Citroen Picasso Recalled Because of Brake Problems

May 20 2011

More than 20,000 Picasso C3 cars have been recalled by Citroen UK because of fears that passengers might be able to activate the breaks from their side.

The problem arose because the cars are manufactured in France and then later modified for the UK right-hand drive market.

An investigation by the BBC show Watchdog discovered that the brakes could be activated by pressing on a cable under the foot well on the passenger side of the car.

In a press release Citroen said although there was only a minute possibility of this happening, the company would be offering UK customers a free modification of their cars.

To be fair, it wasn’t the BBC guys who first discovered the problem: they were alerted by a commercial cleaning company based in Kent (Town and Country Cleaners) that owns three of these cars.

It was discovered by accident when one of their drivers was travelling at 70 miles per hour on a motorway and the car suddenly screeched to a halt without any apparent reason.

The BBC show has since put two more Picasso C3s through the test.  Both were on sale at Citroen dealers in the South of England and both ended up having the same flaw.  The Picasso C3 has been available in showrooms across the UK for three years and a number of car credit buyers own one of them.

Mark Brown, a motor engineer who tested the cars says that the flaw could be potentially lethal.  The passenger would not even be aware that he had activated the brakes and neither would the driver.

Author - Louise Hutchinson
 

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