VW ‘failed to tell customers of faulty seat belts’ in cars

VOLKSWAGEN Group has continued to sell vehicles despite being made aware six months ago of a fault with their seat belts, the consumer group Which? has claimed.

After the fault was discovered in May by Tekniikan Maailma, a Finnish motoring magazine, Volkswagen recalled thousands of new VW Polos and thousands more Seat Ibizas and Arosas.

When all three rear seat belts are in use in affected cars driven at high speed, the left rear passenger side belt can become unbuckled.

Which? said it was concerned about how Volkswagen had handled the issue and had spoken to motorists who said they had not been told of an ongoing issue with seat belts when they picked up their cars in the summer.

The motorists questioned by the consumer group had been using all three rear seats.

Which? said it believed that an interim fix, involving the faulty seat belt block being temporarily secured with a plastic cable tie, minimised but did not fully prevent the risk of the seat belt coming undone.

A permanent fix, in which a spacer is fitted to the seat belt mechanism, is due to be introduced on Monday.

Customers were being contacted to arrange an appointment at a garage and the fix would be free of charge, Volkswagen Group said.

Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home products and services, said: “VW’S handling of this potentially lethal safety issue has been completely unsatisfactory. It’s shocking that they proposed a fix that doesn’t even properly solve the problem, and we’re concerned that customers might not always be getting the right information at the point of sale.

“The decision not to suspend sales when the problem was discovered has now put substantially more drivers, as well as their passengers, at risk. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) must investigate VW’S handling of the whole situation.”

A Volkswagen Group spokesman said customer safety was its top priority and it had been in contact with the DVSA and kept customers informed.

He said customers had been advised not to use the middle seat until they had the buckle modified.

“Given the limited circumstances in which the seat belt can [in the test conditions] come unbuckled, and the employment of the interim fix and further still the specific warnings provided to users, there is no materially increased risk. It is on that basis that sales continued,” he said.