2006 Vauxhall Vectra Exclusiv from UK and Ireland - Comments

Like many other's I also own a roll away vectra Jan 07 model it has run away on me twice causing slight damage as it rolled down the street mounting the footpath crashing through a hedge thankfully not a wall and into my neighbours garden, thank god his kids were not playing in the garden. Contacted Vauxhall who claimed there was no fault with handbrake refused to pay for the damage to my car and after 16 years of parking cars they issued me with a sticker on how to park properly. They are a disgrace and should recall these cars as a matter of urgency before someone is killed, I for one will never own a vauxhall again.

Hi.

Can everyone that has had a runaway vehicle leave their email address and then we can send personal correspondence; also, it will make it easier to see just how many people that, to our knowledge have had problems.

Joanne Burke (featured in the watchdog programme with our runaway signum)

Steveburke1@hotmail.co.uk.

Hi, I own a 54 plate 2.0 cdti Vectra, On arriving home this evening, I parked my car on a sloping drive towards my house. My wife left the house to go to work in her own car and whilst getting in her car, watched my car roll down the drive into my house, causing damage to the front bumper. 2 minutes before the car rolled down the drive, my 9 year old's friend moved his bike from in front of my car to go home for an evening meal. He nearly didn't make it!! I will be contacting Vauxhall tomorrow. After speaking to a friend who also owns the same year of Vectra. He advised me that he had received a sticker through the post 2 weeks ago advising to park in gear or on the flat.

E-mail dave@slingco.co.uk 0161 486 6674

To everyone.

I have both written and sent an email to Vauxhall outlining my grievances. I have not received even the courtesy of an acknowledgment. I was trying to strike a deal. The deal is now off so, if the manager of this site would allow me to, I now wish to put the full terms of my letter on here. Let us see what happens!

100 Bentley Street

Lockwood

Huddersfield

HD1 3UL

23 September 2007.

STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL.

Mr Peter W Durham

Customer Care Manager

GM UK & Ireland

Vauxhall Motors Limited

Griffin House

Osborne Road

Luton

LU1 3YT.

Dear Sirs.

My Vauxhall: Vectra

Registration Number: YH54FKD

Chassis Number: W0L0ZCF6851008266.

I sent you the bulk of this letter by email last week. As of today’s date I have not received the courtesy of an acknowledgement. I was forced to send it to your company’s general email address as your receptionist would not give me your private email address or put me through to any of your staff until I told her why I wanted to send the email to you. I really do appreciate that emails are not always received so I am sending this to you by recorded delivery to avoid any misunderstanding. I have also added some extra comments in this letter which were not in the original and those comments are in italics, including this paragraph.

I acknowledge receipt of your letter, undated, but received by me on 20 September 2007 concerning:-

“…Advice When Parking…”

Three months ago I had a handbrake problem associated with my Vectra. I was convinced that I had applied the handbrake correctly, but there was an accident. I explain the details later on in this letter. Since my accident I have made enquiries about the handbrake, but I was astonished when I received your letter.

You say in the body of that letter that:-

“…Recently, our Customer Assistance Centre has received a small number of enquiries with regard to the Vectra and Signum handbrake system…”

For you to say “Recently…has received a small number of enquiries…” is, in my opinion misleading for two reasons namely:-

1. The word “recently” according to the Oxford English Dictionary is defined as follows:-

“happening or starting from a short time ago”

There is a web site, which I am sure you are aware of, and on it will be found cases of handbrake failure which go back as far as August 2006.

This is the web address:-

http://www.carsurvey.org/viewcomments_review_93491.html

This problem is documented as being over twelve months old.

2. The second issue concerns the phrase: “…a small number…”

Well including my account logged on that site there are approximately 17 incidents recorded involving problems with the handbrake. In the interest of road safety it could be argued that one would be enough to raise concerns especially as in one incident, if the account is true, the female passenger could have been killed.

