- “We need Stellantis to answer for the ruling, it’s very serious.”
- In Galicia, more than 19,000 users are affected, distributed in the four provinces of the country.
- It is estimated that more than 750,000 vehicles with the defective Puretech engine have been sold in Spain, 4 million in Europe.
5/10/2024
More than fifty people gathered at 10:30 a.m. in front of the doors of Stellantis, in Vigo, and then began a slow march with their cars in the surrounding area to draw attention to the drama they live daily. The caravan of cars took place in a calm manner and under the protection of the local and national police, whom the directors thanked for their cooperation. Some demonstrators have come from far away, like Vanesa, owner of a car registered in 2019 who has traveled from Girona: ” I have come to show my anger, I bought a new car with great illusion, at 43,000 km I had to change the timing belt, I was 3 months without a car, I have a family, I take my children to school and I feel very insecure, I have had to change twice the buggies, problems with the brakes, it is a very serious failure. We need solutions, we need Stellantis to respond to the failure”.
For the first time, those affected by the failed Stellantis engines gathered in front of the factory headquarters in Vigo. Despite the rain, half a hundred victims of Puretech engines gathered in front of the factory gates to
demand a solution to the tragedy they are living: cars of different brands that a few years after their purchase stop working due to engine failure. The president of AFESTEL, who traveled from Huelva to Vigo, thanked the attendees for their
participation and asked them for patience. “We are working hard, altruistically and we must unite to get Stellantis to recognize the error”. After listening to the words of the president of the association the demonstrators
started a march sounding their horns and shouting slogans against Stellantis. At 1 p.m. the demonstration ended at the same starting point: the entrance to the factory.
In Galicia, the association estimates (based on DGT data) that some 19,000 vehicles are affected by this type of engine: 8,016 in A Coruña, 7,342 in Pontevedra, 2,022 in Lugo and 1,718 in Ourense.
The Association of Affected Stellantis (AFESTEL) represents today more than 6,000 of them (in Galicia there are more than 600 associates) ready to go to court to defend their right to compensation, aware that the only way to force the company to seek a solution to compensate for the economic loss is to act collectively
.
Recall that this is a manufacturing anomaly of this type of engines used in brands such as Opel, Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Jeep and Toyota, which consists of a gradual degradation of the timing belt, resulting in high oil consumption, malfunction of the vacuum pump and other serious failures that lead to premature engine degradation. All of this means costly repairs for the owners, since the dealers do not attend to the claims on the grounds that the warranty periods have expired or that the repairs have not been carried out at the brand’s own dealership, although there are numerous users who have done so.
Victims’ claim
AFESTEL expects Stellantis to acknowledge the factory defect, remove the vehicles for scrap and return the amounts paid for excessive repairs and maintenance, to offer compensation for each day the vehicle has been idle without a replacement car for the user and to compensate for the devaluation of the vehicle.
The flaw was discovered in 2020, in cars released since 2014. It is necessary to take into account that these cars present failures, on average, after 4 to 6 years, therefore, there are thousands of cases that have not yet been reported.