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Vauxhall Hit by renewed faulty handbrake alarm

by 376 Comments

Vauxhall has been hit by fresh claims that it is producing cars with faulty handbrakes and its vehicles have the capacity to roll away when parked.

Vauxhall Dealership

A Report by the BBC’s watchdog programme said owners of the latest Vauxhall Corsa with a D Model variant, which is less that a year old, had reported instances of their car rolling away after being left stationary with the handbrake on, similar to other models earlier last year.

Complaints to the programme have now reached triple figures. Watchdog reported that Vauxhall was ‘surprised’ to learn of the problems with the new corsa but was now looking into the problem.

Watchdog expert Mark Brown said: “even though the design on the teeth of the handbrake is different from the Vectra, it has still presented the same symptoms that we found with the Vauxhall Vectras and Sigums.”

Vauxhall responded by saying it was investigating the cases raised, and insisted that as per the Highway code, when parking on a slope motorists should ‘engage a gear’, and ensure the handbrake is applied without depressing the release button.

The latest blow for Vauxhall comes just months after Which?, the consumer pressure group, reported that owners of Signum and Vectra models also suffered from the same fault.

Arround 250,000 Sigum and Vectra models are being recalled by the manufacturer in order to fit new springs in the handbrake. Vauxhall described the move as a “customer satisfaction programme”. There are no plans to roll out the scheme to Corsa owners.

The recent development is a further embarrassment to Vauxhall, which issued a massive 355,000 Corsa recall in December after a problem with the vehicles braking system was not fixed properly. Despite an initial recall of last generation Corsas in March 2006 and a further recall of 250,000 models in August 2007, the brake fault still affects newer models.

Comments

  2. My Astra folled backwards with handbrake fullon and demolished a fence. According to Vauxhall there is nothing wrong with the handbrake. I have written a letter ofcomplaint to the managing director of Vauxhall. Handbrakes are not for decoration…they should work 100%

  3. My Vauxhall Corsa 08 sxi, rolled away in ASDA car park and hit another car. I’m fuming as I had the old corsa and never had a problem with it.

  4. Hi Phillip,

    I’m sorry to hear that your Corsa rolled away. I think the new Corsa looks pretty damn good, so it is extremely annoying that Vauxhall could make such a big error. Have they fixed it for you, and covered the repair on the vehicle your car hit?

  5. Pauline,

    How long have you had your car? I’d recommend going to see Citizen’s Advice about that, depending on how old your car is and whether you’ve had it regularly serviced of course. If Vauxhall is at fault you could be in for a decent windfall (and a new fence).

  6. List of malfunctions on my twin top astra design:
    faulty handbrake
    faulty roof function
    faulty boot seals (4 lots and still boot is wet)
    malfunction on emission control
    car is 21 months old.
    Am filing report with VOSA and have asked Grasmere dealership where car was purchased for a replacement or refund, as advised by trading standards.
    If you have a fault or complaint about your vauxhall, report it to VOSA and trading standards. The more officially logged complaints, the stronger the case against vauxhall.

  7. Hi Pauline,

    That number of faults is certainly not acceptable and going to VOSA is some good advice.

    I hope that my Astra doesn’t suffer the same fate, though (and I say this touching wood) apart from the boot light staying on it has been remarkably free of problems.

    Please let us know how you get on, I hope you get your refund or new car easily, given the problems you have had with your current motor.

  8. Hi, there,
    My Astra rolled back recently (less than one year old) and it caused a lot of problems at work. You just cannot imagine how a handbrake problem can affect your life. From an earlier message, it is true that Astra had the probelm along with other models: Signum, Vectra and Corsa.

  9. Hi – I have experienced badly grinding brakes with my 57 model Corsa. Fobbed off for 5 months saying there was no problem – now have to wait another 12 weeks to get modified brake pads – can someone please advise – the dealership and Vauxhall are just ignoring ……

  10. Hi Tara,

    I’m really sorry to hear that you’ve been having problems. Grinding brakes are a problem I’ve had myself I must say.

    You say you were fobbed off for five months, did this push it back beyond the limited warranty, or do you have a 3 year warranty? Either way, it sounds like you have a case here.

    Given how essential brakes are to the operation of the vehicle, this isn’t a problem that they should be able to brush off. Here’s what I’d consider doing if I were you:
    1) Document all conversations/visits to the dealership, and whether you received a satisfactory level of service.
    2) Take your car for an independent inspection. This shouldn’t cost too much and it will narrow down whether the problem is an issue with the calipers or even just a build up of brake dust from soft pads.
    3) Use the independent inspection when consulting with Vauxhall – if the inspection is done by a Vauxhall specialist then even better.
    4) Talk to citizens advice – given the potentially dangerous nature of the problem I doubt they’ll see this as acceptable.
    5) Write a letter of complaint to your local Vauxhall dealership along with sending a copy to their head office and MD.

    What you really need to do Tara is to get to the root of the problem. Whilst grinding brakes are a symptom, the cause needs to be got at. If Vauxhall merely sees it as a case of the brakes needing to be ‘bedded in’ they will fob you off…

  11. Hi Mr B

    Thanks for your reply. Yep – as its a brand new car I have the full 3 years warranty, however as they asked us to do lots of long trips initially to ‘bed’ brakes in, we are now unable to reject the car – obviously knew what they were doing with that advice! I written to them offering them 14 days notice to fix the car under the Sale of Goods Act – we then had a site meeting where we were promised the hopefully remedial pads within 2 weeks. Vauxhall and FRF are now denying this conversation ever took place. I have reported them to Trading Standards. I have now been given a time of another 10 weeks to get hold of these new brakes. Have followed this conversation up in writing so we cannot be accused of lying about timescales again. My car will be 9 months old by this time after having a fault since Day 1! Trading Standards will not get involved as they say the car is safe to drive. The amount of people on the net with the same problem is shocking as is the noise on my brakes! Any advice on the next step for me?

  13. Already tried Vauxhalls Customer Service Dept over ten times – emails and calls and have never, not one, received a call back from them. Cannot get a straight answer. At every call I make we have to go back to the beginning when they say there is no problem with the brakes. When I then explain that one of their area managers had admitted there is a fault they say they have to contact the Tech Dept and will get back to me ……as you can guess, I have yet to receive a call back from any of my calls…..I have now had this conversation with them around 15 times.

  14. Hi Tara,

    Can you get confirmation in writing from the area manager that there’s a problem? If so, I’d certainly recommend going straight to point 4 above.

    Have you had your car inspected? Do you know exactly what the problem is?

  15. Hi Tara
    Coontact VOSA on 0117 954 3300 and officially report the fault.
    Write to:
    Mr C Parditt (managing director)
    Vauxhall Motors Ltd
    Griffin House
    Osborne Road
    Luton
    LU1 3YT
    Send recorded delivery and keep acopy. Good luck

  16. Tara,

    Do you know exactly what the problem is? Hard compound brake pads (such as carbon ceramics) will not fade but require heat to make them operate well. They won’t tend to wear as quickly (when they do at all). Soft compounds may wear down much faster, but will provide a quicker stop – at least until they are worn to nothing. Have you tried to just having your pads changed? Alternatively, soft compounds can give you a lot of brake dust; this can create a squeal and damage your alloys but is rarely a serious issue. I hope this information helps you.

  17. Hi we have had the sme problem, our 2mth old Corsa VXR was parked on our drive and rolled down the drive over the road and into our neighbours car, my wife was out side and tried to stop it but ended up crushed between her VXR and our neigbours car. We had had no luck with Vauxhall 14 weeks later they say no fault found, not so much as a sorry or any thing. Given its our second Corsa D first one replaced due to having so many faults. My advice is DONT BUY A VAUXHALL.

  18. Hi Stuart,

    I’m really sorry to hear about your wife – I trust that she is better now? By all accounts the Corsa VXR has been receiving excellent reviews and I was quite keen on getting one – I think I’ll be printing this whole thread off before going to my dealer though!

  19. Hi Stuart
    See address for VOSA on this site. It is being taken very seriously by VOSA but they need as many people to formally notify them of the problem. VOSA have the authority to make Vauxhall take responsibiity and can insist on recall of vehicles.
    Pauline

  20. 56 plate twin top
    leaking roof twice, faulty doors twice, faulty window,s, wheel bearing renewed, EGR valve failed, Dealer had the car for four days to sort out a tracking problem, Lookers PLP in Warrington are awful at after sales service etc, getting no joy with them and want to find out how to demand a refund.
    it gets worse….. my wifes 07 plate 1.2 16v corsa design, has a design fault which has no cure but they want it for TWO DAYS to try and fit a new clutch.
    Would never buy from lookers PLP again!

  21. Hi John,

    I’m shocked at this list of problems you’ve had – especially as the Twin Top is a good looking car so it’s a shame you’ve had these issues. I’d recommend checking the listed comments above about contacting VOSA along with your local citizens advice – it’s clear that you haven’t received an acceptable level of service.

  22. Morning All.

    Have had a similar problem with my 05 Astra, Parked it up on an small driveway at the in-laws. Put the handbrake on. What makes this significant is that I then had to open the boot, the and the rear driver side door to get a few things out and then had to close both.

    I’m sure that given the incline of the drive it would not have just sat there had the handbrake not been on ( 20 degree incline). Over an hour and a half later the car appears to have rolled forward hit the a wheelie bin, a large terracota plantpot ( 3 foot high) and then struck the garage door taking it off a few of its’ runners. Damage to paint on boths side panels and the bumper and bonnet, and a potential insurance claim.

    Thankfully the guys at the dealership all know me as a result of previous problems with the dab radio, and so far seem very keen to help me get this sorted. I’ll try to keep you updated.

  23. Hi Mark,

    That’s quite some damage that your car has managed to create – a large mess for such a new vehicle! Apparently Vauxhall wanted people to put the handbrake on without using the button – why not just fix the teeth/ratchet system? All very bizzare. If the dealership are keen to get it sorted, they must be aware of the problem. Strange indeed…

  24. Hi John
    Contact trading standards. They in turn will contact the dealership on your behalf but a solicitor’s letter is likely to be needed as trading standards only deal with claims up to £5,OOO. Also contact Managing Director at Vauxhall in Luton. Send letter registered and keep a copy. You will probably be passed over to Samantha Wilson who is in charge of customer services. Keep at them, I am.
    Pauline

  25. Hi Mark
    VOSA are very interested in probs with handbrake system on Vauxhalls. See previous posting for address. Take photos and witness statements and include with safety report. Also email Watchdog and give them the details. They keep a record of reported faults and decide whether there are sufficient numbers involved to speak to Vauxhall agian.
    Pauline

  26. i’ve just got a brand new corsa, about a month ago and have had no problems, although i have noticed with the handbrake you have to lift it a lot further up because i get a feeling like it’s going to roll away, thankfully it hasn’t yet!?!

  28. Update for you all, been liasing with lady at Vauxhall customer services who amongst other things stated that there have been no handbrake recalls for any Vauxhalls. Quick check on the VOSA site revealed four such recalls have responded and await their response.

    Not moving forward as quickly as I would like but i’m patient.

    ( and leaving the car in gear all the time )

  29. Hi Mark
    Vauxhall refuse to accept there is a problem. That’s why VOSA want reports from anyone experiencing problems. VOSA will, when they have enough evidence/complaints, have the power to force Vauxhall to act in the interests of safety. Please ask for a report form then the action will be sooner rather than later, one person has died already.

  30. I got that impression from the e-mails that I got in response.

    I’m persistant, polite, and patient and in most cases, so far, have gotten the outcome that I have wanted in my dealings with Vauxhall. I expect this one to be a tough slog but I’m not going to let it go for a long while yet.

    I’ve sent an email to the enquiries section on the VOSA website and can get the three other people present to provide witness statements. Hopefully they will come back to me on that front and I can let them know what happened.

    My astra is soon to be sent to an approved vauxhall repairer, who are also going to inspect the handbrake system. I’m in no doubt they will find no problem but heres hoping. The gent that runs the place did mention to me that his car did the same thing.

  31. Hi Mark
    Trading standards are giving the dealership a tough time in the hope that they will soon inform Vauxhall that there is a design fault for which the dealership is not expected to take responsibility ror recompense. Do check our the rac forum website as it contains postings from a solicitor amongst others. I have not had my rear end (car’s rear end) fixed and when I am asked what happened I tell everyone that the handbrake failed! Next on the agenda is a forecourt personal tour of my car and what is wrong with it. At the end of the day being patient and polite has not paid off, maybe losing them sales will. Of course the press will be invited to attend also. I wish you the best of luck.

  32. Hi John
    Contact trading standards, they are really good at advising and the mediate between you and the dealership, The mechanic here has admitted that there is a design faullt and that is why seals don’t keep water out of boot. I now have a clunking sound when I go from first tosecond gear..like you sometimes get with an automatic transmission. The onboard computer has got one on it as well and insists that the fuel tank is empty despite being nearly half full! File a report with VOSA. They need the reports in order to insist that Vauxhall remove these vehicles from the road for safety reasons, have posted contact details further up these postings. Good luck

  33. Had my astra 1.6 sportshatch for 13 months now. Was parked in the local somerfield carpark yesterday when my car rolled backwards into the disabled barriers almost 40 feet away causing £300 worth of damage. Handbrake light was on when i entered the car again and handbrake still upright.

  34. Sorry to hear about all the problems – if any of you have photos of the damage would you like to send them to us?

    I’d like to write another piece to highlight these problems.

    [email protected] is the email address if you would be interested.

    Thanks

  35. I bought a vauxhall astra 1.8 xp sri 2 weeks ago (2007)model my wife went to the garage for items when she went into the shop and back out again the car had rolled back into some brushes and caused £200 off damage I hope vauxhall will do something in the near future thanks

  36. Don’t hold yur breath. Contact VOSA, see above. They are dealing with mine and are contacting Vauxhall direct. They carry a lot of authority so please do request and then submit a report. It helps if you can also enclose photos and witness statements. Best of luck.
    Pauline

  37. My saga continues with yet more faults, ERG / EGR Valve packed up, they cleaned it and that was fine, then a week later the car was still pulling to the left, they took it back twice and tried to say it was fixed, I took the service manager for a drive, let go of the wheel and the car snatched to the kerb, so they took it back again and then called AGAIN to say it was fixed, this time they took it for 4 days to a specialist centrein St Helens and offered it me back only for the same thing to happen, they even tried to say it was the camber in the road doing it, Quick u-turn and drove on the wrong side of the road showed it wasnt the camber but the stearing, they took it back again and returned it the following day cured, they swapped the wheels round and that cured it? How can that be? While they were messing with the tracking they replaced the ERG / EGR valve (three weeks ago) and its playing up again and now the roof gets stuck half way up and takes half a dozen attmepts to get it back down,
    My problem now is that i have moved to Scotland with work and cant get the car back, they told me to take it to Arnold Clarke here in Falkirk and they would txt me the number, never heard back from them, I’m sick and tired of the car, I love to drive it but am sick of it being in the dealship, and the usual £100 demand “incase the problem isn’t covered by warranty” which I might add I always refuse to pay and get to speak to the regional manager who waives the fee.
    Are PLP responsible for collecting the car and repairing it or do I have to drive 230 miles to the dealership? I will not take it to Arnold Clarke, had trouble with them years ago and it almost ended in court.
    I’ll never buy another Vauxhall and NEVER go near Lookers again, they have no idea about customer service, I bought five Honda’s from Honda Savoy in Warrington over a ten year period and when the dealship was bought by Lookers the service went down hill and I bought elswere, against my better judgement I bought two cars from them last year spending around 30K and have had endless problems with them 🙁 gutted

  38. Hi
    I have a 7 week old Corsa 1.3cdti breeze purchased from Pentagon in Rochdale.
    I use this car for Driving tuition and know that clutches dont last as long as a personal cars clutch due to the type of use. However i do expect a clutch to last more than 7 weeks!
    I have jusst been told by Pentagon and Vauxhall that the clutch is not covered by warranty and its going to cost nearly £700 to replace!
    I have had various different cars and never had to replace a clutch at less than 40k miles before!
    Vauhall never again!!!!!!!!!!