How many incidents have been reported to you? Currently treat that as a rhetorical question.

In addition you have enclosed a self adhesive label giving instructions on how to park a car. I think both the terms of your letter and the attached label must be read in conjunction with the following statement namely:

“…vehicles must not be able to roll when the handbrake is applied…”

I consider that the issuing by you to me of your letter and the self adhesive label is tantamount to an admission of liability in that you have recognised, irrespective as to whatever your Company or VOSA have or have not unearthed in your research and investigations, there is some sort of problem with the handbrake system on the Vectra and that they can roll even when the handbrake is applied. And if not with Vectras generally, then with my car in particular. Let me explain what I mean, using your own documentation.

On the back page of your letter to me you refer to this as being an:-

“important matter…”

And what do you mean when you ask me to return the form to you and if there is already a label affixed at the appropriate place I am to tick the box that says:

“Vehicle already repaired”?

Is the fixing of the label by me tantamount to me having repaired a fault associated with the handbrake of my Vectra by warning any future owner (s) of my Vectra of the potential for handbreak failure?

Also why is your Company so concerned that if I have sold the vehicle you would wish to know the details of both the previous and new owners? Is this because if I have sold my vehicle you want to write to the new owners and warn them of the fault associated with my vehicle?

I trust that you will agree that I am making some very serious points in this letter. May I now take time out to tell you my story.

On Sunday 24 June 2007 I left my home in Huddersfield and drove to Shipley, a distance of some 18 miles. I arrived outside my office and did what I normally do when I work on a Sunday, (which is quite frequently), namely I drove down Cowgill Road which is a hill, turned the car around and drove back up and then parked the car adjacent to the offside kerb and put the handbrake on.

I went into my office which is up a set of stairs and for a few minutes looked at the work I intended doing before going back down and filling the kettle with a view to making a cup of coffee before starting work. Whilst waiting for the kettle to boil I decided to go outside and have a cigarette. I opened the door and looked across the road only to see to my surprise that my car was not there.

I walked out of my office grounds onto the road and looked down only to see that my car had rolled backwards at an angle, had crossed the carriageway, mounted the kerb and was sitting at an angle with its tail end stuck in the air resting on a low slung brick wall.

I went back inside my office to get my car keys and when I arrived back at the scene the police were in attendance. One officer immediately demanded that I give him my keys. This was an action by the police which at the time annoyed me, but now I am grateful that they dealt with the matter in that manner. My car was locked because I had locked it when I parked the car. He opened the front passenger door, went straight to the handbrake and then said to his colleague:-

“The handbrake is on”

This incident, I believe through no fault of my own, has cost me, through my insurance company, a repair bill for my car which is I believe in excess of £1,500.00, payment to the owner of the damaged wall of £250.00, £350.00 excess paid by me towards the repair costs and a large increase next year in respect of my car insurance policy premium.

Whilst it is good advice to park on a hill with the vehicle in gear and also to turn the front wheels in or out this measure has only ever been required as a belt and braces approach when parking. In other words the car is parked in this manner to cover the unlikely event of handbrake failure and I repeat my words from an earlier section of this letter namely:-

“…vehicles must not be able to roll when the handbrake is applied…”

It must be the case, given the terms of your letter to me, the attached self adhesive label and the “Change of Details” form (in red – so that it stands out) that there are concerns by you, as the manufacturer, that handbrake failure on the Vectra is not unlikely to happen, but rather likely to happen, or to be more precise, likely to happen with my Vectra.

I appreciate that an “off load” has been attempted with reference to the Highway Code, but it is interesting to note the wording of the Highway Code concerning parking on hills. It says this at the start of section 226:-

“…226: Parking on hills. If you park on a hill you should…”

Please note that the word should is used and not the word must. Should means amongst other things:-

“…What is the correct or best thing to do…”

No law is being broken if the car is not parked in the manner advised by the Highway Code. This is reasonable in that there can be numerous reasons why this step may not taken by drivers. The bottom line in all of this goes back to the fundamental issue that vehicles must not be able to roll when the handbrake is applied.

