6:56 am, July 7, 2025
Citroen and DS dealers across the country are under ‘immense pressure’ to fix cars affected by a serious airbag safety recall – with some telling customers it could be NEXT YEAR before their cars are fixed.
Thousands of owners of DS3 and C3 models were told to stop driving their cars immediately on June 20 over faulty airbag fears.
Some 120,000 owners across the country of second-generation Citroen C3s, built between 2009 and 2016, and DS3 models built between 2009 and 2019, are now flooding dealers with requests for help.
Citroen dealers told Car Dealer Magazine that customers are ‘still driving their cars in to be fixed’ despite being told by manufacturer Stellantis not to drive them.
The sheer volume of calls dealers are receiving is also clogging phone lines as thousands of customers attempt to get through to book appointments.
One Citroen dealer said: ‘It hasn’t been too bad until the stop drive recorded letters landed. The phones have been off the hook since then to the extent it started affecting our ability to make outbound calls.
‘The teams are under immense pressure, but we are working many extra shifts, early and late, plus weekends to help the situation.
‘Customers are keen to get the job done and are driving cars into us, even though we remind them they should not be driving them.’
The fix takes dealers an hour and a half per car and is already clogging Citroen workshops up. Stellantis said the lead time for airbag replacements ‘varies by retailer’ with some offering the service ‘in a few days, some longer’.
Dealers told Car Dealer that some customers are being told they will ‘not be able to book their car in until 2026’ for the work, leaving them without a vehicle for months.
A Citroen service manager added: ‘It’s a relatively easy fix, but in hot weather techs have to crawl behind the dash in a car that’s just arrived already hot.
‘The stress on the managers and technicians is relentless.
‘Some dealers are already turning customers away saying they cannot book until 2026.’
A number of customers have taken to social media to moan about lead times and the BBC reported on one customer from Hull who was told the repair of her car could not happen until January. Stellantis said the claims were ‘not right’.
STOP DRIVE
Stellantis issued the rare ‘stop drive’ action at the end of last month and said it was ‘mobilising’ its network of dealers, suppliers and manufacturing plants to deal with the issue.
A spokesperson said that the Takata-manufactured airbags are ‘available now’ with current supply ‘forecast to October’.
The problem airbags are used by a variety of manufacturers, including Citroen and DS, and the affected cars were already part of a safety recall started more than a year ago.
However, the latest order follows the death of a woman in France last month after she sustained injuries from an airbag in a 2014 Citroen C3.
The Stellantis spokesperson said: ‘The company’s focus is on completing the replacement of airbags in affected vehicles as swiftly as possible.
‘Working hand in hand with our Citroën retailer network we are working to maximise the number of vehicles we can repair every day.
‘To increase our repair capacity further, work is ongoing on introducing additional airbag replacement sites at convenient locations as well as repair at home options.
‘It is inevitable, with such a large number of vehicles affected, that customers will be inconvenienced in the short term.
‘However, we are deploying a variety of options to support mobility, recognising that every driver will have individual requirements, and that priority needs to be given to customers with the most urgent needs.’
Customers can check if their car is affected on the Citroen website or phone the recall helpline on 0800 917 9285.
