Popular car in urgent safety recall due to lethal flaw still being sold online

Hundreds of cars subject to an urgent safety recall have been listed for sale online, an investigation has found.

Car giant Stellantis has told owners of certain versions of its popular Citroen C3 models across Europe, including the UK, to stop using them because of a potentially lethal fault with the airbags. It follows a fatal accident in France last month when a 37 year-old mother driving a C3 was struck in the head by pieces of flying metal after a minor collision. Stellantis was so concerned it issued an immediate “stop-drive” alert towards the end of June.

An estimated 120,000 C3 owners in the UK have been left unable to drive their cars until the fault is fixed. The recall relates to all Citroën C3 second generation, and DS 3 first generation, vehicles manufactured between 2009 and 2019 and equipped with Takata airbags.

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“Owners of such vehicles should immediately cease using their vehicle when safe to do so,” Stellantis says, warning there is a greater risk in hot and humid conditions and the fault was “capable of causing serious injury or even fatality, in a worst-case scenario.”

Yet research by consumer group Which? found affected models being sold online, with no attempts to inform potential buyers that they are part of a serious recall. Even when car dealers were contacted directly to ask, all but one told Which? the car had no outstanding such issues associated with them. Which? says that, by doing so, they may be breaking the law.

It carried out a snapshot survey in the week beginning June 30, picking 16 Citroen C3 listings on popular website Aurotrader, from a total of 330 available. The majority - 12 of the 16 - were subject to a recall according to Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency data. Which? also checked rival marketplace Carwow and says it also found cars subject to a recall that were not being advertised as such. It contacted three dealers but none replied to its messages requesting recall information.

After being contacted by Which?, Autotrader added warnings to all Citroen C3s listed on its website. The firm also said it had contacted all sellers of these cars, advising them to check the cars’ recall status. It went on: “It’s important to us to maintain a trusted and transparent marketplace, so once we were made aware of the serious nature of this specific product recall, we took swift action.

“We have added information about the recall on our relevant product pages, and within our Security Advice Centre so consumers are aware of the current issue.
“We have also communicated the information Citroen had shared with its customers to our retailer customers and to consumers who were selling a potentially affected vehicle, so they in turn could take the appropriate action.”

Michael Passingham, Which? Cars expert, said: “It's shocking that we found hundreds of cars with this potentially deadly airbag fault still available for sale online when a stop-drive notice - which means you should not drive the car until it has been fixed - has been put in place.

"It’s good to see that, following our investigation, Autotrader, despite not creating these listings themselves, has put this critical information upfront, and we hope to see other platforms and dealerships also take this initiative, so that potential buyers are not misled into buying a dangerous vehicle that they can not legally drive in the UK.

“We’d advise anyone looking to buy a used car to use the government’s MOT checking service, which will let you see if the car does have a recall associated with it. If it does, get the VIN from the dealer and check directly with the manufacturer."