If there is the possibility of rolling once the handbrake is applied, and by your actions you are saying that with respect to the Vectra, or at least my Vectra, there is that real possibility, (I refer you back to your letter to me and the attached self adhesive label), then there must be, in certain circumstances, something seriously wrong with the handbrake system associated with, at the very least, my Vectra.

One is not saying that you and VOSA have not carried out a review of the system and have not identified any deviations from the handbrake mechanism specification. What one is saying is that irrespective of that research there is something seriously wrong. The fault may either be in the system as a whole or it may only apply to each particular car where there has been failure, but failures there have been.

I do not really wish to get embroiled in litigation, but I am of the view that irrespective of what experts may or may not say, that there is now enough evidence to cause a District Judge in the County Court to find, on a balance of probability in certain circumstances, that there is a problem with the Vectra braking system of, at the very least, my car.

Since first composing this letter I have re-read your letter and the label and it seems to me that you have invented a novel way of parking cars. Well you have told me of a new way to park my Vectra. I will tell you what I mean. The label says as follows:

“…Always apply the hand brake fully, taking care not to depress the lever release button...”

I was taught always to depress the lever release button to reduce wear and tear on the ratchet mechanism.

In addition, and rather stupidly in my view, it goes on to say:

“…To reduce operating forces, depress the foot brake at the same time…”

Is it not the case that, removing the issue of parking on a flat level road surface, when one parks ones car the foot has to be on the foot brake to stop the car rolling.

As a solicitor I wish to put forward a serious proposition to you namely that I give you an undertaking not to disclose the contents of this letter to any third party and a further undertaking that should this matter be resolved between us amicably the terms of any agreement reached will, equally, not be disclosed to any third party. In other words I give an undertaking that any agreement reached will remain for all time coming strictly confidential between myself and your company.

What I am seeking from you in settlement is reimbursement by you, via me of all of the costs incurred as the result of the accident. In addition I wish to have my excess of £350.00 reimbursed. In other words I wish to be placed back in the same position I was in prior to the incident on 24 June 2007. I must remind you of the police officers words when he said to his colleague:

“The handbrake is on”

In other words I have it documented by a third party who checked the handbrake and can confirm that when I parked my car I had applied the handbrake correctly. If necessary I would be prepared to call as a Witness this police officer and I think his evidence in Court, should the need arise and I hope it does not, will be prove to be very credible in support of any claim that I might lodge in Court against your Company.

Given the terms of this letter I am aware that I have now currently placed myself in a position where I am unable to make a report to VOSA or take the issue up with Which Magazine, (I have now come to understand that it is BBC Watchdog) who I understand are conducting their own investigations.

However given my reasonable approach to this matter I wait to hear from you, in a reasonable time, with what I trust will be your favourable and reasonable response.

Yours faithfully.

David E Jacobson.

And I will be sending a copy of this letter to VOSA.

Kindest regards.

Dave.

lawcontractor@hotmail.com

I drive a 07 Vectra 3.0 v6 cdti Elite on a Vauxhall Fleet car plan which has just rolled across a car park into the side of somebodys car. I apologized to the irate owner of the damaged car and was quite embarrassed about the fact I thought I had left my handbrake off. I am now about to lose my no claim discount and £100 excess to repair the damage to the cars.

I am a Vauxhall employee and had not actually heard anything of this fault until I mentioned the incident in work. Obviously working at Vauxhall there is a lot of Vectra/Signum drivers. I now know of 2 other incidents in my area alone, both worse than mine. One guys vectra rolled backwards down his drive hitting a small girl playing in the street. Fortunately there where no serious injuries. Another guys handbrake failed in the works car park and damaged 3 other cars before coming to a stop.