  39. VOSA have informed me that it is impossible for a car to roll backwards and the handbrake remain on. There are other postings that this has happened to them too, please confirm that not only is it possible it has happened more than once!

  40. Pauline,

    VOSA are technically correct – a car cannot move with the handbrake on. What it sounds like in the case of these (MANY) Vauxhall complaints is that it is either working loose or simply not functioning correctly at all. I assume that if Vauxhall are asking people to not depress the button when putting the handbrake on then it’s something related to the teeth/ratcheting mechanism. Either way, it’s inexcusable.

    John Tempest,

    Have you had any updates? I would certainly hope PLP would deliver it…

  41. John,

    Vauxhall have this to say on their warranty:

    “There are thousands of individual parts fitted to your Vauxhall and virtually every one of them is covered for mechanical or electrical failure by the standard three-year/60,000 mile warranty that comes with every new Vauxhall (100,000 miles on Movano and Vivaro).”

    However, they also state this:

    “All of the mechanical and electrical components of your vehicle are covered by Sureguard Warranty, with the following few exceptions:

    Brakes and clutch
    Frictional material, if the condition is due to wear and tear.”

    So apparently, if your clutch goes because of wear and tear then you’re out of luck. Then again, 7 weeks is hardly acceptable. I’d speak to trading standards, VOSA and then I’d be tempted to demand a refund. 7 weeks?!!?

  42. Pauline.
    I have benn told by PLP’s service Manager that I should take it to my nearest main dealer here in Falkirk as my problem is with Vauxhall and not PLP, I refuse to pass the buck to someone else, according to the Sale of goods act 1979 my contract is with the retailer and not the manufacturer, I have emailed PLP again today and advised that if I have to take the car back to Warrington then it will be left with them and I shall persue the matter through the courts, PLP’s customer service is awful, I have never come accross a company as bad, I know of five guys that I used to work with that have had vauxhalls but refuse to take them to PLP for any warranty or service works.

    John O’Hara.
    My wifes Corsa had a new clutch fitted on her 07 Corsa design under warranty and it was just over 12 months old, they first told her it had a fault that couldnt be cured and they had a bad batch of clutch’s, it seems to be fine now,……watch this space.
    It is however well under powered for a 1.2 16V motor, and has miles less power than her old 1.0 04 model. I think it has a problem and asked them to put in on a Dyno but they wouldnt, they just plugged it into their diagnostics and said they had identified a problem and recified it, its still no different.:(

  43. Message from admin – This comment seemed to go missing first time round! Sorry about that 🙂

    Author: stuart mainwaring
    Comment:
    Following on from my report about our Corsa D
    handbrake, Autoexpress are do an
    article on the car to try and get more people to reports faults etc. It is due
    to be in week commencing 9th June magazine.
    Vauxhall need to sort the issue out, they have now returned my old handbrake
    which I will be getting tested, If anyone knows of an independant test body
    please let me know.

  45. vauxhall corsa handbrake lever released itself three times causeing damage to car and garage it is a 2007 model

  46. Hi.

    I’ve had exactly the same problems as everyone else. I have an Astra 07 1.4 sxi, and vauxhaul say there is no known fault with the handbrake in this car. However, S Walker has the same car as me, so i’d love to speak to them !! Or anyone else who has an Astra that has the same problem as me!!!

    I’d also like to mention after speaking to GM (General Motors, owner of Vauxhall), they informed me that the Astra’s do infact have the same handbrakes as the Corsa’s.

  47. Hi Rach
    Please contact Vosa. address above, Martin Ryder.We’re not all crap parkers! Thanks for the info that Corsa and Astra are same braking system. Vauxhall deny any prob with any of their hand brakes. more than happy to chat about this.
    Pauline

  48. Purchased a New Vectra 2007. Looked out of the window to see the car very slowly going down the road. The car was left in gear luckily, so was having to turn the engine over. Managed to run after it and stop it before any damage ws done. Sent a letter to Vauxhall explaining that there was a design fault as the extending armrest blocks the full pull up position of the handbrake. As others I never received a reply.
    To add insult to injury have just had my car serviced at a local Vauxhall dealership. On the way home a burning oil smell started to come into the car. stopped and found a large oily cloth (large T shirt back) draped on the engine. So much for the Service Booklet. (Having professional and exhaustive service checks and maintenance work helps keep your vehicle SAFE economical and operational.)

  49. Hi Pauline.
    Has anybody considered going to Watchdog ??? Because the Corsa was on their programme in January and featured the problems with the corsa, and as it has the same braking system ??

  50. They have finally sorted my car, everything seems to be OK at the moment, My wifes Corsa design however is still having clutch problems, it goes in today for further investigation, She wrote to them asking a dozen questions but never got a reply, She has already been told that the car has a design fault that Vauxhall cant cure, they put in a new clutch 6 weeks ago and the kagaroo problem is back 🙁

  51. I have this week had same problem with Zafira rolling away when parked outside my home. Is there anyone else whois aware of problems withZafira

  52. Hi Rach
    Have emailed Watchdog twice. They are counting all emails re Vauxhall handbrakes and will do another programme when sufficient complaints are notified to tem.

  53. I have an 05 Tigra which has had a number of faults and I am wondering if other Tigra or vauxhall owners have also experienced them.

    1. Clutch cable not secured thus due to vibration of engine wore a hole leading to the fluid leaking out. Gears seized on the motorway and just avoided horrific accident

    2. National recall of ABS brakes

    3. Handbreak not holding, rolled and luckily only hit bushes, now always have to place in gear and generally avoid parking on hills of any kind as still ‘groans’ even when in gear. Has been looked at a number of times.

    4. Cam shaft snapped, again narrowingly avoiding accident on motorway – apparently completely unheard of by AA, local and vauxhall garage.

    I wonder whether I should contact anyone to notify or whether I unfortunately have an unlucky car.

    Thanks

  54. i purched an astra sxi 1.4 sport hatch 3dr this march 08 on an 08 plate brand new i keep getting strong smell of petrol fumes in cab i have taken it back to dealer 4 times on first 3 visits they said they could not find any leaks on the 4th visit had car for 5 days they changed the tank seal still got the problem, is there any other astra sxi drivers got this problem please let me know as vauxhall are not aware off any similar problems

  56. Just reading throught the comments and couldnt resist joining in having a moan about vauxhall!!! My Astra Twin Top 57 plate purchased in April 2008 with 50 miles on the clock. To date my car has done 2000 miles and has been in and out of the garage five times firstly due to creaking roof and rattling doors, second time to have a new motor installed for the roof then came the problem of the roof leaking to which it has been in three times where AC adjusted the windows which did not rectify the fault and eventually they decided to fit new seals however although this appears to have solved that problem there is now a wind noise coming from the front of the car, I am now waiting on AC getting a “Specialist” from Vauxhall to come and work on my car as the engineer was baffled as to where the noise was coming from. Also I mentioned to the service department that I thought the inside of the car was smelling strongly of petrol… dont know if I am imagining it as I dont know what could becausing it!!!

  57. Christine,
    See my post further up with regard to the twin top, Mine has been back and to 13 times, if you want to email me on [email protected], I may be able to give you a few tips on dealing with Vauxhall, Mine is finally sorted but it has been a battle,

    Regards.
    John

  58. Hi, great I have found a site with problems with Vauxhall, having been on to them today re my Signum guess what my handbrake needs sorting they have taken it apart and the springs they have been given dont work so I still have to wait. also I have a radio that has a life of ots own it switches off, turns down and also a loud bang comes through the speakers but its been checked and guess what again its been plugged into the computer and it hasnt got a fault, outerspace comes to mind

  59. ps. also I have just had a new drive shaft fitted, and new air con unit, and a flap on the engine thank goodness under warranty. (beginning to think my car is a made Friday afternoon) Also NetworkQ wrote to me in Jan saying I should cover my car as I am now in the second year of owning my car so I duly sent off my cheque only to find that apart from shock absorbers the car is still covered by the manufacturers till Jan 09, what a con have now had a rebate but not the full amount, I think I might not buy another Vauxhall

  60. Hi Julie,

    I’d check the new article related to this if I were you, it might answer some questions you have. I’ve followed this issue up and overall, Vauxhall is decidedly average for car problems. This means that whilst they could be better, they certainly aren’t as bad as these comments would suggest.

    Interestingly, Parkers rates the Vauxhall Signum quite highly, getting a reasonably rare 4.5/5 for reliability.

    http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/vauxhall/signum-2003.aspx?Page=4

    Of course, this doesn’t fix your issues. I’d certainly continue taking it up with your dealer. Having this many problems is far from usual.

  61. Many thanks for your comments, I was feeling a little fed up with Vauxhalls negativeity yesterday and will still insist they get this handbrake situation sorted asap. One thing that came out from my conversation with them yesterday was if I forget to put the car in gear when I park, dont park on a slope! well considering my driveway has a slight slope and the road is on a slope. It isnt really good enough, but thank you for this excellent page

  62. Hi Christine
    According to my vauxhall dealer you should expect roof noise. I can’t hear my cd player above it but according to them it is not excessive and within acceptable levels. Have also had to have the front and rear windscreens removed and new seals fitted there. 14 times my car has been back in in 2 years! According to trading standards I can’t complain cos they have a go at fixing it each time I draw their attention to yet another fault.

  63. Hi Pauline,
    My Twin Top is in the garage yet again since my last post and wait for it…Yes my roof is still leaking, however aparently this will all be solved as AC is going to adjust the roof as it is sitting slightly higher than it should be. I will be collecting it on Friday however my main concern is that the one year warranty runs out in October as it was pre-registered.

  64. Hi Chris
    Is the warranty only for a year? When they do work on the car, that carries a warranty too, I think. I keep taking mine back every time it shows another fault or an old one resurfaces. Seriously thinking of going to the press, or asking Dom on bbc to get involved. Doubt if Vauxhall would be this patient if we made them wait one to two years for instalments.
    Pauline

  65. Pauline,

    You are correct – all work should carry some sort of warranty – how long this is will depend on where it was carried out and by who.

    Let me know if you decide to go to press.

  66. I made a mistake earlier I think my new car is covered by a 3 year manufacturers warranty.

  67. Hi All

    Glad to hear I’m not going mad…..Went shopping yesterday and reverse parked my Zafira 07 plate on a slight slope, facing other parked cars. Got out to check that I wasn’t too close to a tree behind me, locked the doors and went on my way shopping. As I left, the car remained in the parking space. About 25 minutes later I was asked to return to my car over the tannoy. Thinking that my car had been broken into, I rushed to the car park to find that my car had rolled down the slope into the back of the car parked directly opposite. Severely damaged bonnet and bumper though little damage to the tail of the other car!! Handbrake was ON….Who should I contact first? Vauxhall? Watchdog? VOSA?

  68. Hi Michelle
    I contacted all 3 plus the dealership where I bought the car. See above for VOSA contact. Be prepared to persevere as they are all somewhat stubborn.
    Pauline

  69. Hi all

    thought i to was going mad… my corsa breeze edition 08 plate rolled back off my drive, across a road and into house opposite me causing extensive damage to the house and my vehicle… the handbrake was securely on, vauxhall will not admit liability and seem to shrug off any responsibility for the incident… has anyone received any compensation from vauxhall???

  70. I know this is not involving the handbrake issue, but I was hoping someone could give me some advice/guidance on a ECU issue I
    have had with my Meriva (54 plate). I have had to shell out £1000 for a new
    ECU for my Meriva, which has only done 47,000 miles. I am annoyed that such
    a major component should need replacing on this car so early in its life. I
    called the vauxhall customer care number (spoke to people in Canada) and
    they have said that they cannot offer any financial help. We had the part
    repaired at the dealership (Network Q) were we bought the car (2nd hand).
    Can anyone offer any advice with trying to retrieve some financial assistance
    from Vauxhall? I am considering writing to Vauxhall head office in Luton?

  71. Hi Alan, it sounds like by now your car would be out of warranty – as that goes on years rather than mileage. I would certainly write and explain the situation however, as it is hardly acceptable for an ECU to go like that. Very poor.

  72. I’ve just bought a 2 year old corsa sxi d model and have only had it 15 days, the brake noise is terrible. Been back to my vauxhall dealer and told it is not a safety issue and other customers have had the same problems and that vauxhall were looking into the matter. How long do you have to wait to get this sorted out, this model has been out 2 years now, get it sorted Vauxhall, its not good enough, customers are being mistreated.

  73. Hi Hazel
    contact Martin Ryder at VOSA (see previous posts) and ask for report form. They log each complaint and when there are enough they will hopefully insist that Vauxhall deal with all this ****
    Pauline

  74. dear sir,s
    my 05 vectra parked on top of level driveway with slope approach ,broke its moorings last tuesday rolled down the drive across a busy road and demoished a neighbours wall and fence car bill thru insurance 4000 pounds still to get quote for the wall e-mailed vauxhall response nil
    e-mailed vosa response phone call to say get the car independently checked
    e-mailed watchdog
    response nil
    phoned the dealer
    response should have been checked when serviced by dealer my answer no should have been recalled and rectified by vauxhall its a miracle no one was hurt when my car decided to go walkies

    matthew

  75. My sons 55 reg Astra suffered a fate similar to others. Having been parked for over an hour with handbrake applied the vehicle rolled away colliding with a van. A repair cost exceeding £3k has resulted. Vauxhall examined the car and say the braking system is not at fault.

