No recollection

With all the bad publicity that Toyota has received of late I cannot understand why Vauxhall have not been brought to task over the problem with the Meriva's power steering. My wife has experienced at least 6 occasions when the steering has become unmanageably heavy whilst driving her Meriva. She loves the car's design as she suffers with a serious back condition, but she is now losing her nerve when driving the car due to this steering fault. Yes, the "management" light does come on but only when the problem starts (no pre-warning). The problem can usually be rectified by switching the engine off and then restarting it. But this can be frightening when negotiating a busy roundabout, which is where the problem become apparent on two of the six occasions.

Asked on 15 May 2010 by R.C., via e-mail

Answered by Honest John
Simply because VOSA refuses to recall the cars for this vital safety
issue, just as it does VAG, BMW, Volvo and Mazda over the Teves Mk 60 ABS/ESP module issue and it previously did over tearaway steering racks on SAABs and collapsing front suspension on Mercedes W210s. I guess it comes down to costs. While Toyota’s accelerator switches cost buttons to fix and the parts are cheap to manufacture by the hundred thousand, the cost of steering and ABS units is significant and hundreds of thousands cannot quickly be made.
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