Even as a Vauxhall employee I feel helpless and can see no way out of keeping my no claims and avoiding the excess bill. I can only keep all records and keep an eye on sites like this and hope that maybe sometime in the future I may be able to claim it back.

Nearly every one of the 2500+ employees here at the Ellesmere Port plant drives a brand new Vauxhall, and is likely to lease another one for a member of their family from Vauxhall Fleet Management, and there have been no communication from the plant or from fleet management about this problem. I am yet to see one of the stickers that I've read about on this site fitted to any of the cars which we exchange every 7 months.

Feel free to add my email address to any list or to contact me:

rob.shaw@vauxhall.co.uk

I have just come across this article, via google news, regarding a runaway vectra striking an elderly lady causing fractures to her legs and ankle.

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?=brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=News&itemid=IPED12%20Oct%202007%2016%3A06%3A34%3A883

Alan

mail@alanlebon.com

Good evening to everybody or morning!

OK this is not the summary promised - it seems I have assumed responsibility for this mess. I am happy to do so. What do we have - and this is not the summary I wanted to do. I work on the assumption that General Motors are watching this site with eagle eyes! And so they should! There may have been a fatality caused by their incompetence! But we are not sure. What are we certain of? Well at least two people have been seriously injured and that is documented. We know VOSA have flown out to Germany after vigerous handbrake tests failed. We also know that if you have claimed on your insurance Vauxhall wash their hands of you! (I DO NOT THINK)! We know that on a slope with the handbrake applied, the brake jumped and the car rolled. The brake had to be on in the first place to enable the driver to get out of the car. We also know that Vauxhall workers have had problems, but nobody in Vauxhall gave them stickers or sent them letters. We also know that thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused - by what - Vauxhall let me tell you - a defect in your handbraking system. We need to be patient, this is not going to rest and we all know that - and when there is serious personal injury - at least two cases documented - either or both which could have resulted in death Vauxhall need to wake up and listen. Safety before profits. It is not exactly going to break their bank to admit to a fault and put everybody back in the same position they were in before they bought a car from that company apart from those two people seriously injured. Sleep well at night Vauxhall Management. We are not going to go away.

Like many others I also own a runaway vectra and like most others have fought with my dealership and Vauxhall U.K I had been advised by another Vauxhall owner to contact vosa which I did. They person I spoke with at vosa informed me that as many people as possible need to report any incidents with their vauxhall to this body. So please report all incidents to this goverment body and to make it easier I have included their address and telephone numbers.

Vosa

Berkely House

Croyden Street

Bristol

BS5 ODA.

Tel 0117 9543247

Fax 0117 9543328.

alexcalvert@hotmail.com.

Same thing has happened to me! Fortunately I ran after it, unlocked it and got in bringing it to a stop. Rolled off about 5 minutes after getting out of the car!

In answer to the above topic re VOSA, I reported my runaway Vectra to them, but it turns out they are toothless (rather than ruthless!!) in such matters. Unlike their American counterparts, they cannot force Vauxhall to institute a recall, but can merely 'work with them to resolve matters'.

I was told anecdotally by VOSA that there had been two fatalities, including one being investigated by Greater Manchester Police, plus one 'serious injury'.

One can merely hope that if a case runs in Court, a brave Judge will make what seems to be an obvious decision on liability.

I've received an email from BBC saying that they are showing an update on Wednesday nights BBC Watchdog programme.

Joanne Burke.

Steveburke1@hotmail.co.uk.

To everybody.

I saw Watchdog on 24.10.07!

I have had a response from Vauxhall to my letter and email - standard response – the handbrake is safe.

But they said one thing in their letter to me of 8 October 2007 that was interesting - and I quote -

"…Unfortunately as we were not made aware

of the incident…"

(they are referring to my incident - I detail it on this site)

"…at the time. We were not provided the opportunity

to inspect your vehicle…".

The implication of these words are that if they had been made aware of my.

