BBC television programme Watchdog has recently uncovered a serious issue with Citroёn’s new range of C3 Picassos. It was discovered by investigators that the brakes in the car could be operated by those seated in the passenger seat.
The fault is due to the conversion made to the French cars exported to the UK market, to make the initially left-hand drive cars, right-hand drive. This leaves a section of the braking system on the footwell on the passenger’s side. Currently, this mechanism is only protected by a thin piece of felt, which means that those seated in the front passenger seat can activate the brakes if they apply enough pressure on the footwell.
This issue was first raised by a cleaning company, which had 3 of the vehicles in question in its fleet. They discovered the error when travelling down the motorway at 70mph, only to find their car suddenly reducing speed to 50mph after a sharp brake that wasn’t initiated by the driver.
Upon hearing about this incident, investigators from the programme, ‘Watchdog’ tested two different cars of the same model in dealerships in South-East England only to find the same issue.
This is a major concern for the Citroёn company, which prides itself on the safety of their vehicles. Ironically, Citroën’s website explains how the C3 Picasso has an innovative and comprehensive braking system, but it’s doubtful they thought a fault like this would occur. Since the programme aired on 19th May, Citroёn have issued a statement on their website to address this issue. They claim that since the C3 Picasso model launched in 2009, they have had no incidents like this previously reported to them. However, they are offering all 22,000 people that have purchased this vehicle in the UK to go to their nearest Citroёn dealership to have an additional component fitted which will isolate the braking mechanism from the front seat passenger. This will be completed free of charge.
This isn’t the first time in recent years that particular models of cars have had to be recalled due to some major faults. In early 2010, Toyota had to recall around 4.1 million vehicles worldwide due to an accelerator issue, in which some cases found the accelerator to stick in a depressed position.
The advice given to C3 Picasso owners is to continue to use their cars as normal and to contact Citroёn with any questions or queries regarding this issue. Reports from Watchdog suggest that if car owners want to check their own vehicles to see if they are affected by this issue, ensure the handbrake is on and that the vehicle is stationary. Then ask someone to sit in the front passenger seat and apply pressure to the footwell. If the driver can see the brake pedal moving down on its own when the passenger applies pressure, then they will need to contact the manufacturer immediately. But again, ensure the handbrake is ON before testing your vehicle.
It’s also a good idea to make sure your car insurance is in order as well to make sure you are covered if this fault or any other potential faults may occur. Visit eCar, an online insurance solution that will let you manage your car insurance whenever is suitable for you. As well as annual car insurance, we provide short term car insurance from 1 to 28 days and monthly car insurance in the form of a flexible Pay As You Go car insurance policy.
To contact Citroёn regarding this issue, call the Citroёn Contact Centre on 01753475862 or email cuk_contactcentre@citroen.com.
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