RAVENNA – The airbag is faulty, the malfunction can lead to even lethal consequences, it is absolutely necessary to stop the car. This in short is the message that over a hundred motorists in the province of Ravenna saw delivered, via registered mail, at the beginning of June. A lady from Fosso Ghiaia who owns a Citroen DS3 and is in serious difficulty tells us what happened: «The letter arrived last June 2nd from the Citroen car manufacturer – she says. We immediately stopped the car, which is used by my daughter to go to work in Ravenna. A real ordeal began, because the letter gave indications that did not allow us to resolve the problem. It was written to enter our data by reading a QR code and that after registration we would receive an email with a code to make an appointment to replace the defective part. Unfortunately we, like many other people, have not received any codes. We didn’t know what to do, so we took action completely independently with the local dealerships. We put ourselves on the waiting list in Forlì to get the replacement car, paying an excess of several euros. After about ten days of waiting, during which we turned to Federconsumatori, we finally came into possession of a replacement car which however we will only be able to use for 28 days. The dealership specified that it was a measure “to be able to satisfy everyone”, given that there are so many requests. These days my daughter uses the replacement vehicle but we wonder what will happen in mid-July. If the airbag isn’t made safe in the meantime, we won’t even have a car and my daughter will have to invent something to get to work. We are waiting for the code to replace the faulty part, but we know that there are those who have been waiting for months.”
The Consumer Federation of the province of Ravenna has received dozens of reports from citizens who have problems very similar to those of the lady from Fosso Ghiaia: «In Italy there are tens of thousands of cars with this problem – explains Vincenzo Fuschini, provincial president of the consumer association -. Citroen wrote to thousands of motorists informing them of the defect and that it would replace the faulty part free of charge. The big problem is the availability of spare parts that must arrive from Asia. The company that produces the airbags is in fact Japanese, it is called Takata. The defect affects Citroen like other major automotive brands. The need to intervene on thousands of vehicles makes everything very complicated, even for dealers to find replacement cars. We have received many reports because people are suddenly left without car availability. We recommend opening a dispute with a letter of formal notice, so that you can rent a car and then ask for a refund. However, many citizens are not inclined to anticipate such an expense and therefore give up on proceeding.”
Fuschini also raises a safety problem: «Those who remain without a car often turn to relatives and friends, but there are also those who do not have this availability. We do not rule out the possibility that there are non-compliant cars in circulation, but people in this way run a serious risk also because the electronic test cannot detect which airbags are faulty. The car can only be made safe by replacing the defective part. As Federconsumatori we have asked for the intervention of the Government, which is absconding. The Ministry of Transport has not taken any position according to which cars with this defect can safely circulate with a serious personal risk and also for the insurance, which we do not know what it can cover in the event of an accident”.