  77. Dear sir,s
    today 17/09/2008 received an e-mail from vauxhall
    requesting details of my car i/e reg and date of inspection ,so far i have had no inspection either from the main dealer which repaired the car or from the main dealer reg vardy who supplied the car even after i had called thier service dept asking them their stance on the situation CONTACT VAUXHALL was the reply hows that for customer safety and satisfaction of course my reply to vauxhall was fired with both barrels i await their excuses of how this is all my fault and every other vauxhall owner who have had this problem

    regards

    matthew

  78. Hi Matthew,

    Please keep us updated on your progress, we’d love to hear how you get on. When you do contact Vauxhall (or anyone else relating to your car issue here) make sure to keep a full record of all conversations in case it does have to go further.

  79. i have finally got my car back from repairers after nearly 4weeks. surprise surprise it was repaired at a vauxhall repair centre so no one will admit liability… however, i received a letter from VOSA this week informing me that all details referring to my incident were being forwarded to the manufacturers for investigation and i would hear back shortly… vauxhall have also issued me with a case number and are investigating… now its the waiting game!!!!!!

  80. hi to the latest owners of a vauxhalls sorry to hear of your accidents, brian and rob you have joined an increasingly large club i am still waiting for vauxhall to reply to my last e- mail so send your own e mail to vauxhall customer care and to vosa , Is there a legal eagle out there to champion our cause we must gain satisfaction on this matter we have all lost no claims bonuses plus had to pay out for eccess payments to our insurance companies , its been going on to long now .

    matthew r

  82. my vauxhall astra 05 reg has a light showing a yellow fault and shuddering coming of the gearstick and the clutch is slipping what do i do

  83. I have a 08 Corsa 1.2 SXi petrol. I parked on my drive today (quite a steep slope) applied the handbrake and left it in reverse.
    I stood at the side of the car talking to a neighbour for about 3-4 minutes when there was a loud bang and the car rolled down the drive and in to the road. Fortunately it stopped on the flat road. When I checked the handbrake it had fully disengaged.
    I will be reporting the event to Vauxhall tomorrow morning.
    Without the reverse gear being engaged it would have crossed the road and dropped down in to my neighbours garden / pond taking anything or anyone in its path!!!

  84. Hi Kevin
    Suggest you let Martin Ryder at VOSA know as well, address is further up this forum. According to him there are hardly any handbrake complaints against Vauxhall so I would like him to be proved wrong. He also reckon that people who post on forums do it for kicks not cos there is anything actually wrong with theor cars!
    My Astra is clunking on gear change and the boot resembles the great flood again! % lots of new seals and it still fills up with water when it rains.
    Pauline

  85. My daughter in law had the same thing with her new Corsa. Luckily it rolled into a bush causing no more damage than a bit of T-Cut didn’t fix.

    As it turns out she had been applying the handbrake whilst holding the release button. I told her that this was madness as by releasing it and it dropping into the nearest notch on the ratchet was not a way of confirming it was properly applied.

    I always have insisted on hearing every single click into each notch of the ratchet as you can the hear if there is a change in the sound, for example if a problem develops with the ratchet engaging cleanly.

    Now to read that Vauxhall (quoting the highway code) are only now insisting you apply the handbrake properly without holding the release button. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE MANUAL FROM THE START.

    Manufacturers like honda on the new FRV have developed a handbrake that will not engage if you press the release button at all when you pull the brake on.

    This is at last some clever engineering to compensate for people living in the past who think modern handbrake ratchets will “wear out”, if you don’t hold the release button when applying it.

    My BMW 7 series has a foot parking brake and dashboard release lever, thank god you are unable to put that on while holding the release mechanism/button. (as i’d be distraught if that rolled into something)

    As it happens now she applies crosa hand brake properly (clicks all the way) the mechanism has behaved impecably

  86. I’d like to highlight the messages from the highway code that refer to handbrakes:

    you MUST apply the handbrake before leaving the vehicle
    [Laws CUR reg 98, 105 & 107, RVLR reg 27 & RTA 1988 sect 42]

    Parking on hills. If you park on a hill you should

    * park close to the kerb and apply the handbrake firmly

    [Laws RVLR reg 24 & CUR reg 82(7)]

    When I was learning to drive, I was told to push the handbrake release button in when engaging, as the ratcheting noise can irritate the examiner.

    I’m not familiar enough with the ‘dog’s tooth’ mechanism to understand why it wouldn’t engage when the release is depressed, after all it should still lock into the notch…

  87. Thank you Mr Butterscotch, I was taught that way too. When I informed Martin Ryder from VOSA of this I was told that driving instructors are behind the times and that on the continent they don’t even use the handbrake! Very reassuring to know that our driving instructors are being slated by safety experts…not.

  88. Im a March 08 brand new twintop owner and after reading on a twintop forum about several people with leaking boots, I pulled up my boot liner to discover that I was sufferingt he same problem.
    The garage said they replaced the seels 2 weeks ago, but it continue to flood in, with the interior carpet and boot liner soaked.
    I have since taken it back and they have informed me that they have investigated and replaced other seels, yet they will need the car for 2-3 days for extensive tests.
    Will keep you updated.

  89. With regard to the Twintop.My boot leaks on both sides and has left me with a wet & mouldy carpet which now smells . It has been back to the dealer once & is due back again on Weds for further attempts to stop leaks.Will advise of any success.

  90. Hi Lynn and Mr T
    I have had 3 sets of seals plus the originals. Vauxhall will not replace carpets uless there is mildew. guess what..I have mildew! My car is being inspected by warranty inspector this week cos now they think the roof may be out of alignmnet. (been telling them that fr over 18 months). Does your roof make a grinding noise at it folds down? If your windows are down is there a lot of noise from either the roof or the windows. I continually email Vauxhall about all of these faults and they continually tell me to contact dealership. Trading standarda are interested in faults, but they can’t do much except negotiate on our behalf because the value of the car exceds £5,000. We need a precedent. Suggest you contact Vauxhall customer services and keep doing so until they acknowledge that the desgn is at fault and as such is a Vauxhall, and not dealership, problem

  91. I bought a brand new corsa Breeze 2 weeks ago. I drove it for 2 days (it has done 85 miles). I parked it on my drive, got out my son and shopping. The next day it had rolled down the drive (which isn’t too steep) and into the side of the house. Ithas damaged the render and the bumper of the car. Ihave no joy with the dealership, who say vauxhall won’t admit there is a problem (basically I must have left my handbrake off) therefore I am liable for the damage. They did a test on the car, which involved driving it on some runners and pulling the handbrake, the car stopped so apparantly the car is fine. I am not disputing the handbrake comes on, only it doesn’t stay on. Does anyone know where I can have it independently checked.

  92. Its funny, you buy a shirt from Burton (For example) for £20 and it has a small hole in it, they change it no problem.
    You spend £21,000 on a car and suddenly it wont be replaced, just subject to bochy repair after repair, by people who cant find the cause of the problem, yet try possibilities to solve it.

    If its faulty, then you should have a replacement.
    I bought a new car for it not to be going in the garage, its now been in more times than my old one that i had for 5 years.

    I think we should all demand a new carpet and keep each other informed. My boot liner is soaked, growing mould and smells, you can smell it in the car, yet the dealer said “hey would clean it”, wouldnt mind but it lifts out and can esily be replaced.

    I dont get any exterior noise, no grinding sound etc, so dont think its the roof.
    I did have a slight rattle on the roof above the drivers door, booked it in to be looked at, but after reading a few sites, decided against it. Its ok most of the time, usually depends on the temp of the metal/outside when you put it back up. The expandment in the warmth obviously effects it.

  93. Hi Lynn,

    I wish you the best of success with that. I love all of the these stories I must say, when the shop/dealership attempts some half-baked ‘experiment’ and then decides ‘oh no, nothing to see here…’

  94. Which dealer is this? Might help us all with our own problems, as each dealer can be informed about the same problem at another dealer.

  95. The dealer I bought the car from and who carried out the adjustments’ was Crown Motors in Dagenham. In fairness to them they have actually spent quite a lot of time on it , trying to get it right.

  96. Well, I’m amazed that this is actually the 100th comment to this particular article. It’s clearly touched a nerve with all of you out there. I’d certainly recommend you continue commenting on this issue until it has been resolved to your satisfaction!

  97. My twin top was bought from Grasmere in Macclesfield. The mechanic there told me that the prob was the design but if I said anything he would deny it! Maybe a ‘rogues’ gallery of Vauxhall dealers is called for.
    I would continue to urge you all to let Martin Ryder know at VOSA, lodge a formal complaint. Also email Watchdog as they are waiting for stats of complaints to rise before they do another show on it.

  98. I am currently using a Vauxhall Corsa as a curteousy car, it’s a 58 reg with only 162 miles on the clock. One evening I looked out of my window to see why there appeared to be a commotion outside, then I saw the care sitting in the middle of the road, luckily no damage done. I didn’t tell my husband because I assumed it was down to me not applying the handbrake. A few days later somebody rang my doorbell and asked if it was my car in the middle of the road!!!! This happened four hours after I had parked it so I told my husband and he said this is a classic problem and Vauxhall should be sued. Then tonight I was sitting in the car and parked up when I heard a loud clonk noise from the area of the handbrake and sure enough it had disengaged. Even though it is parked up and in gear I am still worried it’s going to happen again but this time somebody could get hurt or damage could be done.

  99. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF ANYONE HAS HAD COMPINSATION AFTER THIER VECTRA ROLLED DOWN THE DRIVEWAY AS MINE DID WHILE THE HANDBRAKE WAS ON. MY CAR “CLEANED” THE GATES OFF THEIR HINGES WHICH RESULTED IN A DAMAGED BACK BUMPER, NEARSIDE BACK WHEEL ARCH AND TWO SLIGHTLY DAMAGED DRIVERS SIDE DOORS

  100. Dear Fraser
    sorry to hear about your problem with a quality car like vauxhall SEE MY EARLIER CONTRIBUTIONS
    LISTED i am still awaiting my so called recall from vauxhall having being asured by VOSA i would shorty be contacted, this was in november 2008 when the the inspection finally takes place a list of remedials will compared to the independant inspection i have had and then i will again contact the ever helpful vauxhall CUSTOMER CARE DEPT for their response not holding my breath

    Matthew

  101. To all fellow Vauxhall victims
    My Astra twin top was inspected, AGAIN, by warranty inspector in November. He agreed that the leaks in the boot were unacceptable, and no unique to my car. Vauxhall have improved boot seals and if these do not work I will get a new car. No new seals fitted and no word from Vauxhall about when it will happen! My dad has just died and that in itself is difficult to cope with, but with all of this appalling customer service from Vauxhall I am concerned that as my warranty is up in July that they are just playing for time until they believe they are no longer responsible. I really need someone to fight for me on this. Has anybody got any suggestions.
    Kind regards
    Pauline

  102. Pauline,
    contact me on [email protected] and I’ll tell you what I had to do to get action from Vauxhall, my twin top has been back to the dealer 14 or 15 times and I had to have it inspected by the AA who confirmed that it was unsafe to drive, Lookers PLP had to send a transporter to scotland to fetch the car and I arranged to have it driven back when it was finally fixed, you have to be strong and be willing to dump the car on them and start legal action, the twin top is a great car when it works but unfortunately the times when they work fine and with out fault are few and far between, I have tried to sell mine but not had a single call, the resale value on them is a discgrace, I dream of mine being written off as it will be the only chance I have at recouping my money and going for a different manufacturer, My wife has had nothing but trouble with her 07 corsa,
    John

  103. Re the ongoing twintop tales. The car spent several more days at the dealers and it turnsout , all to no avail. My husband has to remove the liner from the bottom of the boot then get the water out – usually about an inch or so deep , with a plastic cup & a sponge. What I have now noticed is the condensation inside the car especially now it is winter and the thing doesn’t get a chance to dry out. Its even more fun on a frosty morning when most people spend time scraping ice from the outside of the car & I spend time trying to ge it off the inside. Suffice to say the dealers have lost interest ( ie they have got their money ) . Its out of the warranty period for seals ( door seals etc are only covered for twelve months so the say ). And of course the resale value has gone downhill rapidly due this fault now becoming more common knowledge.
    But of course its not Vauxhalls fault.
    And no I didn’t get a new carpet – fortunately my husband found a very cheap 2nd hand one in a used parts supplier so I now alternate the two – one dries out while I get the other one wet.
    What more can be done ? Nothing according to Vauxhall .

  104. I have experienced a similar problem with my 56 plate Vectra.I parked it on the drive tonight on a slight incline. I applied the handbrake and came into the house. 5 minutes later my son alerted me that the car alarm was sounding. I opened my door and found the car resting on the corner of my house. The handbrake had completely released itself.The front bumper is damaged. I am completely gutted because Ihave only had the car about a month, it’s my pride and joy.
    On reading the hundreds of comments of people with same problem I am wondering where to go next and if anybody has managed to make a successful claim for repair from Vauxhall. From reading the many posts Vauxhall seem well aware of the problem but reluctant to acknowledge any blame.

  106. Hi I have been in Which magazine and in most of the newspapers regarding the handbrake problem, my vectra was only 8 weeks old when the vehicle rolled down my drive and severly damaged my neighbours car. I had been campaigning and got in touch with VOSA (Martin Ryder) and also customer care in Vauxhall and a few other people who had the similar problems including one man who had video footage, I would also like everyone to know that a Vectra in England rolled and a lady was killed. One of the men who I was talking to ended up lending his car to Vauxhall so they could test drive it and they gave him a New SAAB……I have not been in touch with this man for a while, I am going to try and contact him to see if he still has the Saab or if he has his old car back. My car has been in for the modification however they did not notify me about this I had to keep checking VOSA and last week I had an EX GM employee who left GM – they left a bad taste in his mouth when they did not pay him commission for his last 2 months of work and he told me off the record that GM said that there was a fault with the handbrakes but cover it up by saying it is an application problem – which of course blames the driver of the vehicle. ALL I WANT IS MY DAMAGE PAID FOR AND MY NO CLAIMS REINSTALLED ON MY INSURANCE. I dislike my car and would not advise anyone to buy a Vectra or any other Vauxhall for that matter. I make sure that I vent my views to anyone buying a vauxhall and try and put them off. DONT BUY A VAUXHALL!!!!

  107. It sounds like we are all in the same boat on this site and unfortunately until someone starts an action group and gets an MP on board, Vauxhall wont do anything, I have a relative who works as a branch manager at a vauxhall franchise and he is at his wits end with poor build quility tearing the heart out of the business, he is forced to fob off and lie to customers on an almost hourly basis to keep his job, Vauxhall know they are producing junk but wont do anything about it, the people that matter are still getting their bonus at the end of the month and they lie and cheat to make sure they get it, sales teams know the faults with the cars but deny all knowledge and again lie to costomers to secure a sale, once the money has changed hands its over to head office, I bought two new vauxhalls, a 56 CDTI twin top (great car when it is not in the dealership with another problem) and an 07 1.2 16v Corsa design which has less power than the 1.0L 04 corsa my wife had before, it has had 2 new clutches so far and is at present running OK, We are both sick and fed up with Vauxhall and have lost a fotune in depreciation, at two years old my almost 20K twin top has no resale value and to trade it in at Vauxhall would be adding insult to injury, the only good thing about my car is that it is almost theft proof which is a shame as I’d love the scousers to pay a visit 🙁
    I wish everyone on this site good luck in getting their cars sorted or getting RID as most of us want.

