Runcorn & Widnes Weekly News

Motability car veered out of control says mum

- BY OLIVER CLAY

ARUNCORN cancer survivor and her disabled son have claimed a fault with their Motability car saw it veer into oncoming traffic.

Joyce Reilly and son Mark first acquired the Citroen Berlingo on a lease in 2019 in Mark’s name before it was transferre­d into Joyce’s name the following year.

Joyce, 53, who recently defied the odds to survive and beat stage three cancer in her neck, head and throat, said the car has been off the road for a year now but she is still having to pay the lease from her limited benefits in addition to taxi fares with no option to return the Berlingo before the lease expires.

They said the faults began on the day it was collected in January 2019, when they claimed the Android Auto system wouldn’t work.

They said the car deteriorat­ed, with the lane guidance system being unable to properly read the lanes ahead and pulling the vehicle across the line and towards danger while a message popped up alerting them to the “lane guidance fault”.

In another alleged incident during a visit to Belle Vale Shopping Centre in south Liverpool, they said the car’s brakes failed, causing the car to roll back towards traffic and forcing Mark to pull the handbrake to prevent what they claimed would have been a crash.

They said the same problem returned while on a trip to Runcorn Asda when they said the “brake failure” alert appeared and the vehicle lost all power on the expressway.

Following an incident in which Joyce said her husband drove the car over a log, damaging a wheel, she said they took it to be repaired and paid a £100 excess to insurers RSA Motability, only for the Berlingo’s MOT to discover the damaged wheel was still secured to the vehicle’s underside, meaning they had no spare.

Joyce claimed “the RAC won’t touch it” after finding 19 electrical faults and “said there was too much wrong with it”.

But she said that when they last contacted Motability, it advised them to call the RAC.

The car is now off the road and parked up near their home on Canal Reach in Windmill Hill.

Joyce said the “stress” is affecting her recovery from cancer.

Mark, 23, who lives with a condition that means the ligaments in his legs easily tear, said a previous “smart” car on Motability had been prone to technical faults and cutting out and had to be returned as a result.

He said although the charity dismissed his concerns while the vehicle was under his keepership, it issued a recall letter for that particular model following his return, vindicatin­g his claims.

Joyce and Mark said they are now left with a car that is undriveabl­e.

Describing the incident with the Berlingo at Belle Vale, Joyce said: “We were going up a ramp about two years ago and it started flashing ‘brake failure, brake failure’.

“The steering locked, the electrics went in the car.

“We were going down onto a main road.

“We were going up to the shopping centre and we started coming down.

“They did nothing. They’re not listening to us.”

She added: “They don’t listen to you. I’ve asked them to take it but they keep taking my money.

“I have to take taxis everywhere.”

On the lane guidance system, Mark said: “It’s not saying where the lanes are and it’s pulling us across.

“The system thinks it’s right, so the steering locks.

“And if a car is too close, it brakes, and when there’s nothing in front it constantly brakes.”

Joyce added: “They won’t give me my money back, they won’t take their car.

“That’s all I want now and they won’t do anything. They keep taking my money for a car I can’t use.”

Motability, RSA Motability and Citroen were approached for comment but had not responded by the time of publicatio­n.

 ??  ?? ● Joyce Reilly and her son Mark with the Citroen Berlingo hired on Motability lease but which has caused them years of misery due to a series of hazardous crash-risk faults
● Joyce Reilly and her son Mark with the Citroen Berlingo hired on Motability lease but which has caused them years of misery due to a series of hazardous crash-risk faults
 ??  ?? ● The damaged wheel Joyce and Mark Reilly said was still secured to the base of their fault-ridden Citroen Berlingo
● The damaged wheel Joyce and Mark Reilly said was still secured to the base of their fault-ridden Citroen Berlingo

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