THE Driver Vehicle Standards Agency has asked Vauxhall to make the inspection and rework programme over the Zafira B fires a safety recall issue.
It acknowledged, though, that the root cause was improper repair of the thermal fuse of the resistor in the heating and ventilation system outside of Vauxhall’s authorised service and maintenance processes and schedule.
Over the past few months a number of owners have reported fires in Vauxhall Zafira B models.
With around 130 cars affected, the issue was serious enough for Vauxhall dealers to offer free inspections to owners and the marque itself to contact all owners of affected models.
Vauxhall’s own initial investigation focused on the heating and ventilation system and Rory Harvey, chairman of Vauxhall Motors, said: ‘Safety is our priority and we have been working tirelessly in the past weeks to find the root cause and contact owners to explain the situation and our actions. The DVSA’s acknowledgement of the root cause is an important milestone but the important thing now is to ensure that all Zafira B owners bring their vehicles in for inspection and rework.’
Vauxhall contacted all 234,938 Vauxhall Zafira B owners by letter to advise them how to remain safe pending an inspection, but the DVSA now wants this reclassified as a full safety recall.
To date, Vauxhall dealers have inspected and repaired more than 45,000 vehicles, with the plan being to see all vehicles within 12 weeks. All work is being carried out free.
