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Watchdog has discovered a fault with the UK's third best selling car, the Vauxhall Astra. We've heard from some Astra owners who say that their horns don't work when the headlights are turned on.
Kathryn Morton bought her 2005 plate Astra two years ago. She discovered the fault when she was approaching a busy intersection on a motorway, at night. She told us:
"I could see another car was heading into my lane, so automatically my response was to hit the horn to let them know I was there. Nothing happened; there was no sound at all."
Kathryn looked online and found that other Astra drivers had experienced the fault and many of them at night, when their headlights were turned on.
Safety issue
Automotive engineering expert Mark Brown says this is a potentially dangerous fault that would cause an MOT failure, and told Watchdog:
"The horn is an audible warning device that every vehicle should be fitted with. Its function is to warn other road users of the driver's presence, for example, a pedestrian who might be just about to step off the curb.
"If the horn doesn't work, the car would fail its MOT test which technically means it's not roadworthy."
Calls to Vauxhall dealers
To find out whether Vauxhall know about this problem, we called 10 Vauxhall service centres to book a fictitious Astra in for repair work. All of them were aware of the fault with the horn.
But Vauxhall aren't telling customers about the problem and many drivers might not know their car has this fault. Mark Brown told us:
"The MOT tester won't necessarily test the horn with the headlights on, so the first time the driver will know there's a problem is when they come to use the horn, in an emergency situation, when of course, it's too late".
This fault also affects Zafiras. If you find your car has this fault, Watchdog wants to hear from you...
Vauxhall statement:
"In June 2007, Vauxhall became aware via reports from its retail network of a very small number of incidents. An investigation was launched and the root cause was found to be an intermittent connection within the pin connectors of a wiring harness linking the steering wheel audio controls and the main vehicle harness. A Technical Service Bulletin was provided to the Vauxhall retail network in December 2007 advising that in the event of a customer describing this particular failure mode, the wiring harness should be replaced using a new wiring harness. This new part was incorporated into vehicle production during 2007.
"Only vehicles with audio steering wheel controls are potentially impacted, these are not standard on all models. The number of reported cases is extremely low; the population of potentially affected vehicles includes Astra (built from 2004 to 2007) and Zafira (built from 2005 to 2007).
"As Watchdog is already aware, Vauxhall takes quality issues very seriously, as soon as cases were reported, investigation was undertaken and a solution found. No proactive customer action was undertaken due to the very low number of cases.
"Any failure attributed to a manufacturer defect and reported within the vehicles warranty period will be covered under our existing warranty program. A failure of the horn that is found to be a result of this particular wiring harness will be paid for by either the Vauxhall warranty program or under its goodwill policy program even if the warranty or mileage periods have expired.
"Most customers have had the work done to resolve these issues under warranty. However, customers that have had their vehicle repaired and have been charged for either of the two issues described, and are able to provide a suitable invoice, will be fully reimbursed through our goodwill policy programme by contacting our customer assistance centre.
"Customer Assistance Contact details:
"Tel: 0845 090 2044 (Watchdog Note: you may be charged for these calls)
Email: vauxhall.customerassistance@vauxhall.co.uk
"We will be manning the Customer Assistance Centre telephone lines following the programme, so any affected customers are advised to call to discuss their case with a Vauxhall adviser."
The horn that doesn't warn?
Watchdog has discovered a fault with the UK's third best selling car, the Vauxhall Astra. We've heard from some Astra owners who say that their horns don't work when the headlights are turned on.
Kathryn Morton bought her 2005 plate Astra two years ago. She discovered the fault when she was approaching a busy intersection on a motorway, at night. She told us:
"I could see another car was heading into my lane, so automatically my response was to hit the horn to let them know I was there. Nothing happened; there was no sound at all."
Kathryn looked online and found that other Astra drivers had experienced the fault and many of them at night, when their headlights were turned on.
Safety issue
Automotive engineering expert Mark Brown says this is a potentially dangerous fault that would cause an MOT failure, and told Watchdog:
"The horn is an audible warning device that every vehicle should be fitted with. Its function is to warn other road users of the driver's presence, for example, a pedestrian who might be just about to step off the curb.
"If the horn doesn't work, the car would fail its MOT test which technically means it's not roadworthy."
Calls to Vauxhall dealers
To find out whether Vauxhall know about this problem, we called 10 Vauxhall service centres to book a fictitious Astra in for repair work. All of them were aware of the fault with the horn.
But Vauxhall aren't telling customers about the problem and many drivers might not know their car has this fault. Mark Brown told us:
"The MOT tester won't necessarily test the horn with the headlights on, so the first time the driver will know there's a problem is when they come to use the horn, in an emergency situation, when of course, it's too late".
This fault also affects Zafiras. If you find your car has this fault, Watchdog wants to hear from you...
Vauxhall statement:
"In June 2007, Vauxhall became aware via reports from its retail network of a very small number of incidents. An investigation was launched and the root cause was found to be an intermittent connection within the pin connectors of a wiring harness linking the steering wheel audio controls and the main vehicle harness. A Technical Service Bulletin was provided to the Vauxhall retail network in December 2007 advising that in the event of a customer describing this particular failure mode, the wiring harness should be replaced using a new wiring harness. This new part was incorporated into vehicle production during 2007.
"Only vehicles with audio steering wheel controls are potentially impacted, these are not standard on all models. The number of reported cases is extremely low; the population of potentially affected vehicles includes Astra (built from 2004 to 2007) and Zafira (built from 2005 to 2007).
"As Watchdog is already aware, Vauxhall takes quality issues very seriously, as soon as cases were reported, investigation was undertaken and a solution found. No proactive customer action was undertaken due to the very low number of cases.
"Any failure attributed to a manufacturer defect and reported within the vehicles warranty period will be covered under our existing warranty program. A failure of the horn that is found to be a result of this particular wiring harness will be paid for by either the Vauxhall warranty program or under its goodwill policy program even if the warranty or mileage periods have expired.
"Most customers have had the work done to resolve these issues under warranty. However, customers that have had their vehicle repaired and have been charged for either of the two issues described, and are able to provide a suitable invoice, will be fully reimbursed through our goodwill policy programme by contacting our customer assistance centre.
"Customer Assistance Contact details:
"Tel: 0845 090 2044 (Watchdog Note: you may be charged for these calls)
Email: vauxhall.customerassistance@vauxhall.co.uk
"We will be manning the Customer Assistance Centre telephone lines following the programme, so any affected customers are advised to call to discuss their case with a Vauxhall adviser."
The horn that doesn't warn?
