Citroen recall expanded: More Stellantis car owners told to stop driving immediately

It’s more misery for Citroen owners as the French brand has extended its ‘code red’ recall programme for an additional 10,000 models, despite reports that it is struggling to cope with the current influx of vehicles to be repaired. 

In June, Citroen’s parent company Stellantis issued a ‘stop-drive order’ for almost 100,000 models manufactured between 2009 and 2019 after fears their airbags could potentially be lethal if detonated. This meant that owners were instructed not to use their cars.

The original recall concerned roughly 120,000 vehicles across the UK, particularly examples of the Citroen C3 and DS3. It has now been extended to the Citroen C4 (2010-2011), DS 4 (2010-2011), and DS 5 (2010-2013) – the equivalent of an additional 9,968 cars.

In a statement, Stellantis reassured customers that: “The company’s focus remains on completing the replacement of airbags in affected vehicles as swiftly as possible.” While owners were originally advised to get the necessary fix completed at Citroen dealerships, Peugeot garages are now also doing the work to help cope with demand.

At the time of writing, Stellantis says it has already fitted over 66,000 vehicles with replacement airbags, although it is worth noting that there have been several claims of wait times as long as two months or more. Citroen has reportedly been paying affected drivers compensation as they wait, but consumer site Which? claims that some are being given as little as £22 per day – well below the cost of car hire.

More recall pain for Stellantis

Such a situation couldn’t come at a worse time for Stellantis which is also dealing with the fallout of another recall, this time concerning models across several brands including Vauxhall, Peugeot, Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Citroen.

The somewhat ubiquitous 1.2-litre PureTech turbo petrol engine fitted to the likes of the Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 2008 and Jeep Avenger has the potential to leak fuel into the engine. This could, in Stellantis’ own words: “potentially lead to higher fuel consumption and, in a worst-case scenario, to occurrences of fire in the engine.”

As is the case with the airbag recall, owners are urged to book in with their local official Stellantis dealership in order to get the problem rectified free of charge.

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