  108. My car has crashed into a house with my 2 girls in it.
    I just poped into my house for a mo. and suddenly heard a constant horning of my car. I looked through the window and saw my car leaving our pouch. The car was rolling back down the road with my 2 children in it. I ran out knowing the car is heading towards a house down the road and would be smashing into it. Within a few second the enevitable occurred. When I got to the car the children were balling and in shock. The first thing I look at was the hand break. It was up as I left it.
    I had just hired the car and I have a £500.00 excess.
    My wife has just got back and have taken the children to the hospital to get them checked over.
    Can someone help.

  109. I do hope that the children have not been badly hurt. Please contact Martin Ryder at VOSA, see earlier post, and contact watchdog as well. Does anyone think that it might be an idea to contact regional tv news companies? Vosa and Vauxhall are sceptical about posts on forums and regard most of them as made up…their words, not mine.
    Pauline

  110. Dear Shiraz
    sorry to hear of your unfortunate incident re your vauxhall and i hope your children have sufferd no ill effects from this encounter, however your struggle with vauxhall has just began , firstly contact vauxhall direct then contact VOSA Mr Martin Ryder , take legal advice although not many briefs want to take on general motors watch this site for further discussions

    Best Wishes
    matthew

  112. Has anybody had any problems with the battery in vauxhalls?

    Ever since i bought my astra i’ve had nothing but problems, and i regret buying it now! The handbrake failed and it rolled away 4 months after i bought it as i’ve mentioned before, and now the battery is flat on a regular basis. I will not be buying another vauxhaul thats for sure!
    If this many people have complained to Watchdog / VOSA about the handbrakes and various other problems how many more have go to before someone does something about it? Especially about something as serious as a handbrake!

  113. Hi Rach,

    Hate to state the obvious but have you had the battery tested? Perhaps you just need a new one?

    Failing that, perhaps your boot light is staying on. Might be worth lifting out the parcel shelf and making sure that this doesn’t stay on as this will drain the battery.

  114. Hello

    Yes i’ve had it tested by a private garage and he’s told me its basically nackered, i was curious if it was a problem other people had because the mechanic told me he’d came across a few people who had 1 or 2 year old Vauxhall’s with rubbish battery’s, and after knowing how unrealiable they appear to be i was curious if other people had the same problem. But thanks for the advice, i will try it!!

  115. Hi Rach,

    For a while, I think it was Subaru who provided rubbish OEM batteries. As far as I know, they stopped that practice, but perhaps Vauxhall have started doing so? 😛

  116. Hi,
    I dont know if anybody has had this problem but ive got a 57 reg corsa van and the drivers seat collapses from upright to nearly down on the floor whilst your driving!! also problem no 2 is the bloody heater has stopped working just in time for the snow and freezing weather. Two of my work mates who have corsa vans have had there heater pack up as well, the vauxhall care team are about as much use as a chocalate tea pot. I am out of warranty as ive done over 60k but the van is 15 months old so trading standards are now involved and the (sale of goods act) will be used against them to get this fixed as the goods are not of satisfactory quality!.

  117. I have contacted VOSA and watchdog I’ll keep you posted of my progress. Might be interesting for watchdog if they had the video footage of cars rolling away mentioned by Caroline Pearce.

  118. Why don’t we all lobby our MP’s about shoddy customer care from local dealers. MP has right to know about such failings in constituency. MP for Mauxhall head office constuency could be sent copy too. We can’t continue to be ignored the more high profile the complaints take.

  119. I’d suggest we keep an eye on all local services related to the automotive industry such as dealerships and garages… Let me know what you think y’all.

  120. Got my twin top back again today. The roof has been fixed. a loose wire allegedly on the right hand side as you look at the boot. A wire has been inserted in the seals to keep them rigid. Again, the promise that if this doesn’t work I will get a new car.

  121. I have had the same problem with my 57 plate corsa 1.7cdti design. Parked the car on the driveway at the weekend, went to the boot, took things out and went into the house. 45 minutes later, I heard a loud bang and when I looked outside my car had rolled down the driveway, crossed the road and run through my neighbours wall. The driveway is steep and there is absolutely no way that I could have got out of the car without the hand brake being on – its physically impossible. I am so thankful that the kids that were playing in the street were not injured or even killed, but I now have a car with thousands of pounds worth of damage and a fault claim on my insurance. Then again it is my fault that I didn’t put my car in gear (isn’t it Vauxhall) and not any fault of Vauxhall that there is clearly something not right with the hand BRAKE on the cars they produce.

  122. Did you get it in writing that they will give you a new car? They told me the same then offered me a bottom book swap at £8900 and nothing in writing, they have just kept fobbing me off, passing me from pillar to post. PLP’s sales manager told me that because of the problems with my car they wouldnt be able to put it on the forecourt therefore it would have to go to a car supermarket (Fords of Winsford) at bottom book. I am left with no choice but to take it to court, it will cost them more in the long run with egal fees but I am willing to take the risk, They even checked with trading standards and then made me the bottom book offer. cars are probabley the 2nd biggest purchase people make but we have no protection when they go wrong.

  123. Frances, you were extremely lucky indeed.
    Just incase you missed my post;

    My car has crashed into a house with my 2 girls in it.
    I just poped into my house for a mo. and suddenly heard a constant horning of my car. I looked through the window and saw my car leaving our pouch. The car was rolling back down the road with my 2 children in it. I ran out knowing the car is heading towards a house down the road and would be smashing into it. Within a few second the enevitable occurred. When I got to the car the children were balling and in shock. The first thing I look at was the hand break. It was up as I left it.
    I had just hired the car and I have a £500.00 excess.
    My wife has just got back and have taken the children to the hospital to get them checked over.

    I’m in the process of suing my carhire company. They in return say, they will take it up with Vauxhall.
    Will keep you all posted.

  125. Dan

    Hi, RE: Hand brake – Astra Mk5

    I parked my car at work car park (roughly 20-30 degree decline) handbrake on but not in gear, not touching the button on the handbrake (clicking as it goes). 10 minutes later I hear the alarm, and it’s rolled down the car park and crashed into a metal fence, the handbrake is still engaged! The dealer’s response was the handbrake was not on; my response was if the handbrake was not on, I would have run myself over whilst getting out of the car! With a bit of bartering, and trying to put other customers off whilst in the garage, the dealer has accepted to repair the car FOC, however they will not accept liability and say the handbrake works fine…Speaking to a friend at work however, he has inside information that Vauxhalls break disks suffer from a high level of expansion when heated up, the basics are that when the disks cool down the callipers are left with no contact on the disks and this causes the car to roll whilst the handbrake is still in the upright position! In addition to this my cars exhaust pipe also failed a few weeks after purchase (took drive Vauxhall circa 3 months to get the parts), and the boot lock has failed leaving my boot fully open through the night!

  126. Hi Dan,

    I’d love to know whether your “friend at work” can confirm the story about the brake discs heating. I find it hard to believe to be honest, as it’s something that in the design stage would be a very easy to spot fault. On top of that, excessively expanded discs would equate to huge amounts of extra wear on long drives. So far, I haven’t seen too many complaints of cracked discs – which would also support the theory of excessive disc expansion. Like I say though, definitely interested in hearing more!

    I have a problem with my Mk 4 astra – the boot seems to stick sometimes (but thankfully doesn’t end up fully opening itself!).

  127. Boot has started to leak again, one week after getting it back, after they had taken 3 weeks to ‘fix’ it. Put car, Astra twin top design, in for service on Monday 2 weeks ago. On Monday 1 week ago alternator went causing loss of power steering. Halfway round a roundabout at the time! Is there no end to the faults on this car?! It is two and a half years onld and Vauxhall have had it with them for 5 months of that. Has anybody contacted ‘Dom’ on the BBC. They have enough complaints for the next series. Just wondered if anybody had got a spot on next series, cos we could all put our bit in.

  128. I’ve recently got in touch with Watchdog to highlight the number of comments (136 including this one) regarding this issue and the other problems raised by all of you here. I’ll let you know if they get in touch.

    Thanks

  129. Hi all,

    I brought a Tigra 57 plate in Sept 07, and have recently started to get problems with the handbreak not holding, and the roof creaking all the time. I did have a brand new 04plate Corsa before and had nothing but problems with that!!! Now Vauxhall are actually saying that because its 18 mths old, none of the problems are covered by the warranty!!! What do i do????

  130. I did try to make watchdog aware of the situation back in July when my car rolled away, but nothing came of it, maybe now with so many people adding to this list so regularly it can’t be ignored anymore?

    It’s alarming how many people have had the same experiance yet it’s only the corsa which has ever feautured on Watchdog yet all the models i.e astra & astra twin top have got the same problems – if not more!!

  131. EGR valve gone twice in 2 days now! Have found a name them and shame them site, they contact companies too. Site is canyoutrustthem.com. I am complaining again to Vauxhall chairman with copies to my MP and the MP for Luton north where vauxhall head office is. Don’t know about all of you, but as far as I am concerned, enough is enough. Cars are not a luxury, for most of us they are a necessity and my employer is not happy at the amount of time I spend in Vauxhall dealers waiting for my car to be ‘fixed’ again and again.

  132. We must share the same car Pauline, My ERG valve was acting up, car loses most of its power, I have also had it replaced twice and its been back twice in two weeks with another visit due on monday, they are saying it is some sort of sensor that needs replacing to allow the car to regenerate what ever that means.
    Vauxhall are scum in my eyes, they have a long list of faults they can’t cure and just blag and bodge their way to the end of the warranty period and then were stuck with a heap we cant use or afford to repair / run, I paid almost £20k for a car thats been back to the dealers 19 times and never do I get anything in writing saying what the fault was or what they have done to prevent it happening again. I feel sorry for the service departments as its their job to lie and deceive people to protect vauxhall, Nothing will get done until the likes of watchdog or rogue traders take up the cause and that will not happen,

  133. Glad it’s not just me. I have an 02 plate Astra, the handbrake of which is virtually useless. The local Vauxhall garage claims it’s fine, and has tightened it twice, but it fundamentally doesn’t hold the car when parked. I’m getting an independent mechanic to take it to pieces and rebuilt it, or fit a new one.

  135. I have told Vauxhall that I don’t want my car back and that I am compiling a dossier of complaints and sending copies to Vauxhall, my MP the MP where the dealership is situated and the MP for Luton South. Thay now want me to contact them. If you go on the site for Margaret Moran, the MP for Luton South you wil see that she has been goingafter Vauxhall since 2000 when Vauxhall obtained money from the gvernment and then, despite assurances that they wouldn’t, they sacked some of their employees. Makes interesting reading and we may have fnd a strong ally.

  136. I own a 2007 Meriva 1.3 CDTI life and have had it for a year. The milage is only 13000.
    On 13/05/09, the engine blew up due to a faulty turbo seal. I am awaiting a waranty decision from Vauxhall otherwise it will cost me £4270 to replace the engine.
    Has anyone else had this experience?

  137. Mr Bannister,

    That’s pretty bad. I’m not sure how Vauxhall can turn round and say that they won’t help you out here. Please keep us informed.

    Thanks

  138. Can someone help me, i have a vauxhall tirga CC and over the last month or so my drivers side electic window has been playing up. the window will not go all the way to the top and is draining my battery, does anyone know why it is doin it? it does not happen everytime i open the door, just every now and again.

  139. I have a Tigra 05 plate, and for the last year been afraid to use the boot or roof as repeatedly sticks and has to be pushed down manually! I’ve also had the handbreak not holding and the groaning sound, plus regular problems with the electric windows.

    I battled on the window problem as took it in repeatedly before it finally completely stopped coming up on driver’s side, but was told outside warranty period. The dealer eventually agreed to fix it as I’d raised the problem before, but not before I argued and became upset about it.

    Have taken car in re roof and boot to well-regarded local electrical specialist, and he can’t find a fault, depsite spending all day playing with electrics. So, he called contacts in the trade, and found that this is a common problem on the Tigra roof and boot and it basically needs to be sent back to the manufacturer. I’m in despair about what to do next really. Spend a fortune on manufacturer investigations and maybe repairs, or spend the summer continually frustrated that I can’t enjoy the open top roof!

  140. PS – when the window sticks occasionally, as it still does, I open the driver’s side door, slam it and then try putting it up again. Seems to work every time, but no idea why…

  141. Elizabeth, re your window, if slamming the door then allows you to raise/lower the window, it could well be something to do with how everything is fitting together.

    Sadly, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of problems with the Tigra roof. I hope you get it sorted. I would check with VOSA if there are any known issues for your particular VIN number of vehicle. This will give you the required ammunition to get what you need from the manufacturer.

  142. My Astra twintop has been taken to Luton by Vauxhall. They are appreciative of the opportunity to try to fix my car! So far, it has taken them 10 days to locate the leak in the boot. Normally I only have to open the boot and there is the leak! I wrote to my MP who has passed my communication to Cheshire trading standards who are to carry out a full investigation into the matter. Suggest yu all write to your MP’s and trading standards, dept. fair trade. We will get somewhere if we do what appears to be working. Good luck. Will keep you updated.

  143. I HAD A FAULT WITH OIL COMING FROM UNDER THE FRONT END, SO VAUXHALL TOOK TWO DAYS TO FIX THEY PUT IN A NEW CLUTCH NOW MY 2007 VECTRA SRI RATTLES WHEN I USE THE CLUTCH, THEY SAY THEY CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING?

  144. I have an 2005 Astra SRI 1.9, I bought it July 2007, it lasted five months before it started to play up. The turbo system failed almost causing a crash at a roundabout; the driver seat slid forward when breaking; and the alarm kept sounding without anyone being near it; then the alarm indicator lights would come on and off but no alarm siren. The central locking would unlock itself, I would lock the car in the evening and it would be unlocked in the morning. Vauxhall fixed the seat (which has now broken again) after taking it in two more times they fixed the turbo systerm (which is now showing signs of failing again) and the alarm and central locking they said had no fault shown, however I asked for the mechanic fault sheet it showed there was a fault with the alarm and central locking and they allowed it out of the garage without fixing it and didn’t tell me about it.
    As if all that is not bad enough my handbrake released on the car and rolled off my driveway and a stranger who was almost hit by the car had to knock at my door and tell me he saw it roll across the busy road and smash into an electrial box. I contacted Vauxhall and they requested the CCTV footage as they didn’t believe my statement, then they said it wasn’t enough, so I tracked down the man who knocked at the door who is willing to provide a witness statement (he is pretty upset the car almost hit him), Vauxhall said they are unwilling to look at his witness statement and say they are not liable as i didn’t leave it in gear. My car has since released its handbrake with myself inside the car (while on a flat surface so I didn’t put it in gear).
    This is by far the worse car I have had. I have a 5 year finance and no warranty left and a dangrous car which can kill someone. If anyone has any advice please help by leaving a comment or even your own experience if you’ve been succesful as Vauxhall state “we have not received significant feedback to warrant a recall being issued for this concern”.

