable,’ she says.
Jane Davis, a 71-year-old retired audio typist from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, says she had recently added her son to her DS3’s insurance, so he could drive her to hospital for a hip replacement on August 20.
She managed to secure a booking for her car’s airbag to be replaced on August 12. However, she has been told by the dealer that the appointment is ‘not guaranteed’.
Claire Bates, 47, from Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, is a single parent and head housekeeper at a care home three miles from where she lives.
She has to beg lifts from colleagues and has three weeks until her airbag replacement scheduled for August 13. She was refused a courtesy car.
Some drivers have been informed by their dealership they may be able to claim back travel costs, though only £20 per day.
Stellantis says it is ‘deeply sorry for the inconvenience’ it has caused and expects all airbag repairs to be completed by the end of September.
It adds customers should not drive their vehicles to retailers and that the cars will be collected or repaired at home.
It is up to the dealership and not the car owner to arrange for the cars to be collected.
Other Stellantis workshops – including Peugeot – have now been drafted in to support repairs, while the RAC is also providing an airbag replacement service to accelerate the process on its behalf.
The company says due to such a large number of vehicles involved, there aren’t sufficient courtesy cars available, adding priority is given to ‘customers with the most urgent needs’.
Stop drive: Since June 20, 96,000 UK motorists have been ordered to park up their cars indefinitely until the faulty airbag devices (pictured) can be replaced
Your rights if your car is subject to a recall
Money Mail’s consumer lawyer Dean Dunham says: ‘Under the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) goods, including cars, must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
‘When a car manufacturer issues a recall or safety notice, it is in effect admitting that the car breaches these obligations and you are entitled to a free remedy.
‘If you purchased the car within the last 30 days, you can exercise what is known as the short-term right to reject under the CRA and hand back the car, but if you purchased it more than 30 days ago, you must give the dealership/manufacturer the opportunity to repair the issue.
‘Consumers also have rights in relation to the amount of time a trader takes to repair or implement any other remedies. The CRA, therefore, provides that repairs/remedies must be made within a “reasonable amount of time” and without significant inconvenience to the consumer.
‘Here, the dealerships/manufacturer will get away with the time element (as they will argue this is simply how long it takes) but, in my view, will fall foul of the inconvenience element if the repair time creeps into several weeks.
‘This could give rise to a valid claim for: i) compensation to cover the inconvenience; ii) a demand for a courtesy car; or even iii) a full refund, as section 24(5)(C) of the CRA provides that you can hand goods back and ask for a refund if a repair is not carried out within a reasonable time and/or you suffer significant inconvenience.
‘However, the trader can make a deduction for the use of the car you’ve already enjoyed, and this can be a significant sum. The manufacturer will carry out the necessary repair regardless of when you purchased the vehicle.
‘Finally, I’ve seen lots of people claiming that you will have no rights if you purchased the vehicle 6 or more years ago, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or five years in Scotland. This is not entirely correct.
‘The manufacturer will carry out the necessary repair regardless of when you purchased the vehicle.
‘It is therefore only if you want to bring court proceedings (for the likes of an injury caused linked to the faulty car or for an inconvenience claim) when the timing of your purchase matters and even then, there’s a fall-back limitation period of three years from the date you found out that the goods were faulty (which here will be the date of the safety recall notice).
‘So if the car was bought more than six years ago, but the you only became aware of the issue in the last three years, you may still be able to bring a claim. ‘
