The Department of Road Transport has announced that, according to information from CiC Automasters, manufacturer OPEL/VAUXHALL is recalling a further 688 vehicles due to defective Takata-type driver airbags. The manufacturer has instructed that all affected vehicles be immobilised with immediate effect.
Following this move, the Department of Road Transport has revoked the roadworthiness certificate (MOT) for all affected vehicles.
Owners have expressed strong dissatisfaction over the fact that the recall was implemented without any transitional period. One owner of an affected vehicle put it bluntly: “From the moment they took away my MOT from one day to the next, it means that on the day I drive my car in for the recall I will be driving illegally.”
However, a competent source explained that the reason no grace period was granted to owners is that this is explicitly provided for in decrees issued by the Ministry of Transport. The same source stressed that “exactly the same procedure was followed in previous recalls by other companies, as immediate immobilisation is what the law provides for.”
Owners are urged to contact the manufacturer’s distributor in Cyprus, CiC Automasters, for further guidance on the next steps.