  145. Hi Katie
    Vauxhall appear to be deaf and stupid! They have had my Astra 6 weeks now and have come up with the wonderful suggestion to replace the boot seals. They have already been replaced 4 times! The fair trading office have not got back to me and I am hounding my MP for action. Vauxhall are totally ignoring the fact that my handbrake failed and caused extensive damage. Have just reminded them, and pointed out that they can’t miss the damage it’s at the back of the car! I had 4 independent witness statements. Vosa range me and said that it couldn’t have happened. No inspection of my vehicle, or anything. So, have told Vosa that it is very worrying that they are responsible for the safety of vehicles on the road, and don’t actually seem to know what constitutes danger. Stick ith it, they will grind you down if you let them.

  146. I feel so sorry for the people on here, I have been finally gound down by Vauxhall and don’t bother with them now, my twin top is on its back in again for the 20 something time, The roof has never worked for more than three times on the run without a fault developing, my warranty runs out in December and I will be stuck with a car with a fault list as long as your arm, I hardly ever drive it now as it just leaves me feeling sick and worrying what will go wrong next, vauxhall are scum and deserve to go to the wall and put all the smug B@$t@RDS on the dole, they definately monitor sites like these and I’m suprised they havent had it shut down, Its a pity Solicitors/Barristers dont buy vauxhalls we might have a chance then, Good luck to all that have problems….I’m done….rant over

  147. My twintop is now cured.
    Lookers in Speke had it in a few times, replacing seals each time. The boot continued to leak.
    Eventually they took it to a specialist i Blackpool and it has not leaked since, even with recent heavy rain.
    They promised to replcae the carpets inside, but not heard anything back since.

  148. Hi Pauline,
    I have read your comment from April 2008 when you said you wrote to the Managing Director about your handbrake, I take it that didn’t work out that well? I have been advised by the guy who sold me the car to write to Bill Parfitt who he said is the Managing Director. Who in VOSA did you contact? Would you mind if I spoke of your case when I fight my case, it seems the more of us there are the more they will listen. I have been told by the Vauxhall mechanic that the Astra’s use the same handbrake design as the Corsa’s and the Corsa’s have had a recall because of there handbrakes releasing.

  149. Hi Kaite,

    I’m not sure how much difference it would make but you could always mention the site. There are quite a few comments here that VOSA may be interested in.

  150. Hi Mr Butterscotch,

    I have mentioned this site to vauxhall, and they said there was not enough people complaining to make them stand up and listen. Hence why I have added my name, I wish there was more people, almost like a petition I could put together to show them, they only seem to be about facts and figures. There attuide is “we creat 100,000 cars a year and 100 are reported with fault, what do you exspect there cars there band to have faults” my attuide is “out of them 100 faulty cars it only takes one with a fault to kill someone or even creat a motorway pile up, safety should come first, doesn’t matter if it’s one car or 100,000”.

  151. Hi Katie
    Martin Ryder is the guy at VOSA dealing with Vauxhall complaints, or not dealing with them as the case may be. By all means refer to my complaint. There are photos of the damage to my car posted on this site.
    As for mentioning the site. I did, to VOSA, and was told that no store was set by posts as they are often posted by people who have not had problems but who like to be in on what is going on. Posts are not a relaible source of information, which is why I have urged everyone to contact VOSA and Vauxhall directly. Also contact your MP and Trading Standards. In this country car manufacturers have the rigt to be gven the ‘opportunity’ to fix your car, however many times summat goes wrong with it. Same situatin in America until some states introduced what is called ‘lemon law’. This basically acknowledges that after so many attempts the manufacturer has to replace the car or give a refund. When you contact trading standards they may tell you that they can’t handle anything worth more than £5,000, still give it a go. There have apparently been some legal cases brought against Vauxhall, according to posts on the RAC forum but I don’t have any details. It might be worth pursuing a joint legal action. If enough of us contact the same solicitor then there would be a stronger case. I am also contacting the motoring correspondence at the Daily Mail.

  152. Mr Butterscotch.
    Can you, on behalf of the postees on this site, contact the Daily Mail motoring crrespondent and strengthen the case against Vauxhall? VOSA may not set store by forums, but I bet the Daily Mail will, if people are prepared to come together and really bring the situation into high profile media attntion.

  153. Hi Pauline & Mr Butterscotch,

    I have found your advise very helpful and also very inspiring. I almost felt like giving up, until I read this web site then I just got upset and annoyed that Vauxhall and other car companies can get away with this. With your help I would like to set up a petition, I think I will start off on Facebook, it seems to be the fastest way to get information around these days, if you could pass this information around and try get some names from people who have had problems with their Vauxhalls that would be great. I have to look up how to get this pitition up and running my partner said there is an official website that deals with this, facebook will just be a way of spreading the word. I also will be looking into solicitors cost and how much they can help but again when I find a solicitor who I feel can deal with this case I will give over his name to everyone, so like you say strength in numbers. Well keep me updated if anything changes and I will do the same, but I have to go now and hand the car back to Vauxhall, as they didn’t borther fixing the alarm and central locking last week when they had it then and has been invalidating my insurance all week. Take care.

  154. Try taking it to the top:
    http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/

    Pauline, at the risk of blowing my cover and revealing completely who I am (I’d rather not do this if I can help it), I will look into having a discussion with someone over at the Daily Mail.

    N.B. Have any of you who have experienced problems tried emailing Tim Shallcross over at Times Online?

    http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/car_clinic/article6568196.ece

    He’d certainly be able to tell you if it’s a common problem or not.

  156. Hi Pauline,

    You wouldn’t be the first to suggest a similarity – but rest assured that I am most definitely not Lord Lucan. I’m not The Stig either for that matter…

  157. Hi Pauline, Here is some info that I found out through the citizens advice, Vauxhall legal defence has been that I didn’t leave the car in gear on a hill, as per the highway code and their drivers manual. citizens advice states neither of them two things matter, due to the trading standards institute “When you buy goods from a trader, you enter into a legally binding contract governed by the Sale of Goods Act 1979, as amended by the Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994 and the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002. If you buy a used car from a trader it must be of satisfactory quality, fit for the purpose, and as described” So if your car is not fit for its purpose then you have a case and Vauxhall have to look at it and repair it. I know its baby steps but I will let you know how it goes.

  158. Oh what I forgot to say is if the car is not fit for it’s purpose then Vauxhall has Voided the warrenty which means they void the contract too. By not repairing the car they void the warrenty.

  159. hi took my nana shoping today shes’ 83 when i pulled up out side her house i put the handbreak on and took the first lot of shoping in then whent back for the rest after about 5 minutes of being in the house with my nan i heard i bang when i loooked out the window no car so went out side to find it had rolled down the bank a few feet in to oa brick wall causing a lot of damage to my car and the wall it then was stuck and had to be lifted off and is now in a vauxhall garage getting repaird which they say can cost up to £2000 ,i have only had the car since 5 weeks and bought it from cars exspress ,i have been told that it had not been recalled to get the sping done which i had no idea about as i have not been told ,now there saying that it my be my fault that this happend and i know for a fact i put it on otherwise when i got out it would ove rolled then but it took about 5 mins to roll away can any one help as i dont see why i should have to lose my no claims bonus as it ben a fault with vauxhall and the company i bought the car from should have checked all this
    any advice would be great right now as am passed myself .lisa

  160. I am taking Vauxhall to court over my Vectra rolling away and crashing into a neighbours front wall…i am insured with Sheilas wheels and i can say they have been bnrilliant….especially their in-house solictors…my court date is Oct 1st in Manchester.

  161. Hi Virginia that is fantastic news about your insurance company being involved, please keep us posted how you are getting on. My car was only 5 weeks old when the same thing happened to me. Vauxhall completely dismissed it and my insurance said that I must have left the handbrake off, I will be informing them that your insurance company is taking them to court, I hope that your solicitor uses some of the stories from these posts I am happy for them to use mine. If you require any info from me post your email address and I will send you the info. Good luck with that. Caroline Pearce.

  162. Hi,that is great news I hope you can open the flood gates.I posted my 56 plate Vectra rolling down the drive and into the corner of my house back in January 09.I had only just purchased it on Christmas eve and was gutted.I didn’t want to get my insurance company involved as the damage was under £300.I thought I had a good case against Vauxhall as I proved that they actually still owned my car as a demo vehicle when the recall went out and they didn’t bother to do the handbrake mod before they sold it.Then 3 months after it was sold the new owner took it to a main Vauxhall dealer to be serviced and again the recall was missed.
    Customer service at Vauxhall head office went down the same route with the Highway code leaving the car in gear on an incline.I said that if the modification had been done on one of the two occasions it was missed then the car would not have rolled away.
    Their reply was that it only happened because I didn’t put the car in gear and didn’t apply the handbrake properly.
    My reply to them was so you are telling me that there are thousands of people out there who do not know how to apply a handbrake and their answer was Yes!!!!!
    I thought about trying to take this further but am now considering just getting it sorted myself to save all the hassle.
    Good luck with your day in court.
    Regards Steve.

  163. Hi Steve,

    Do not give up. The highway code states: you have leave a car in gear on a hill, not a slope and not uneven ground, the high way agencies can not tell me at what gradient does a slope become a hill. The drivers manual does not show in the compulsary secetion that you must leave it in gear, it only shows it in the advice section.

    Don’t give up go to VOSA, consumer direct, and financial ombudsman, if we all write in they will have to start to see a problem.

    Hi Virginia,

    Thats great news, you go girl. If your solicitor needs any further reports of the same thing happening he is more than welcome to add my name to the list.
    Vauxhall shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this, my car is a death trap and I paid £10,000 for it.

  164. Virginia
    Good luck and let us know how you get on. Vauxhall in Luton have had my car 6 weeks and not even checked the handbrake! Boot faults have have resulted in 9 corrections, noisy roof and windows, 3 corrections.
    Mr Butterscotch
    Contacted paper via Tim, no respose.
    Thanks for all of the other info Katie, will do as you suggest.

  165. To whom it may concern

    I would like to log a complaint with the Vauxhall Astra I have.
    I have been researching on the Internet and found you to be a good source of information.

    I bought my 56 reg sxi astra about 4 months ago.When i first got it after the ‘ so many point checks’ the dealers do, the seat belt on the passenger side didn’t work. I took it back and they did fix it. To be honest not the point seeing as they obviously didn’t do the ‘ so many point’ check before we took ita way.

    We have since had it in twice. Once on record and them having a look at it and once someone oming out of the garage to have a quick look. This is all with Wilson and Co, Bolton, who we bought it from.

    We stated that it doesn’t start in the morning on most occasions and have to turn the engiene over a few times before it starts. When it does it sounds like there is trapped air in it and it cuts out again.
    On the occasion it has cut out at the lights, not many times but surly 56 reg shouldnt be doing this.

    When we were away on holiday at the end of June the car would not start full stop. And we had to jump start it!!

    Since then when i am driving it ( when it does start) there is a gurgling coming from what seems like under the dash board behinf the steering wheel.
    I have had vauxhall look at this aswell and they cannot find anything wrong with it.
    They did say the coolantw as low so advised me to top it up, when i do top it up it is low again in a matter of days- no air con on either.

    And now the cherry on the cake:

    I park the car outside the house one evening last week as normal. Got up in the morning, opened curtains, car still there outside the window. Go to get ready and then set out the door to go to work…car not there!

    Instead its 20 meters or so down the road and crashed into a wall. The handbrake to me works fine, to which i was botherd i hadn’t but it on right, but surly it would of gone down the road sooner than what it had done.

    Now it looks a mess. The alloy has been completely demolished inside, And behind the brakes (the axil i have been told) is completely split. Not to mension paintwork damage front and back of the car where it had slide into things and the wall.

    After reading up on it on the internet i have found alot of people having the same probem with the new astras and i would like to look into it more.

    I understand to go through my insurance but i dont want to do that if it is a manufacturers fault.

    Please is there anything you can advise me.

    Here is what im doing so far:

    * Tomorrow it is being picked up by the garage i use fo them to have an independant look.
    * I will then have Samson Bolton have a look and see hwat they think-they work with my insurance company.
    *I am to log a complaint to my finance company – Northridge finance.
    * I am to log a complaint to Wilson and Co and take in the articles i have on astra defaults and see what they have to say.

    Bit unsure what else to do, Please could you help??

    Kindest Regards

    Liz Pycroft

  166. Hi Liz
    Contact VOSA (Martin Ryder), his number on the VOSA website. Also contact consumer direct, and send letter to Vauxhall head office in Luton. That’s the start

  167. Hi Pauline

    Ive contacted Vosa- but no Martin Ryder – so will do that thanks. I have done consumer direct and they said go into vauxhall with all these feeds on ‘dodgy handbrakes’ to which i have printed off and just need to go in. I have also written to the head office and my finance company…i think its a waiting game now…but still with no car that im paying for!

    Thanks for your advise

  168. Hi Liz
    Didn’t get my car from Wilson but they have done work on it. It’s Vauxhall who are at fault, not the dealership, or all of us drivers who allegedly don’t know how to park a car! Watch your emissions valve too, mine has gone 3 times.
    Martin Ryder is supposed to be dealing with Vauxhalls. Also, contact watchdog on BBC1 they have already done a programme on it, but another one wouldn’t go amiss.

  169. I bought a new Chevette in 1979 and was dissappointed. It had faulty steering, brakes, clutch, gearbox. Even the bodywork was badly made. The stabiliser bar broke loose because of a faulty bracket. The ashtray broke. The window wind handle had a rivet that cut the knob. it was just incredible.
    I have never bought a GM product since.
    I suspect that the factory on Merseyside is part of the problem. The people who work there just don’t care about quality.
    The Vauxhall Astra is no good and Vauxhall will become history. Even Fiat are better.

  170. im getting nowhere with vauxhall they saying cause i didnt leave it in gear its my fault and not that the handbrake failed cause it should of been recalled in march 2008 i only bought the car in june this year and new nothing about a recall now i have had all my no clamis taken off me and £250 excess to pay plus my car has been in the vauxhall garage for 18 days getting fixed and i was only allowed the courtesey car for 14 days so i had to pay extra for that which i dont think is fair as no of this is my fault im now going to go to trading standards what do you think ??? any advice would be great ….lisa

  171. Hi Lisa,
    And to anyone else with a handbrake problem.

    I have contacted Trading Standards (consumer direct) who state:

    Unless the car has it’s Vauxhall warranty (eg the first three years) then the road you have to go down to get the fault repaired and the damage made good is with the finance company, You need to write to your finance company and state the under the sale of goods act 1973 the vehicle is not fit for it’s purpose and that they are required by law to mend this fault.
    I hope this helps you; I’m waiting to hear at the moment I will let you all know how it goes.
    If your car is under warranty by Vauxhall (the first 3 years) then Vauxhall is responsible for the repairs.

