03' Vectra PAS failure - where do I stand?

CSU

Eight weeks ago I bought my wife a 2003 1.6 petrol Vecta and the power assisted steering has developed a very serious and dangerous intermittent fault. At random times the power steering cut's out and becomes almost impossible to turn the wheel.

Yesterday we brought the car back to the garage we bought it from as it's still within the three month warranty and the mechanic messed about with fuses and said to come back if it happens again ( which it has ).

Reading a bit on Google I came across this article on the BBC Watchdog website:

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Which Breakfast star's in our Meriva car?
Post categories: Cars and transport
Elham rizi | 12:28 UK time, Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Since its launch in 2003, the Vauxhall Meriva has become one of the best-selling multi-purpose vehicles in the UK. It's aimed at parents doing the school run and Vauxhall say it's the perfect car for you and the kids. But families we've spoken to are too scared to drive it. We sent Sian Williams to investigate...


The family in the advert looks nice, the advert itself looks gorgeous and the car looks just the thing for mums. It's no wonder so many parents have fallen for it. But there's a serious problem with the power steering on some Merivas that's not only costly to fix, it's also potentially dangerous. So perhaps it's not so child friendly after all?

(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'Meriva' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).

Watchdog met up with Lisa Butcher, who bought her Meriva second hand in 2008. Lisa told us:

"I've got four year old twins, and I wanted a nice family friendly car to take the kids out and about it and I wanted something that was reliable".

The Meriva comes with power steering - essential for parking and manoeuvring around town. Which is brilliant if it works, but terrifying if it doesn't, as Lisa explained:

"I was driving with my children in the back, and I was just approaching a roundabout and suddenly I couldn't steer the car. It just went really stiff. Luckily, I was going quite slowly so I managed to steer it around and force it into a parking space which I found almost impossible."

A problem with the electrics had caused Lisa's power steering to fail. It can happen at any time and without warning and it has left Lisa scared to drive her car. She said:

"It has to be a safety issue. Because you don't know it's going to happen, so how can you plan for that? If you're not expecting it there's going to be a delay, and that delay could kill you".

Near misses and uncertainty have also become part of Craig Sheeran's daily routine. He bought his Meriva brand new in 2006 but over the past 12 months the power steering has failed more than a hundred times. Craig told us:

"It makes me extremely nervous to drive the car. Even now, after 8 months of it happening continuously, it still shocks me when it goes. It upsets you a bit because it could happen anywhere".

Watchdog have heard of more than 100 cars manufactured between 2003 and 2008 that all suffer from the same problem. But Vauxhall have let these cars stay on the road. We wanted to find out what dangers their drivers face each time they get behind the wheel so we asked car expert Mark Brown to take Craig's Meriva on a test drive. Within minutes of him setting off the power steering had failed and Mark observed:

"The steering's gone really, really hard and it's almost impossible to turn the steering". During the hour long test drive, the power steering failed an incredible seven times.

We decided to see how Sian Williams found driving a Meriva when the fault occurs. Sian took a test at Thruxton race track with two Meriva owners, Juley Felton and Carole Leslie as spectators. As the fault is intermittent, our expert Mark Brown programmed it to happen on a Meriva. He just needed to flick the switch and the power steering would fail. As Sian started her first manoeuvre, she had no idea when the fault would occur, when it did she said:

"That was horrible, that was the power steering going and I tell you what, you notice it instantly".

Sian caught up with Juley and Carole to discuss how it feels driving the Merivas with the power steering fault when you don't know it's coming. Juley told us:

"I have a three year old in the back and I can be going along a dual carriageway, at, say, 50 miles an hour and come to a roundabout and suddenly it will just veer off and then I'm struggling with him in the back".

Safety issues like these are investigated by VOSA - the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency. The can force a manufacturer to recall any car with a safety defect - something that's likely to cause significant risk of injury. We asked them if they'd received any complaints about the power steering in Merivas. They told us they had, but said that as their tests had shown the car could still be driven when the steering failed, they saw no reason to take any action. We asked our expert Mark Brown what he thought:

"They're right, you can still drive the car, but the amount of effort you have to put in to steering the car, particularly if you are taken by surprise when the steering does fail, has to increase the risk of an accident. It could be very dangerous, potentially. Even as an experienced driver I found it took me by surprise. I found it lengthened the time and the distance you needed to steer the car. And in certain circumstances that could be quite serious".

VOSA's decision is surprising because it also sets the rules for MOTs, and when it comes to power steering, those rules are very clear. Mark Brown again:

"If the car is found to have defective steering or steering that malfunctions, then it could fail its MOT, which would mean it's unroadworthy".

If VOSA had decided this was a safety defect, it would have been up to Vauxhall - the manufacturer - to deal with it and issue a recall. Instead, VOSA suggested that it is the owner's responsibility to ensure their car is roadworthy. And they should seek the advice of a qualified mechanic should any component fail to function. We caught up with Meriva owner Craig Sheeran again who did just that. And even though his car was out of warranty, Vauxhall helped him pay for a new steering column. Craig told us:

"Which I thought was very generous of them and put my faith back in to Vauxhall, and then the very next day I pick up the car and it's gone again".

Vauxhall later told Craig the car needed further repairs - but they couldn't guarantee these would make the power steering problem go away. Can Vauxhall give that guarantee to any Meriva owners?

Vauxhall statement to Watchdog on Meriva steering:

Vauxhall takes any product issues which may impact the behaviour of the vehicle very seriously. The Meriva electric power steering system is designed to be fail-safe in line with the EEC Directive that a vehicle must be able to steer in the event of a power steering failure.

The number of incidences of loss of power assistance on the Meriva is low. We would ask customers who experience loss of power assistance to contact their local Vauxhall dealer who has been briefed and trained to diagnosis and carry out the repair. This will be done free of charge.

For additional convenience, including contact details for the Vauxhall dealer network, the Vauxhall customer assistance centre (freephone 0800 026 4970) is available to help.

A VOSA spokesperson said:

"Road safety is our number one priority. We take all complaints very seriously and work closely with manufacturers to make sure the appropriate course of action is taken. In cases where there is clear evidence that a vehicle has a safety defect, due to a feature of design or construction, which is liable to cause significant risk of injury or death, then VOSA will work with the manufacturer to ensure a recall is launched."

This is what has happened to our Vectra, but I can't find any info on it.

Where do I stand? Is the power steering setup in the Meriva similar to our Vectra and should I be entitled to have it fixed by Opel?

mickdw

Ive heard of this hapening on an 03 vectra as well. I have no idea what was causing it as the car was traded in after a couple of dodgy moments with it. Dont drive it.
You could ask your local dealer about it, they will at least be able to give you details of the problem & the recommended fix. You can then take this to your garage.