235,000 Vauxhall Zafiras recalled for second time in six months over fault that saw cars burst into flames

Fire risk: Nearly 250,000 Zafiras have been recalled over safety reasons
Laura Kerr/PA

Nearly 250,000 Vauxhall Zafiras are being recalled for a second time over a fault that saw cars burst into flames.

The car manufacturer took the decision last December to recall the vehicles to replace resistors and fuses in an effort to correct the issue.

But now Vauxhall has ordered a similar move, which it says takes the form of "preventative action".

The latest recall will involve "improving the overall robustness of the system". It affects all the UK's 234,938 Zafira B owners.

In an announcement on Thursday, a Vauxhall spokesman said: "While the current action achieves the objective of returning vehicles to their original condition, we have decided to go further and improve the overall robustness of the system.

"We will therefore be initiating a second recall to replace the current soldered fuse resistor with a wax fuse resistor so reducing the opportunity for manipulation.”

In November last year, London Fire Brigade said it had attended 71 Zafira fires since 2013, compared with just 38 in the previous four years.

A Zafira B which caught fire near North Sheen station in November last year (Laura Kerr/PA)
Laura Kerr/PA Wire

Both recalls have been free for owners and the company will be writing to customers with more information and letters inviting them into dealerships for the recall, expected to go out in August.

Jacqueline Young, head of group litigation at Slater and Gordon which has been representing Zafira owners who have suffered fires, said: "If the findings are true, at best, Vauxhall has been woefully incompetent; at worst, they have sought to conceal a potentially life endangering technical fault - the public deserve to find out which is it.

For the owners of Zafiras that have burst into flames, she said any insurance claim could affect their insurance premiums.

She added: "They will also potentially be out of pocket for any uninsured losses. If Vauxhall is responsible, these losses can viably be claimed from them. Any customers who have suffered a fire should explore these issues with their insurers."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT