DD20 car serious safety recall - left with no car?

[Doornon]

DD20 lives at home and drives a car to work that’s had a stop drive notice put on it urgently. You need to get a slot with a dealer to carry out the recall but some people are having to wait months for the repair. We couldn’t get through to anyone yesterday by phone so I will try again today. She won’t be insured to drive the car as it’s unsafe

DD is too young to hire a car as you need to be 21. I think the manufacturer will maybe give some compensation if there is a long wait, but we don’t know this for sure. They are NOT giving courtesy cars.

I am not sure what to do.

DD’s job is shifts, 10 miles away so I’m having to take and collect her as no direct public transport at all. I also have a FT job in the opposite direction! I’m already exhausted

She can’t work from home or change her shift times

Public transport doesn’t run at her shift times and isn’t direct (would involve 2 hours of changing/waiting)

She could get taxis but this will be very expensive there and back and not sure if she will be able to claim any costs back.

Insure her on my car at our cost and then I hire a car?

Ask my job to WFH so I can lend her my car?

WWYD? I am frazzled by this

She wouldn’t be legally too young to have a hire car, it’s just most hire car companies won’t hire to under 21s (probably mainly due to insurance cost and also as younger people are considered high risk). However, some garages will supply a curtesy car to younger people. Depends on their insurance policy

Many a person survives rather well without a car what we do is use. Public transport speak to friends and colleagues if things are not on bus routes these posts do make me laugh I I have no car my life is over I can't even go get pint of milk without my car

Yes, and I totally get that. But none of this is OP’s daughter’s issue or fault. You have consumer rights, and these should be explored.

My brother has C3 and has had the same notice. He just went straight to the local dealer, where he got the car from and the first appointment he could get was 12 August. The garage are doing 6 cars a day. I read that over 80K cars have been recalled so I don't think them providing a courtesy car will be an option.

I would say the best option might be to insure her on your car and you hire a car if you can afford it. Or see if she can car share or a mix of car shares and you giving her lifts / taxis?

Are there any cheap hotels, rent a room/spare rooms or b & b's nearby to your daughters work place or any work colleagues willing to rent a room cheap on a short-term basis? Could the £22 vehicle allowance be used towards renting this type of cheap accomodation (or perhaps it can only be used for transport or vehicles).

Yup.
i live in a cul de sac of five houses.

dh and I were musing that we are in and out on foot or on the bike all the time. Most of what we need is within 1-2 miles. Ds walks to the bus stop for school. Shop is 5 mins walk away.

other than one neighbour that takes the dog out, we have never ever seen the other neighbours leave our cul de sac by any means other than a car. Nuts.

Honestly I would just carry on driving the car until it’s fixed. Hundreds of thousands of people have been driving these cars for over a decade without anybody noticing a problem until now. It hasn’t suddenly become more dangerous overnight.

A (potential) airbag fault doesn’t make you more likely to crash. It just means you might be more affected if you do crash. Personally, I’d be willing to take that risk for a few months.

Make clear to the dealership that as the courtesy car route is not available to DD because of the age limit that they set her only alternative to get to work is taxis, which cost £x return per day. As a result it would be in their interest to move her to the top of the queue and they are expected to reimburse her for these (and other social use of her car) journeys as they have supplied a faulty, dangerous product, the recall of which causes significant inconvenience and potential loss of earnings.

As a reasonable alternative can they give the courtesy car in your name(?) and you will get her added to your own insurance (which they may or may not pay for).

Keep receipts for the public transport / journeys you are doing (track mileage there will be some price per mile calculation). £22 would be the starting point for (as it’s discretionary) and it obviously falls short in your case.

It hilarious how people become completely helpless when they have no access to a car. How on earth do these. People do basic tasks round the home when they can't manage to get from a to b is beyond me n some of them are parents to which is more scary lol

Maybe their lifestyle isn't restricted to a 1-2 mile radius around their house? People need and want to travel to other places.

Plus provision for cyclists often doesn't exist. Plenty of places are in cycling distances but there is nowhere to leave a bike securely when you get there, chaining it to a lamppost or cycle rack doesn't count.

It depends massively on where you live, what you do for work, access to public transport and if you have health issues or a disability. The OP's daughter does early-late shift work with no public transport available and doesn't feel able to bike 20 miles a day - sorting that is a headache. If she had never had a car she probably would have ruled this job out and got a different one which was more accessible to her.