  172. Hi Virginia
    Vauxhall, Luton, have repaired the damage done by the handbrake failure to my astra twin top. I thanked them, and they denied fixing it. Thought your solicitor wuld be interested. Vauxhall also stated that their stance on the handbrake remains the same. Which coourt are you in, would like to come and give you some support.

  173. To everybody
    Trading standards suggested to me that we pool our complaints and take legal action as a ‘team’. It would mean one case, but would atract great deal of publicity. Wonder if Vauxhall buyers will have these probs in Germany!

  175. I am taking Vauxhall to court tomorrow in Manchester as 2 yrs ago my vectra rolled away with the handbrake still on ! and i live on a hill 1
    Sheilas wheels in house solicitior is excellent…..

    watch this space…

  176. Good luck for tomorrow, I can’t wait to hear the judge make vauxhall accountable for this dangrous problem. I’m still fighting and won’t be giving up. Please keep us updated on how it goes tomorrow.

  178. To all Vauxhall complainants
    I have contacted the Department for Business, Innovation and skills as well as the Consumer & Competition Policy Team at central government. I have complained bitterly that trading standards don’t seem to have power or inclination to address the problems with Vauxhall cars. I have refuted that this applies to ‘individuals’ and ‘suggested’ that there be policy changes to remove discriminatory practice that allows car manufacturers and dealers to avoid being held responsible for appalling customer service and faulty cars. Email [email protected] and tell him how you have been treated and confirm that we are large in number. Policy can be changed, provided you are prepared o make a stand, send an email and not give in to apathy.
    Virginia, I hope that your case was successful today.

  179. Hi Pauline,

    Wow this is a great step foward and I will be sending an email first thing tomorrow morning when I am feeling refreshed, thank you for advising us all and providing this email address.

    Katie

  180. I have a 08 corsa sxi and the same thing has happened to me at the weekend. i park up on a 40% gradient and applied the handbrake. walk along to the church and waited outside fro 10 mins only to see the car roll down the hill and over into the wall then into another car.

  181. Hi Nicci
    Contact dealership, Martin Ryder, at VOSA, watchdog and trading standards. Also, email matthew Rogers, see previous post. We need to continue complaining cos Vauxhall are dismissing prob with hand brake, and if we keep quiet they will get away with it. My strategy…complain to anyone who will listen and if they don’t listen complain to someone else and include a complaint against hose who aint listening. Stay strong!

  182. Interesting to see all these Corsa handbrake issues. It’s just happened to mine for a THIRD time.
    First time on the drive – luckily the car rolled across the drive opposite and didn’t damage anything. You just assume it was you!
    Second time in a car park with my son inside – I was walking towards my car when I heard a ‘pop’ and the car started to roll backwards. I jumped in and applied the brake, again no damage to anything.
    Third time, on the drive, was this morning when neighbours reported that my car was parked across the road, and I mean across the road not opposite! It ‘U’d round, mounted the kerb and fortunately hit a post of a fence damaging just the car. NOT HAPPY!
    What’s more worrying is that I only had it serviced a couple of weeks ago and having reported the problem and seemingly having it fixed thought I no longer needed to put a brick behind a wheel! Our drive is barely a slope but I cannot get out the car without applying the handbrake as it will slip quietly backwards.

  183. Hi Dave,

    I would recommend always leaving it in gear, even if its on a flat service, this way your covered when Vauxhall say did you leave it in gear as the hand manual instructs……. I know it doesn’t help the damage you have just had done, that is now a battle with Vauxhall, your finiance company and VOSA to stop this happening to others. Also go after the people who had repaired the handbrake, at the moment they are at fault.
    Good luck

  184. Hi ya Pauline,

    I have wrote an email to Matthew Rogers but as yet I have not had a response. I was wondering if you have heard anything?

    Katie

  185. Hi Katie
    Have had a reply from the senior policy advisor, Consumer, competition and policy dept. He says they can’t intervene on individual cases. I keep telling them it’s not just me, but apathy seems rife. What’s the point in whinging on this site and not taking the matter further! Email address: [email protected] This is who Matthew will forward your email to, so do it direct. Patience i needed. I have stated that I think it is wrong that cars with obvious safety issues are not dealt with by trading standards. What exactly do they do to justify their existence?!

  186. Hi Pauline,

    I couldn’t agree more, I think Trading Standards are a waste of time and are by not raising any action against Vauxhall they are allowing them to build these death traps.
    I have just sent off the information pack to go with my complaint for the finance company to investigate, I waiting for the response, “I’m sorry Miss Brooks there is nothing we can do as were not at fault” It’s all crap.

  187. anyone help with advise regarding my handbreak releasing on my 06 astra, have spoke to customer care who trold me to take it into my local dealership, they in turn kept the car all day, then said they could not find any fault with the handbreak, yet it still realeases when my car is parked, when i informed them I was aware of problems with other astra`s they denied any problem, up to now my car has rolled into another car and down the road, yet they don`t want to know.

  188. I bought a Corsa 58 Plate October 2008. The Car was left parked on a gradient with handbrake firmly applied in a shopping car park around June 2009. Approx 30 minutes after being parked the handbrake released and car rolled down and caused over £8000 worth of damage to 3 cars. Luckly nobody was killed or injured. I have been driving Vauxhall cars since 1985 and have always applied the handbrake exactly the same way. Vauxhall Customer service took up the case then dropped it as soon as an engineer reported to them that there was no fault with the handbrake. I have now sold the car as I cannot continue to drive a car where there is obviously a serious defect. Vauxhall handling of my complaint was shocking, and I will never purchase any other vauxhall cars, and I will advise friends and family to do the same. Reading between the lines , they know there is a problem and think they can get away with it by saying dont press the button when applying brake and park in gear. I will continue to raise the Issue, although I no longer drive vauxhall, as I feel so strongly about a company who are hiding a serious defect from their customers.

  189. Hi all, I experienced the problem of the clearly faulty handbrake only tonight. Parked the car up on the drive, with the handbrake on as otherwise the car would have rolled with me in it. No less than 10 mins later, looked out the window to see the car had rolled back, across the road and hit the corner of my neighbours house. When my dad went to move the car, the handbrake had disengaged. So far ive let the insurance company know who are sending someone from a garage tomorrow to estimate the damage.
    Would anyone have any suggestions on where to go from now on regarding the damage, the dealership who told me to go through the insurance, and who else to contact.

  191. Caroline

    Raise a complaint with Vauxhall Direct. Also Report it to VOSA. Also report to Watchdog. Although you will probably be told there is not enough evidence to force Vauxhall to deal with the problem. I no longer drive a Vauxhall after my experience, but have again sent a complaint to Vauxhall to try and get them to admit there is a serious problem out there. At the end of the day my handbrake failure caused £10000 worth of damage to 4 cars.

    Good Luck

  192. To ALL complainers on this forum
    Email, see my above post, consumer, competition and policy department. I decided to go right to the top. Polilcy needs changing because it is not protecting ALL consumers, it is therefore discriminatory and illegal. They need loads to contact them, or they will say that they can’t become involved in individual cases.

  193. Hi all vauxhall sufferers MY problems are solved
    solved by vauxhall NO
    solved by vosa NO
    solved by my main dealer NO
    solved by watchdog NO
    solved by selling my VAUXHALL JUNK and replacing it with a foriegn car WHEN the hand brake is applied the car is safe What a novel idea
    matthew

  194. Hi Matthew
    Hope you still complain to consumer, competition and policy (see above). Vauxhall aint gonna be brought to justice till everyone lets rip to the right folk.

  195. Hi,

    I left my 08 plate vauxhall astra twintop on a slight slope in a car park today and a number of witnesses had seen the car stationary for an hour. However, shortly after a policeman turned up to say that a car had been abandoned on the opposite side of the main road and had crashed into church railings with the hand brake OFF! But if i had left the car like this is the 1st place it would have rolled back immediately.

    What route do I go on to get Vauxhall to take responsibility for an apparent faulty handbrake as this is going to cost thousands of pounds for a fault that isn’t mine?

  196. Does anyone know how Virginia got on with her court case last month ? There was also a courtcase in Nottinghamshire last month. See Which? Magazine.

  198. I have had a handbrake failure on a new insignia sports tourer. It has a manual handbrake which on the next batch they have replaced with electric handbrakes. I parked, handbrake on and 10mins later rolled down drive and hit house. Same answer from Vauxhall ‘it wasn’t parked in gear so they aren’t responsible’. I have emailed Watchdog today.

  199. Hi Pauline,

    A guy was injured as his hired Signum rolled back on him. His court case was last week, but not heard anything. The article is in Which?

  200. ive just bought a corsa life on 59 plate! and the next day after i came home with the car it rolled into my house! i have on cctv that 4 mins after i get out the car it rolls straight into the house will that help my case?

  201. I parked my astra 2005 plate hatchback on my road, I definetly put my hadbrake up. After i went insinde my house, 2 minutes later a knock on the door from the neighbour and was told my car was rolling down and hit a parked car i am very angry with this matter espiecially where i will be liable for the costs of the repairs of the vehicles. I dont know what to do because this is not my fault but a problem with the handbrake is very common. This is something the manafacture will not take responsibility of.

  202. had my corasa d 2 weeks parked out side and the car had rolled down the road into a wall been to delership and said about the hand brake a
    had come off on it’s own had a look at it said nothing was wrong with it it has happen 4 time now nothing done about it

  203. I have a vauxhall insignia SE with electronic parking. A few days ago the clutch pedal did not full raise and I had to release it manual. There was then a terrible burning smell. I got it into the garage the same day and they are saying the clutch is completely burned out and trying to claim it is driver error from riding the clutch. Why the heck would you ride the clutch if you just have to press a button to apply the brake. I have been driving for over 20 years and never had a clutch problem. Can anyone advise!

  204. My car has been checked over by Vauxhall this week due to my car rolling down a hill after being stationary for 45 mins. Vauxhall have stated there is nothing wrong with the car. Another Vauxhall car with no fault.

  205. Hi Sandra

    I had the same problem with the burning smell. Week later my rolled and crashed into church railings.
    Can anybody advise on what step to take next .
    Iam not going to let Vauxhall get away with this.

  206. current situation: after having to chase the garage, they are not even getting the parts in until 22nd December. They are insistant it is driver error still and are asking for £990 to undertake the repair. I would say that it would be almost impossible to cause such damage in 4 months from new! I drove a ford for 11 years and a toyota for 3 years without the hint of a clutch problem.

  207. I bought a new 59 reg 1.8 manual Insignia and after a few days I too noticed a similar problem as Sandra Warren; when you use clutch control on an uphill ramp, the clutch or something to do with the transmission system causes something to smoke up, I’ve been driving manuals since 1983, its been left at the dealers and they don’t have a clue what to do? I wish I’d bought a VW or Honda now.

  208. An update, now the dealership want £500 to open up the gearbox to see what the problem is after 2 of their staff; the sales rep and test drive mechanic admitted that their was a pungent gas emmitting from the transmission system. If the car s under warranty then their shouldnt be any cost to the customer, it seems that they are only interested in money and their warranty is absolutely fake. DON’T BUY A VAUXHALL

  209. Hi Jim
    Contact trading standards and the policy committee, contact details above.
    Pauline

  210. Update – Once they were threatened with an independent assessor, they agreed to do the work without further question. However, the parts were due yesterday and I was told today that they will now not be dispatched until 7th January from Germany! All told I am likely to be without my car for a month with still no final completion date.

  211. I purchase a brand new Vauxhall Insignia from Bristol Street Motors in Newcastle and collected it on 16 October. Five weeks later, on 20 Nov, parked it on a hill, handbrake engaged and in gear and when I returned to it, it hand rolled down the hill, over a metal bollard and through a brick wall. Fortunately, a police patrol van was also passing and checked the handbrake – it was still on! I contacted Bristol Street on 5th December and have only just received a reply today. Needless to say, they are denying any kind of fault and say their ‘technical department’ “state categorically there is no issue with handbrake failure that they are aware of on Insignia” but want to carry out an investigation!! Unfortunately, it looks like another insurance company are going to have to foot the bill for Vauxhalls faults and denial of a problem.

  212. Hi David,

    It sounds very fortunate that no-one was hurt during your car rolling away. Lucky that the police were there too and could verify your claim that the handbrake was on. I’m not aware of a recall or major issue with Insignias (and I don’t know whether they use the same handbrake as the rest of the Vauxhall range) but it does sound as though your car had handbrake failure!

  213. I’m going to do the same thing tomorrow morning and tell them I’m going to ask an independant assessor to examine the fault and see what they say. Vauxhall seemed to have sided with their dealers and treat their customers as dillusional

  214. I left my 06 vectra parked on a slight slope and it want till 20 miutes later that it rolled back on to another car i have it all on cctv and witnesses to say my handbrake was on and now i have a bill for nearly £500 to fix the other ladys car and i my own car to sort out i have rang vauxhall and they said it as not been in for its reccall i have only had the car since november and i had no idea till today that it had a recall on the car dose any one know if i would be able to get the cars fixed by vauxhall and not have to pay fo it as i was not at fault the handbrake was.

  215. My brand new Corsa Life rolled away as I opened the door, dragging me with it and leaving me in an unceremonious heap in the gutter over the road, 95 miles on the clock. I was quite hurt, am disabled anyway, it would seem this has never happened before!! So pleased I have been reading all the above. My car bumped my neighbours car 3 spaces up and veered of onto the grass. Am still shaken 2 weeks later. Have informed my dealership and they are looking into it for me as I told them to Google it and they will come back to me.
    Damage minimal fortunately but only to the car and not me.

  216. Hi Barbara
    I wish you a speedy recovery. Please, please, contact VOSA (Martin Ryder specifically), address further up these posts. According to him there is nothing wrong with the hand brake, even though he didn’t have it checked! And these are the guys responsible for ensuring safety on the roads! Do persist with this, it’s easy to get fed up and give up, but you push them as far as you can, and get your local disability centre to push on your behalf. Bestof luck.

  217. Hi,
    I bought corsa sxi 1.2 twinport 06 reg in november 09,
    last night i was visiting a friend for a hour parking on an incline with handbrake fully engaged, when returning the
    car had rolled backwards down the hill ,across a mainroad
    and ended up smashing into a wall , knocking down a gate
    to a residential old peoples home . The police was called,so they witnessed the handbrake being engaged,as
    a result it is a insurance claim, and i would think looking at
    the damage caused it will be a write off. Any advice please.

