Hundreds of thousands of cars are currently subject to workshop recall in France for serious reliability and safety problems. This may be the case with yours.
No car is safe from breakdowns. But if certain malfunctions come from the more or less normal wear of mechanical parts, others are due to design or manufacturing problems which sometimes only become apparent after several years, well after the products have been put into circulation. vehicles. And it happens that these “hidden” defects directly concern safety, to the point of endangering the driver and passengers, or even pedestrians…
This is why car manufacturers, who are obviously responsible for these invisible defects, carry out workshop recall campaigns in order to correct – free of charge – these problems which could affect the lives of the owners of the cars concerned. For this, they generally send information letters using the name and contact details appearing on the registration certificate (the “grey card”) using the data recorded at the prefecture. But some letters do not always reach their recipients, who then continue to drive in a potentially dangerous car.
However, vehicle recalls have been coming one after another in recent times. And no brand seems spared. Some campaigns only concern a relatively small number of vehicles. This is the case, for example, of 13 BMW car models marketed between 2022 and 2024, recalled for a defect affecting the braking system which risks causing serious accidents. Or even Mercedes GLS and GLE which risk seeing one of their electrical connections come loose at any time, causing a fire.
But other campaigns concern more popular vehicles, sold in hundreds of thousands of copies! Citroën and DS Automobiles have just launched a massive recall campaign in around twenty countries for C3s and DS3s, produced between 2009 and 2019, due to defective airbags. In total, 605,772 cars sold in Southern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa are covered by this procedure. In France, 246,883 cars, i.e. 181,734 C3s and 65,149 DS3s, are affected.
And this aibag problem is serious! “The propellant in the driver and passenger airbags can deteriorate over time. In the event of an accident in which the airbags deploy, they could rupture with too much force.”, indicates the official information note. In the event of an impact, the airbag may project particles or small parts likely to “cause serious injury or death”, specifies the letter sent at the beginning of May by DS Automobiles and Citroën to the customers concerned. Also, manufacturers ask owners of these models to “stop driving immediately [leur] vehicle.” We’re not kidding!
To find out if your vehicle is affected, check the sites of Citroën Or by DS Automobiles by indicating your VIN number (Vehicle iIdentification Number) which can be found on the registration document. If so, register online, and the manufacturer will contact you to schedule the repair, which it will take care of at a dealership.
And other campaigns are currently underway for similar problems, notably the Dacia Duster II, also very popular cars. Also, to be certain that your car is not affected by a recall, get into the habit of regularly consulting the government website Consumption reminderwhich reports all dangerous products in circulation – and not just cars.