Please stop. I am getting annoyed with it. I did not ask ‘how to live without a car’

I am not interested in living without this car we need it

You don’t know our circumstances

We live right on the rural outskirts of a town, but none of us work in the town. We work in OTHER towns and villages. We moved this year to this new place and it means using cars to commute until we possibly get new local jobs. I would LOVE TO WALK TO WORK but it is 10 miles away 😂

I walk as my actual hobby, I love walking, last night I went on a 5 mile dog walk around the fields. I walk everywhere I can. I enjoy it, it’s good for my mental health. I have no issues with walking. Or biking.

But we have to get to work which is how we earn our livings and for that we use cars

I will insure DD on my car and we will all help each other with getting around. I’ve let work know

For anyone in the same position, I think the wait is due to the parts coming in, not the garages themselves

Honestly I'd just drive it.

Tell them that they sort me an alternative or I will take them to court for expenses. That might get them to at least cover her ACTUAL expenses.

But in reality, I'd likely just switch off the airbags and drive it.

Personally if you don't know how long I would get a cheap runaround - just watch the insurance costs for certain types of cars as it could be several months before she gets it back

How far is it? are there alternate modes of transport? can she be dropped at a station/bus stop etc

Worst advice ever.

Your insurance is invalid if your car is subject to a safety recall In which you are told not to drive it.

From a legal viewpoint the manufacturer is not obliged to provide compensation for the lack of car, it is up to their discretion whether they choose to compensate you or not.

It has become more dangerous overnight as the heat and humidity is a major factor in the degradation of the part that has a fault.

I don’t think turning the air bags off is the issue, it’s that the whole thing can explode in your face even a very minor collision or randomly, has resulted in over 30 deaths in Europe. The part that degrades turns into a shrapnel type bomb

Hmmmm....

So within walking distance, I have a small local shop. It's a wonderful hub for the community, but it is not a supermarket. I can also walk to the dr's (with dispensing chemist), local primary school and village pub and church.

After that, thinks get more tricky. The reason our shop survives, is because there is no-where else close by. Nearest town / supermarket is a 30 min drive away. And that is through narrow country lanes that people speed down at stupid speeds so cycling is dangerous (a friend was killed recently as a cyclist, so perhaps I am extra wary).

There are 2 buses a day to/from the village to the nearest town. They are at 10 and 4 from memory - about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Even if you worked in that town and not else where they are of no use due to the times. Oh, and they don't run every day.

If my car dies tomorrow, I am stuck in the village unless I get a taxi.

Oh, and the taxis. Unless you book one in advance you are stuck. I stupidly relied on getting one to get home one day with my young daughter. I rang around 6-8 taxi companies, all said no as not pre-booked. Had to wait 3 hours for my OH to come and get us.

There are massive benefits living rural - but you heavily rely on your car to get around. There are no alternatives.

My car failed it’s MOT, but because it was still under warranty they dealership provided a courtesy car. I had it for almost 3 months as they waited for a part. Worth asking.

I think a lot of people commenting on this thread must live in cities or towns with reasonable public transport or availability of taxis. I grew up cycling or hacking around the local lanes but wouldn’t feel safe doing either now due to the speed of passing traffic. I sympathise Op and hope you manage to get something sorted

I'm trying to understand why cycling at 5am is stupid. It's actually light at that time as it's currently summer.

Or go for the 2 hour public transport option but she walks some of it?

She asks colleagues for a lift share from a certain place she gets a bus to or something?

I’ve had a letter about my Citroen C3. I called this morning to book it in but the lady doing bookings isn’t in today so I have to call back tomorrow. Being as the letter says ‘stop driving immediately’, I’m wondering if they’ll be coming to pick the car up!? I live a 40 minute drive from my local Citroen dealership.

Well instead of getting her Ma to do the legwork, she could ask around in work to see if she could carshare with someone who comes from her neck of the woods , she could buy/borrow a bike or e-bike, or she could lodge during the week somewhere.
It’s a huge recall for a very nasty problem.
Edit: ah I see that these have been suggested already and that I am a ‘moron’ for suggesting any of them. Fair enough.

No they aren’t - they will apparently reimburse £50 plus £1 per mile for the tow to the garage, after the repair has taken place. We will have to organise a tow truck

There is talk about them coming to your home to do the work but no one seems to be able to get that booked in

It’s a shit show. I hope you get it sorted out

I don’t hate my kids. I hope that helps you understand better