Faulty or dangerous goods: January 2009 Archives

Following further comments on this site from Vauxhall owners who've experienced the problems reported on Watchdog, Vauxhall has reiterated how seriously the company is taking this issue - and its commitment to tackling it. It has also made clear it only affects the models named on the programme.

Our report on Monday 12 January revealed there can be two problems with the fuel system on some Vauxhall cars with 2.2 litre engines - Vectras and Signums produced since 2003, and Zafiras made since 2005 (click here for full report).

Your comments
The item provoked a huge response, with some of you saying you'd experienced the same problems highlighted in our report - and more than once. But Vauxhall is confident that's now far less likely to happen, because it has modified the fuel pump that's caused most of the incidents.

And while the fault with the regulator highlighted on the programme "is still an issue", the company has told us its engineers "are working on it with all haste".

We'd also been contacted by owners of other models - not all Vauxhalls - asking if their cars had the same fault. We obviously won't publish allegations about any further models without checking them with the manufacturers concerned, and for their part, Vauxhall are quite definite that only the models we named can be affected.

It says: "We can state clearly that these two components (and the faults arising) are only fitted to and affect the 2.2 petrol engine in the vehicle types and range that we have already stated."

Repair costs
And in response to further concerns raised about repair costs resulting from these faults, the company told us: "We find that most of the customers who have experienced these faults have been very understanding and have been dealt with positively by our retailers. We have reviewed (against our records) all the 75 people who contacted us after the programme unhappy with the decisions taken on contribution, and in all cases they have been dealt with using the guidelines that we sent Watchdog with the relevant contribution to their specific case/vehicle age. Clearly if, for example, a car is six years old and way out of warranty, it does not fit within the guidelines and there will be no contribution".

Contacting Vauxhall
If you're concerned about either fault you can email Vauxhall or telephone: 0845 0902044 during office hours.

It may not be the most exciting car on the road but the Vauxhall Vectra is one of the most common. Over the past six years more than a quarter of a million of them have been sold in the UK, with the promise of high levels of performance and refinement and the snappy slogan 'Take control'. However, you could have to 'take control' in a way that you wouldn't expect because a number of these cars have a fault. In fact, there could be two, both of which can have the same result. You could be driving along and suddenly your engine could lose power.

It's a problem that affects Vectras with the 2.2 litre petrol engine. This was the model that Mark Longworth bought. He was driving up the M40, overtaking a lorry on the outside lane, when suddenly the car warning light came on. He had an immediate loss of power, and only just managed to get to the hard shoulder, narrowly avoiding a couple of other lorries.

Faulty fuel pumps and regulators
Whatever happened had caused Mark's car to go into what's called 'limp home mode', a setting that allows the car to continue only at low speed, to get to a garage. Mark's car was out of warranty, so Vauxhall would only pay 20 per cent of the bill, leaving Mark to cough up £458. Watchdog also heard from other people with Vectra 2.2s who've had the same problem. In every case, it was either the fuel pump or the fuel regulator that was to blame.

Serious problem
Vauxhall told us such faults aren't safety related but independent mechanic and MOT inspector Martin Woodhouse disagrees. He claims: "It's a serious enough problem that if either of these components failed at a vital moment, the driver could find themselves in a serious accident."

It's clear that Vauxhall hasn't quite got to the bottom of all this because an awful lot of its cars could have the same problem - and they're not just Vectras. Vauxhall has admitted the pumps and pressure regulators can fail on its 2.2 petrol engines that it has been using in Vectras manufactured from 2003, Signums since 2003, and Zafiras since 2005. This means that there are over 30,000 cars that could suddenly lose power.

Car has broken down twice
That statistic includes the brand new Vectra belonging to retired band members Pat and Len Scott. It cost £14,000, arrived on April Fool's day in 2008, and has been playing tricks on them ever since. Their car has broken down twice and gone into 'limp home mode'. Vauxhall has been working on this but it's only halfway there. It has now identified the fuel pump problem - a leaky seal, which causes fuel pressure to drop - and has developed a modified pump. However, Vauxhall hasn't yet fixed the fuel regulator. It suffers from a sticky plunger, but the company isn't sure why.

On Pat and Len's second break down, it was the regulator that had failed.

It could fail again
It was replaced, with an identical regulator, which means it could fail in the same way again. Pat and Len are so nervous of using their Vectra 2.2, that they've drawn up their own rules for using it. They can't drive more than five miles from home in case the car breaks down and they never travel together in the Vectra because if they break down there's no one to come and rescue them. Pat and Len's repairs were carried out under warranty, but with two major breakdowns in a car that has only done 3,500 miles, they haven't enjoyed the ride.

With dangerous breakdowns and customers paying varied contributions towards repair costs, our expert Martin thinks that Vauxhall should be contacting all the owners of the affected vehicles and getting them into the workshops, fixing the problems with modifications, at Vauxhall's expense. There are a lot of unanswered questions in this story. Exactly why do these parts fail, and how many cars could be affected? Unfortunately, we don't know the answer, and we're not sure that Vauxhall knows either.

Concerned
When Watchdog contacted Vauxhall, Vauxhall said that they were concerned that some owners are experiencing problems. They were keen to point out that the two faults are totally separate. Vauxhall used to replace both the fuel pump and fuel regulator at the same time because they did not know which was at fault; the symptoms are the same and the warning light that indicates this on the instrument panel is the same. Vauxhall have now found a solution to the fuel pump problem. They have developed a re-engineered fuel pump which is fitted in all new cars, and the cars that have demonstrated this fault. Vauxhall explained that the fault is most likely to happen while your car is under warranty which means that you will not have to pay, and if it happens after that, they will make a reasonable contribution.

Vauxhall are still investigating the problem with the fuel pressure regulator, and think that it is caused by some type of contamination. They have suggested that this fault is confined to the area around Bedfordshire.

Vauxhall say that the incident rate for both the pump and the regulator is low in comparison to the numbers of vehicles built. Therefore, they do not think it necessary to contact customers to tell them that there is a potential fault with their vehicle.

If you are concerned about either fault you can email Vauxhall or telephone: 0845 0902044.

The lines will be open from 7:30pm - 9:30pm on Monday 12 January and subsequently during normal working hours.

Note from Watchdog: This report is now closed for comments. But do get in touch with Vauxhall at the email address or telephone number above if you have problems with the models featured in the report. Alternatively, if you're experiencing problems with other cars, you can tell us in Got a story? and we will investigate.

Vauxhall has reiterated its concern about customers problems with some of its models. You can read an update from Vauxhall, posted on Thursday 22 February, with regards to this Watchdog report and your comments.