  218. Hi

    It’s been very encouraging but also quite depressing reading the above posts. In Jan 10, I took my ’55’ Corsa D Sxi 1.2 to Stevens Vauxhall Crawley where I bought it because I was experiencing some roll back even though the handbreak was on. The handbreak was ‘checked’ but on Saturday 7th February 2010 I parked the car outside where I live (on a slight incline) with the handbreak on but not in gear and the car rolled back. As the door was open it’s been damaged – estimated repair cost £1700+ pounds.

    I went to see the manager at the branch where I bought the car and told him the situation and he said he would get the people at the Horsham branch to re-test the handbreak but I have heard nothing from them.

    Frustration doesn’t cover how I feel – I’m having to hire a car which is an expense I really don’t need so soon after Christmas…. and I think either way it’s going to be an insurance job with a loss of 4 years no claims for something that was not my fault: – (

  219. I would advise all of you to contact the managing director at Vauxhall, Luton. Chances are it will be passed to executive customer service manager. In my casse, Rosie Salter. They are getting frustrated with me (now they know how we feel!). The damage to my car has been fixed, I refused to go thru insurance. Contact nartin ryder at VOSA, and Watchdog and write to policy committee, all details are higher up in these posts. I believe that a policy change is required to ensure that safety is paramount. Toyota are in the news, time to maybe highlight that Vauxhall have still not competently addressed xomplaints to them about the safety of their vehicles. The policy committee are involved after Gordon Brown forwarded my correspondence to them regarding the discriminatory practice of trading standards who can’t take on our cases cos value exceeds £5,000. Perseverance will win in the end, and the more of us who persevere the better.

  220. Please you are all making me laugh, a 2006 car is now FOUR years old and the handbrake needs to work 100% and this can be done by making sure your handbrake cables etc are in very good condition yet many car owners think of the once a year MOT and never give a thought about proper maintenance of there car.
    Will you complain if you had a TV set and after four years it refused to work ? will you phone the manufacturer to complain? did you take the extended insurance ?. thought not so the same thing applies with cars you need to MAINTAIN THEM,
    If i had my way ALL cars will have an MOT after 2 years and not the current 3 years as this just makes owners complacent and think “my car has a 3 year warranty so i will thrash it to death”, think again as the manufactures warranty is the 1st year for everything on the car the second and third year warranty are called dealer warranty’s and no one really knows what is and what is not coved by such warranty’s.
    many claim for handbrake faults due to forgetting to put the handbrake on properly so try and Wiesel out of paying someone the damage they have done by being a Pratt.
    Take care and please remember to put your handbrake on as you know if you lie about it and that will make you a Pratt and deserve your licence to be revoked for ever and be given a bike to peddle.

  221. I take it mr Peegloss works for vauxhall???????
    I have given up chasing them on my cars issue’s, its a pure waste of time and energy, my car is now just over three years old and is basically worth nothing despite me paying almost 20K for it, the twin top has been hammered by the press and on sites like this so I have chosen to leave it parked in the garage until the spring and try and sell it then, I will never buy another vauxhall and really hoped they would have gone bump in the credit crunch, I can’t even think about the car with out my stomach going over, I work in Singapore so only need it for a couple of weeks every few months, next time I go home it will be better weather and I can use my motorcycle, My ex wife did pursue vauxhall and had her 07 corsa design replaced free of charge with an 08 astra club so if you keep on at them you do get somewhere,
    good luck to all that are chasing them, I just run out of energy,
    And as for mrs Peegloss (excuse my french) Your a dick plain and simple and may the flees of a thousand camels infest your underpants

  222. Mr Peegloss, my 2008 Vauxhall Corsa was 4 days old when it ran down my drive (explain how that could have been due to non-maintainance of the handbrake). It did not cause damage to anybodt else’s property so I have no advantages in lying to get out of losing my no claims bonus…. As for not putting the handbrake on properly, it would be a physical impossibility to exit my car on my drive without the handbrake engaged, it would roll away before I got out of the car itself. It’s also strange that after parking on said drive for 10 years in my previous cars without incident that I should suddenly lose the ability to apply my handbrake.

  223. I think Mr Gloosy Pee might just be a wind up. For all you guys that have been messed around, I am taking them to court. Our engineers stripped the handbrake out and found it to be faulty. We should be in court in the next few months. Our case was almost fatal.

  224. Mr Peegloss, i’m not going to be surprised if thats not your real name but hey no harm done. The time of your post may suggest a few things. I suggest you stick to what you do as a day job.Whatever that may be, cleaning the streets or defining political policy, to be honest after reading your post I don’t care. The problems with these cars and their handbrakes are common knowlegde many have had to take the handbrakes off to move the cars. Given my experience I now leave my car in gear. My car was also on a down sloping drive and everytime since I’ve tried to get the car to stay still without the handbrake being engaged. 100 times plus never stayed still. add that all to the fact that the car was stationary for well over an hour before it rolled. Must have ben MAGIC !!! I’ll avoid flaming etc but i’d suggest you stay away from your pc after a long night.. Hope everyone else is moving their cases forward well.

  225. Its not uncommon these days for large companies to deploy an internet jerk-bot to try and make out that thousands of customers who have been shafted by Vauxhall seem to have some kind of self-induced hallucinogenic disorder, its not dissimilar to what the Chinese government try to do with their internet population by trying to suppress dissent or if they try to voice fair opinion, if anything this Ivor ‘got a job at vauxhall’ Peegloss will strengthen the resolve of those people who have mistreated by Vauxhall, and I urge all those who have been mistreated by Vauxhall to make sure they contact VOSA recalls http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/default.asp and the relevant agencies listed above as a matter of urgency

  226. I agree wholeheartedly with the non-fan club comments. I also urge you all to write to your MP’s, as I did, and when that did no good I contacted Gordon Brown. Suggest you all do the same. VOSA are responsible for the safety of vehicles on the roads, if you don’t tell them, they won’t know. They can’t ignore us forever. Perseverence will win. Try the policy committee too, that’s who Gordon Brown instructed to deal with it, on the basis that trading standards are not empowered to deal with Vauxhall cos of the value of the vehicles (alleged value in respect of what we all paid for them).

  227. Have a corsa 1.3 cdti ecoflex with 22,000 ,14months old . Moving off on a hill in first gear it started juddering it was a clutch fault …need a new clutch and flywheel cost £1090. GM are denying a fault and are calling it driver abuse. Last corsa had 89,000 miles never needed a clutch .

  228. LOL@Quentin. The problem is not applying the handbrake incorrectly. How do I know? I’ve had a 52 Corsa from new, I leave parked in gear so nothing bad has ever happened, but the handbrake has always been poor. Countless times whilst driving the handbrake just doesn’t hold the car. I find if I press the brake pedal hard whilst applying the hand brake it’s better, but even this doesn’t work on steeper roads (or drives).

    I mentioned it to the dealer on its very first service, they ‘cleaned the brakes’ and the handbrake was satisfactory but soon deteriorated. I think the handbrake has been on every MOT test report its had, where it’s been either cleaned or adjusted to get a pass – and soon deteriorated. And the MOT tester doesn’t allow my ‘apply the footbrake whilst applying the handbrake’ defense, he wants my handbrake to simply hold the car without workarounds.

  229. i have a 2005 vauxhall astra H 1.6 which to be honest i am at my wits end with so far i have had problems with the engines stupid EGR valve which is to be repaired soon and to make matters worse its started doing strolls on its own by popping its handbrake off and rolling into my neighbours driveway gates TWICE once out of gear and second in gear which it must of popped out of gear n rolled away i dont know what the hell im going to do as i dont have any warranty left on the soddin thing can someone give me any advise if they had had the same situation as me, if its not bad enough for the clutch judder in the morning ive named this car christine as i think its possessed….. rant not offically over YET still fuming

  230. Hi all.

    My 08 VAUXHALL ASTRA VXR, was parked facing down a slope when I attended the gym two days ago, I applied the hand brake, got out, walked to the boot, fetched by bag out, walked to the gym, got changed, did some bits and pieces, fiftenn minutes later the gym manager came to say my car had rolled down the slope backwards, into and through roller shutter doors of a disused warehouse.
    The handbrake was still on. Now my insurance company will only pay the damage to the car, I refuse to accept liability on the grounds of a mechinal fault, they will not investigate the cause of the incident, i.e.the handbrake and say I should drive it from the repair centre to Vauxhall and pay for a test myself.
    I have said I think its dangerous to drive the car away when there maybe a serious fault.
    VAUXHALL consumer services were very rude and gave me the same chat as everyone else on here saying its my fault as I didnt leave it in gear. They even said should a fault be found its not their liability due to the recommendations they state in their manual and the highway code.
    WHAT TO DO!!??

  231. i purchased a 06 astra from network q it was parked on my daughters drive and over an hour later a neighbour rang the bell to tell us the car was down the road smashed into a tree. only had the car 2 weeks when this happend. network q and vauxhall are denying any problem with handbrake, so i paid for independant check and was told the ratchets on hand brake did not lineup properly.still getting nowhere. any suggestions.

  232. Hi James and Peter
    Vauxhall fixed the damage to the back of my car (head office, Luton), then denied fixing it!
    Contact Martin Ryder at VOSA (address further up this post thread). Because you have an inspection report VOSA can’t ignore it. I have already told them that I have concerns that they are responsible for the safety of vehicles on our roads and have not inspected all of the cars that have presented with handbrake faults. Martin Ryder told me that it was impossible for the car to roll with the handbrake remaining in the upright position…so we’re all liars! There is also a link in one of my previous comments that is to the select policy committee, email them. I was given the contact details ater I emailed Gordon Brown and complained that trading standards operate in a discriminatory way cos they are only authorised to deal with complaints regrding goods worth less than, whatever it is. As cars are dangerous…particularly Vauxhall cars, it is a serious oversight in the legislation. Write to your MP, I did and he didn’t even know that trading standards weren;t authorised ot deal with expensive goods. Persevere, they give us the run around hoping we’ll ust give up and go away.

  233. I have a 58 plate corsa which had its first service in Dec 2009, and all was apparently well at the time. I parked my car on a slight slope at work on 28th March, pulled handbrake on fully and left car. As i was walking up hill to work i heard a clunk and i turned to see my car rolling backwards down hill and across main road and smash into a wall causing over £1000 damage to the rear end of the car. When i got into the car the handbrake was down in the ‘off’ position. I had the bodywork repaired and as i was going on holiday, had intended putting it into vauxhall to get it checked when i came back. Unfortunately on 25th April, i was pulling away from a set of traffic lights still in first gear and only going about 5 mph when something appeared to have snapped under car which gave a loud clunking sound, i depressed brakes gently as i was afraid they were going to fail, but car shuddered and skidded to a halt. I booked car int vauxhall next day but they said there was nothing wrong with brakes or handbrake. Since i got it back though the brakes which were grinding a bit when it went in are no longer grinding and the handbrake appears to be tighter.

  234. Blimey – what a lot of messages, perhaps it isn’t just me going mad with my Corsa then!?

    My 56 plate Corsa sxi (which I have owned for a year now) has had a few issues since just before my warranty expired. In January I booked it in with Vauxhall service to have a look into the issues. The handbrake had failed once – luckily I was outside and able to superman dive across the bonnet to get in and stop it smashing into a wall. Also, the rear wheels felt like they were sticking and upon starting it for work in the morning it judders and feels like I am going over something. All this was reported to Vauxhall to investigate. They found nothing wrong with the handbrake but charged me £50 for degreasing it (and advised I use a gear to secure the car when parked) and nothing wrong with the rear wheels. Since then, someone independent has confirmed my rear shoes/drums are binding and when the mechanic told me this, he explained the symptoms before telling me what the issue was.

    Vauxhall aren’t interested “now another garage is involved” and told me that “due to my excessive mileage they wont look into this -as Im not a normal customer”. Annoyed, doesn’t even cover my thoughts!

    Im really keen to complain. Obviously, I have paid them to investigate and sort an issue – which they haven’t. I’ve lost my confidence in them understanding and knowing my car, as you might expect from a dealer. Im pretty hacked off that Im not a “normal” customer – really doing 25,000 miles a year would make you an excellent customer in service costs wouldnt it?! And I want my money back which I paid for an issue that probably isn’t the cause!!

    Would never buy a Vauxhall again, aside from the issues with the car, the customer service is apalling!

    Does anyone have any advice? Thanks!

  235. Heather
    I have a vauxhall twintop 08 My car had rolled down a slope after being parked for 3/4 hour.My car went in to get checked, well you can guess nothing wrong with the car .Now i have another problem my car is losing power they fitted a part last year same problem occuring yet again. Vauxhall need to take on board of how many unhappy customers they have. They need to take on board of what Toyota is doing for their customers.

  236. Sue,
    I think you’ll find the loss of power is the ERG Valve, vauxhall have replaced mine three times, they also come up with the excuse that it needs a good run on the motorway to regenerate whatever that means,

  237. Hi John,

    I don’t know enough about the ERG valve to understand whether a good run would benefit – but it is definitely true that some parts do need a run to get maximum operation from. Whether this is one of them remains to be seen.

    Unfortunately, as cars become much more complex, it is ever more difficult to provide a ‘simple’ diagnosis to the problem.

  238. Have had 3 new EGR valves fitted since the original. Last one, garage said car was out of warranty so part not covered. Contacted Vauxhall and asked why they don’t guarantee parts fitted under warranty, and suggested that they may be defective! New valve fitted at no cost to me, but I had to pay £55 for diagnostic to verify it was EGR valve. It was, surprise, surprise. Am going to contact which magazine about the whole situation, suggest you all do the same. By the way, my EGR light came on whilst driving on the motorway, so a good run isn’t the answer. Dealership informed me that they are replacing these valves regularly, usually every year.