“…incident…”

They would have inspected my vehicle. In other words at the time of my incident taking place Vauxhall and Vauxhall dealers were aware of a problem and if I had taken my vehicle into a Vauxhall dealer for repair and explained what had happened they would, no doubt, have carried out “vigorous handbrake tests” an found no problem.

Well members of this web site, Vauxhall and my insurance company were not made aware of the problem because I was not made aware of a problem. If Vauxhall had made me aware sooner, and by that I mean before my incident happened I would have told both them and my insurance company at the time the incident happened.

I believe that they were aware of the problem before my incident happened.

I never told them about it because I took my car to a non-Vauxhall dealer to carry out the repair.

If I had taken it to a Vauxhall dealer for repair - no doubt they would have been:

"…made aware of the incident at the time…"

And that would have:

"…provided…”

Them with:

“…the opportunity to inspect…"

My:

"…vehicle..."

We need to know when Vauxhall started issuing those stupid letters and stickers and when they became so concerned that they had to issue them.

We also need to know why they were not issued sooner or at least why a warning was not issued sooner.

Finally we need to prove that Vauxhall dealers were made aware of the problem well before the issue of the letter and sticker and if that is the case why were owners not warned sooner.

They also go on to say, and again I quote them:

“…I also note that your insurance company has

settled your claim, which I can confirm, if they

felt was due to a manufacturing fault, they would

have contacted Vauxhall Motors directly…”

But maybe my handbrake is faulty, maybe a rigorous examination by their engineers might result in solving this problem. But they, in their letter to me, have not said that they would like to inspect my handbrake!

Mine is, therefore, in their mind, just another one of those handbrake problems and their handbrake system is safe so there is no need to carry out a vigorous handbrake test on my car. The damage has been done and my insurance company have coughed up. That for them, as concerned manufacturers, and in the interests of public safety, is the end of the matter. In other words, they are not really that concerned.

I believe that Vauxhall have been negligent at least in the late notification of the problem to vehicle owners. This is said against the background that there are incidents of this problem on this site going back to August 2006.

I think that they think that they are sitting pretty because we are all insured and our insurance companies, if we are fully comprehensively insured, pick up the tab.

I would like each of you to email me with the date the accident happened and when you received the letter and sticker. I suspect that like me it probably “plopped” through your letter box after the incident. This is important so think carefully did the sticker and letter arrive after the incident?

Remember a member of their own staff who drives one of a fleet which is changed every seven months did not know about the problem until recently.

Dave Jacobson

lawcontractor@hotmail.com.

P.S. I am getting emails, if I do not respond do not worry, I will. Keep them coming.

Kindest regards

Dave.

I am also a Vectra C driver; it has rolled away a couple of times. Luckily, no-one was hurt.

I had my new Vectra for 1 month when it rolled down my drive and into the front of my house. This happened in July 2006. I had both a car and building claim due to the damaged caused. I could not understand why the unattended car managed to move while unoccupied. When the letter from Vauxhall arrived in August 2007 it removed any doubt that it was a fault with the handbrake. I wrote to Vauxhall asking if there was any compensation available, but they knew that my insurance claim had been settled and they had no opportunity to inspect the vehicle and could only offer to inspect the handbrake at no cost as a goodwill gesture.

Hi all.

It's not just Vectra's you know, I have a runaway Signum!

My wife parked in a small close outside her uncles house, she has done the same a couple of times nearly every day for the last 15 years in different cars.

She locked the car and walked away only to hear a bang and turn to see it crunch into the next door neighbours Nissan Micra.

Fortunately no one was hurt and only a broken number plate for us, but it cost £200 to repair the Nissan. My wife was distraught and blamed herself even though I explained you couldn't get out of the car if you hadn't applied the handbrake properly. I was pleased to see the Watchdog show on this as she then felt a lot better about the whole thing.

Having read some of the input here I count myself very lucky, particularly as the neighbour has three young children who play out in front of the house.

Mike1001@fsmail.net.