Chevrolet with that dangerous airbag that no one wants to fix, here’s what owners can do

And defective airbag (In front of the driver), worries several owners of four Chevrolet modelsa car manufacturer recently acquired by Opel (and therefore with the Stellantis group). And this acquisition seems to be the basis of the odyssey that owners have been experiencing since around January, when Chevrolet. has started a recall campaign of faulty airbags on its four models: Chevrolet Cruze MY09-17, Orlando MY11-17, TRAX MY13-18, AVEO MY11-18.

Airbag, says the return letter that owners receive, can explode with great force throwing sharp metal pieces that can cause serious injury e even death.

The letter ends with a I invite you to perform the operation as soon as possible of substitution in a authorized Opel repairer.

Concern for Chevrolet owners

It is clear from the letter How dangerous is the defect? and how important it is to make repairs quickly. And indeed many drivers who have turned to our legal advice service in recent weeks have all responded immediately contact an authorized Opel repairer (given that the Chevrolet brand is now owned by Opel) proceed with the replacement of the airbag under warranty, as required by law. But the response they received was amazing.

“I got it from Chevrolet“, says the GB customer”return letter for the replacement of the driver’s airbag under warranty. Chevrolet invites me to contact Opel support, indicating the replacement as “urgent, at risk of death in the event of an accident”. I turned to the Opel workshop who turned me down saying they had no instructions, although they confirmed they had received many similar requests.“.

It is still:

“Chevrolet is doing a recall to replace the airbag, but practically I can’t find anyone willing to replace it.“.

“I received a recall letter from Chevrolet, but I have not been able to make a replacement yet. In the letter they say to take the Opel to a dealer but they don’t say which one. Workshops are out of stock until May“.

“Good morning, I received a letter to return home to replace the air bags; I contacted various Opel workshops (they removed Chevrolet from the Italian market and told us to contact Opel workshops) but despite being aware of the problem they do not know what to do and because of that the problem remains and I know that it involves many Chevrolets. the owners. What needs to be done?“.

In short, the problem is big. There is an invitation to quickly contact the repairman replacing the air bag in the event of an explosion e anyone who tries to do so cannot.

Ghost helpline number

At the end of the letter it says the word “If you encounter problems in making an appointment, we invite you to contact the Customer Relations Service at 02.38591173“. It’s a pity that no one answers that number. This is a Chevrolet call center that warns from the beginning of long waiting time; many cannot speak to the operator after passing long time in the queue on the phone.

Is your car affected? Here’s what you can do

Obviously, if you have received a recall letter from Chevrolet, the first thing to do is try calling an Opel workshop request intervention. In the event of refusal by the workshop (or other problems such as lack of spare parts), as we have seen, the letter shows Service Relations number to contact; but be patient and consider not being able to talk to the operator.

In case of refusal or in any case not being able to contact the Customer Relations Service to replace the airbag, the advice is reduce car use reduce the risk of accidents and the explosion of airbags.

At this point send a written complaint to Opel customer service. You can also do this using our Easy Complaints Service: with your permission we will monitor Opel’s response and if you want you can ask for our intervention.

SUBMIT A COMPLAINT TO OPEL NOW

It is better not to turn off the airbag

But what if I can’t help but use the car? In some forums we read about the possibility of turn off the driver’s airbag (defective) to be able to move around. Be careful though: this is an operation that endangers the approval of the vehicle and above all it can cause problems with insurance because, in case of accident and damageThe driver himself would then be responsible for his own damage.

Make it at your own expense

Another possibility is that of replace the airbag at your own expense. If you can do it (ie you can find a workshop ready to do it with an extra part), keep receipts and invoices so you can later request a refund from Opel which instead should replace the airbag without the cost of parts and labor. Also in this case if you have already changed the airbag you can submit a refund request to Opel thanks to Easy Complaints.

Consider an alternative vehicle

Finally, as a last resort, if you don’t have another car and can’t figure out how to replace the airbag, you can consider using an alternative vehicle, such as short or long term rentals. For this case keep documentation of everything (from receipt to invoice) for ask Open for a refundby using our Easy Complaints service.

We wrote to the Stellantis group

At the same time we wrote to the Stellantis group of which Opel (and therefore Chevrolet) is a part, asking “continue without stopping and delaying the replacement of the faulty airbag in the Opel repairers, as indicated in the recall letter, considering the risk of airbag devices causing injuries and harming the health of drivers and passengers.” and “promptly provide adequate support to the number indicated in reminder letters, take responsibility and resolve user support requests.“. In addition to the manufacturer’s obligations regarding safety provided by the Consumer Code (in particular articles 2, 102 et seq., 137 et seq.), in this case the health of consumers is at risk which must be fully protected as required by the Constitution (article 23).