VW admits its seatbelts may fly open at high speed
Another day and another German car scandal...
TENS of thousands of VW and Seat cars sold in the UK may have faulty seatbelts, it emerged last night.
Some of the most popular models have a potentially lethal design flaw causing the buckle to fly open at high speeds, the German manufacturer admitted.
The VW Group, which owns both brands, is now poised to issue a global safety recall affecting up to 28,000 vehicles in the UK alone. Drivers will be urged not to let passengers use the rear middle seatbelt – and return the car for repairs immediately.
The issue comes at a difficult time for VW, which is still dealing with the fallout from the 2015 emissions scandal.
And it emerges just a day after BMW recalled 312,000 cars over a potentially lethal technical problem which can cause vehicles to suddenly lose power and stall in the middle of the road.
The seat belt safety alert will alarm many drivers – particularly those who regularly ferry their children around in the back.
The fault affects the latest versions of the popular VW Polo, which has been sold since the start of the year, the new Seat Ibiza, launched last summer and the latest version of the Seat Arona, which was launched in December.
Over the next few days owners will start receiving letters advising them to bring their car into their local approved garage or dealer to have the seatbelt buckles on the rear seats replaced for free.
Before it issues the safety recall, VW Group needs to gain approval from the KBA - Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority.
The alarm was only raised following independent tests carried out by a little- known Finnish motoring magazine Tekniikan Maailma. It found the problem occurred when the car was carrying five people and the driver made a high speed lane change to the left.
As the middle buckle is mounted slightly higher than the rear left, the sharp turn forced it to push down on the one next to it and unbuckle the rear left passenger.
The magazine said the ‘unlatching is caused by a design fault’. Urgent tests carried out by the VW Group over the last 48 hours quickly confirmed the flaw.
VW and Seat confirmed around 28,000 of the three models have been sold in the UK alone - meaning the total number sold globally could top 100,000. Manufacturers stressed that not all of the cars will be affected by the safety problem as some versions will have different seatbelts.
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency – the regulator responsible for policing unsafe vehicles – said it had not yet been contacted by the VW Group about the problem.
A VW spokesman said: ‘Volkswagen will provide a technical solution shortly and recall the vehicles concerned.’ SEAT said it was ‘working on possible solutions’. A spokesman added: ‘Based on the analysis made at our factory we have identified the seat belt issue that Tekniikan Maailma has found in the tests.’ In the so- called dieselgate scandal, almost 600,000 VW cars sold in the US were fitted with ‘defeat devices’ designed to circumvent emissions tests.
BMW came under fire this week when it was accused of covering up a potentially lethal electrical fault for seven years.
The fault, which affects 312,000 vehicles sold in the UK, can cause cars to stall without warning while they are in motion.
An inquest last week heard the problem was to blame for the 2011 death of a former Gurkha who crashed into a BMW in front that stopped suddenly.
‘Working on a solution’