  239. It a crying shame that we have all spent so much on Vauxhall cars and are all having similar problems but they refuse to admit it because it would send them the same way as Toyota, I’m lucky as mine is parked up and hasn’t been used since I was last in the UK in december and wont get used till I get back in May, even then I don’t think I can face driving it any more, I can’t sell it as no one wants them because of the inherant problems, I wasted nearly £20K on a vauxhall, never again, my daughter is now looking for a new car and wanted a corsa, I said I would set it on fire if she bought one, My ex wife had a new corsa in 07 and has since had it replaced free of charge for a new astra and is now having problems with that, Vauxhall and all who work for them in customer care etc are scum, nothing more than scum, they have no morals or sense of decency, I work in Singapore and GM/Vauxhall/Opel hardly exist here……….. thank god, the law here wouldnt allow them to knowingly sell faulty goods and get away with it which is what they are doing in the UK

  240. Hi can anyone give me some advice I have a 2010 Vauxhall zafira energy picked it up on the 10th March 2010, I had the shock of my life this afternoon when my neighbour knocked on my door to say my car had crashed into hers. I had parked my car on my drive (a slight slop) put the handbreak on in gear!!! and it had been parked for at least 45minutes and it had some how rolled down the drive and has crashed into her car, luckily not to much damage from what I can see!!! but enough. more damage to mine than my neighbours, rang vauxhall services and had a very snotty lady telling me QUOTE ” its not our problem phone your insurance company ” and on that put the phone down on me. I just wanted to know where do I go next and has anyone had this problem with this model before, just want to be armed and ready for monday because I have a feeling after reading here I may not have any joy with vauxhall

  241. Hi Adele
    Sorry your stuffed vauxhall and every body else vosa trading standards
    even the government whoever they are ast the present time don,t care, get your car repaired and pass it on to some other mug unlucky enough to think vauxhall sell cars when all it is .is scrap

  242. You will see an earlier posting from me some months ago where the clutch burned out on my car of 6,000 miles. Since then, I have been receiving the various comments and was waiting for the time when I too would be doomed by handbrake failure. Well, a few weeks ago, this did indeed happen. I began to reverse off my drive (slight slope) them remembered I needed something from the boot. I pulled back, engaged the automatic brake button and got out of the car. I got around to the boot and had opened it when my daughter shouted from inside the car that the car was rolling! Needless to say I couldn’t move fast enough to get to the handbrake button and the car hit my Partner’s car. I now have chips on mine, bumper damage to his and a dented garage door. Personally, I am not even going to try to do anything about it through Vauxhall as I am fed up with the hassle and clearly no one else appears to be getting anywhere. However, I hope this comment helps others.

  243. I have just had a 2009 Corsa (hire car) run back down a hill this weekend after I applied the handbrake.
    I have had to foot the bill for the damage to the car.
    Fortunately I am only bruised.

  244. i have a 58 reg vauxhall meriva 1.4 and i finished work this mornig at 6am parked it up normally outsie my house next thing i now someone walking his dog said did you own a meriva as it just rolled down the road into someones brick wall demoloting it he has looked thru the window and said handbrake was on and handbrake light was on also the person who owned the wall came out when i got in the car to move it and she also saw the handbrake fully on so im really p…sed off will let you now what happens when i phone vauxhall regarding this

  245. Sorry to hear you are the latest victim Gareth. Amongst the 252 comments on this post there is some advice about who to speak to but unfortunately not many success stories about Vauxhall sorting it out.

  246. My Corsa 59 plate has now released it’s handbrake fully twice, the last time causing it to hit another car. My son had a hired Corsa that also had the same problem on a garage forecourt – loud bang and the handbrake released. Vauxhalls reply to date is all they have not received any calls re Corsa handbrakes, we are unaware of any issues and that all Corsa’s should be parked in gear even on the flat, the statement seems somewhat contridictory. If you refer them to the web sites reporting issues their answer is we do not take notice of them. VOSA have detailed reports but not enough to act. More people need to contact VOSA. Vauxhall have also stated that if the handbrake performs all the functions required for an MOT is does not consider the brake releasing when parked as a fault – interesting viewpoint. My dealer refuses to buy the car back at any price.

  247. JUST TO LET EVERYONE NOW MY INSURANCE HAVE PUT A CLAIM AGAINST LOOKERS VAUXHALL AND THEY HAVE SENT OUT A SPECIALIST TO LOOK AT MY CAR ALSO THEY HAVE ASKED IF I WOULD BE WILLING TO GO TO COURT I WILL POST FURTHER INFO AS AND WHEN

  248. I PARKED MY VECTRA ON MY SLOPED DRIVE ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON,HANDBRAKE FULLY ON AND AFTER RETURNING FROM WALKING THE DOG AN HOUR LATER I FOUND THE CAR HAD ROLLED OFF THE DRIVE AND 50 YARDS INTO MY NEIGHBOURS YARD. LUCKILY THERE WAS NOBODY INJURED AND LUCKILY THE CAR WAS STOPPED BY A CONCRETE POST AND GRAVEL BOARDS, OTHERWISE GOD KNOWS WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED? LOTS OF DAMAGE TO THE CAR AND I AM TOTALLY P—-D OFF!THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN SERVICED IN MARCH SO THE HANDBRAKE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TESTED? I SHALL LET YOU KNOW THE OUTCOME.

  249. Hi to everyone who has left a message. I know and understand your frustration with Vauxhall, their design of the handbrake system and the faults in general with their cars are awful. The law states that you have to make the allegation that the vehicle is not fit for it’s purpose and they are meant to prove that it is fit for it’s purpose, however I spent most of last year, having that the other way around, by proving my car was not fit for it’s purpose and them saying prove it! It is a impossible task unless you have mechanic’s that don’t want paying and solicitors who would work for free, or unless you’re really rich and can afford these things, then Vauxhall will tie you up for months if not years in legal battles. However another way around the problem, if you have finance agreement on the car (mine was Santander, I think they have a lot of Vauxhalls cars) then again the law states that the finance company is equally at fault as it’s a breach of contract, if the vehicle is not fit for it’s purpose. You will never get to Vauxhall but you can take on the people who sale you the car and the company that own it. If enough people complain to the finance company they will stop financing Vauxhall’s cars! Without the support of a company like Santander then Vauxhall profits margin will shrink to the point where they won’t survive. I recommend anyone who has a problem with the Vauxhall car and has finance to contact the finance company and state it’s a breach of contract. Hopefully at a minimum the finance company will put pressure on Vauxhall to improve there safety features on there vehicles.

  250. My Vauxhall Automatic Twinport 1.2 (06 registration – 16000 miles and fully serviced in Feb 2010) was parked on a medium gradient with handbrake properly engaged. After some time, I was horrified to learn from a neighbour about the car rolling out and in process damaging two other vehicles. Given it does not have a “P” setting which locks
    gearbox, I had parked in “N” (neutral) with handbrake engaged. I am now facing claims from third parties for incident which I dont think I am responsible at all in first place!

    I would be grateful for advice re:
    (1) is there a view of such faults being mentioned by Vauxhall
    (2) can I get my handbrake checked somewhere to conclude whether or not there exists any fault
    (3) how does such an incident affect my claim status with insurer?

    Thank you,

  251. Hi everyone – I have had a recall from Vauxhall (after 5 months) and took my new Corsa in to my dealership this morning – upon completion of the handbrake recall I asked if the handbrake was now okay – at which the snotty woman (admirably loyal to her employer!!) said that there was nothing wrong with the handbrake, nobody but me had had the problem of the handbrake popping off on its own – WHAT?

    I have been constantly patronised over this and am oh so fed up – even being called “my dear” by the receptionist who couldn’t even give me a good morning before saying (whilst talking to a colleague) won’t -keep you too long. If just one person at Vauxhall had said they were sorry that I had been hurt and asked how I was I would have left it – the first guy I saw today was a salesman and when I asked if he remembered me and told him that my handbrake had failed laughed – I feel so angry – please, is there anyone out there who can make these people realise that without customer satisfaction they are heading for a downfall – or is it just a case of one little old lady won’t make any difference to us.

    I would really like to get in touch with Watchdog but wonder if just me is going to make a difference, anyone else fancy a go? I am a Motability user but didn’t really want to get them involved because I feel so lucky to have my car and wanted to sort it out on my own, I hate causing a fuss, if just one person had said sorry – that’s all I wanted.

    They made me feel totally inconsequential and I am now very angry, please if anyone else feels the same let me know, I hate my car now, Barbara x

  252. Hi Barbara
    Sorry to hear of your discontenement with vauxhall , I seem to say that frequently ,However phone watchdog , i have , phone vosa, i have ,phone vauxhall ,i have ,phone your dealer, i have , ALL TOOTHLESS TIGERS no one cares they all have good jobs doing nothing for people who have paid good money for rubbish. As stated in past comments rid yourself of the problem ditch the vauxhall buy foriegn everything WORKS how strange

    Regards

    Matthew

  253. Hi Barbara
    I understand how you feel, as does everyone else who posts to this forum. Write to your MP. Also email [email protected]. So should everybody else, and state that trading standards cannot deal with anything that has a value in excess of £5,000. He is on the select committee and the more who complain to him the more likely he is to intervene. May I respectfully suggest that you do go through motability. The problem with Vauxhall is a very serious safety issue and Motability have the clout to move things forward, probably more rapidly and constructively than individuals can. It isn’t a sign of defeat it’s making use of a valuable source of complaint. I sincerley hope that your recovery is complete and wish you well.

  254. Hi again – since being told that there was no problem with my handbrake when I took my Corsa in for the recall on 7th June (they said they just changed a precautionary washer) I have had a letter from Vauxhall asking me to take my car in because “It has been established that a nhumber of Corsa models could be affected by the handbrake cable end fitting moving in the supporting bracket welded to the under-body which might lead to a sudden loss of handbrake function at any time” – also saying my vehicle falls within the chassis range of affected vehicles. I rang them this morning to see if this was extra to the precautionary washer and they were very nice – they are going to ring my dealer to see what has been done on my car and have started a file on my car and given me a number. I said that as the handbook suggests that we always park in gear and turn our wheels to the curb if they will now add another little snippet and say always carry a brick to put under wheels!! What on earth is the point of a handbrake that doesn’t work unaided, it should be fit for purpose.

    I have high hopes for a better outcome now – will keep you posted, Barbara

  255. Hi I have just been reading some of your comments with regards to Vauxhall handbrakes. I did have an older Vectra that had this problem which was recalled and sorted out, so I was aware there had been a problem, however we bought a brand new Insignia in June 09 and we have had the car roll off our drive (twice), (the drive does have a very slight incline) onto a reasonably busy road, also children live opposite, could have been nasty. Have taken it for Vauxhall to look at and have been told there is nothing wrong, after seeing all the complaints here there is obviously something very wrong with Vauxhall handbrake system.

  256. I have only just discovered this site after my 2007 Vauxhall Astra Sport Hatch rolled off my drive, which as the slightest of inclines, 30 minutes after parking and engaging the hand brake. My Car hit the side of the brick wall of my drive and demolished the wind mirror. I did not realise there had been problems with any vauxhall models until today and I am very angry no letter or information was sent to me regarding this problem. can anyone give advice on who I should contact and what I should do?

  257. Hi
    RE – Handbrack fault
    i just got my new 10 plate Astra SRI, i have had the car 3 weeks. i got it from the showroom so i know it is new and not used.
    4 day ago i parked the car on a side road just of a busy high street, 2 hours later i came to cheque the car was ok and it was, i then came back 1 hour later to find my car had rolled back across the high street in to the side street on the pavment weged between a lap post and a wall.
    Has anyone else had this problem with the new Astra????

  258. Keep chipping away. The dealership that sold me my ‘car’ has just gone into liquidation! They deserved to go under and one day, soon hopefully, Vauxhall will have no outlets for the sale of unroadworthy vauxhall cars. Chip away by complaining to anyone who will listen; VOSA, trading standards, MP, CAB, newspapers (local and national), car magazines, radio stations.

  259. My Corsa’s had hand break problems since i got it (56 reg) and it recently rolled down a hill with the hand break on and smashed into two cars. This website is very interesting….

  260. wish i had found this site sooner i am a driving instructor and bought a new corsa 1.2 in jan 2008 since then i have had nothing but truble it had a juddering clutch which they canged 4 times before almost curing it it still judders at times first one was at just over 1000 miles then the rest before 3000 miles also in the first 2000 miles the oil fillter housing came loose and oil leeked every where i repetedly asked for the car to be replaced they refused since then its had a clutch cilender both sides fount suspention replaced a new stearing rack belt tentioner pully + anouther pully the car has now done 52000 miles and in all this time no aplogys for the time i cant work no certacy car and to day i could not take some one to there test as on friday last week i took the car in for a scraping noise and they still have it they never return my calls i leave messages and then i have to ring back as often a day later they still have not called me back
    THE BEST THING I HERED WAS BUT SIR THATS WHY YOU HAVE A WARANTY YOU MUST EXPECT IT TO GO WROUNG
    i have lost thousends of pounds in lessons in the time its been in for repair and lost lots of pupels because of this car
    i wish i could do somthing about it

  261. My corsa (57 plate) rolled into another car today and smashed the front of the other car in, the car was parked on a slight hill but handbrake was securely on and car was parked up for about 15mins before this happened! i am not happy as i have to fork out for the repairs on this ladies car!

  263. Parked my corsa this morning outside my sisters got out of car checked in boot and went inside. 20 minutes later my sister looked out of window and said Sue your car has rolled down the road into a nieghbours van smashing his tail lights. I of course need a full new bumber panel I know I put handbrake on slight gradient if handbrake was not applied it would have rolled as I got out and looked in boot. what do I do next?

  264. OMG!! I have a vauxhall astra (54 reg), and in the last 4 months, i have had nothing but problems. EGR port, engine management light keeps coming up even after 3 days of getting it back from the garage for the same problem (£300!!!!). It only became apparent to me that parking my astra on a slight incline residential road, with the handbrake securely on, was to become a £600 problem! I had parked the vehicle, to be notified 10 mins later that it had rolled itself down road and hit someone’s motorhome. No visible damage done externally to the motorhome. Only the inside of the wheel and on further examination new tracking rod etc to be replaced. My car has suffered scratches to the side of the car from tree branches. Phoned VOSA and they suggest parking in gear at all times. (WHAT A JOKE). Main dealers do not want to know, as parking in gear is written in “their” manuals. So much for vehicle safety these days!

  265. Tell you what people – we aren’t going to win this one – Vauxhall’s new handbook will state engage handbrake (obvious), leave in gear and CARRY BIG BRICK TO PLACE UNDER WHEEL WHEN LEAVING VEHICLE – preferably leave vehicle safely tucked up in your garage!!!

    I have really tried with this – they don ‘t believe a word I say, believe everything the dealership says even though they don’t tell the truth and I am SO despondent about it now I just can’t be bothered any more, wishing you all more luck than me and will keep reading the postings.

    Bye, Barbara x

  266. This handbrake problem seems to occur on my very new vauxhall meriva (july2010) I have crunched it 3 times when trying to move off when parked on an incline. Is this a feature?

  267. to day i was at my inlaws caravan when i parked my vauxhall corsa (59 plate) car on a slight hill. before i got out of car i made sure handbrake was secure as if it was not secure the car would have rolled straight off, i then went in to the boot to get the bags out and walked over to speak to my inlaw and neighbour about 5 minutes r so later i heard a loud click (which was obiously the handbrake coming off) the car then just rolled off by its self smashing in to a tree and causing some damage to the rear bumper. When i got to the car after it had crashed the handbrake was not on what so ever. i am not happy about this as i have only had the car 7 weeks and its goin to cost me loads to get damage fixed.

  268. I bought a brand new Meriva 59 plate (design of which is based on the Corsa) in January 2010. In May I was parked outside on a slight incline. I had gotten out of the car, got my son out of the back seat into the house, and then returned to the car to take out our bags and it was still stationary on the road. When I came out 2 hours later the car had gone. At some point in the interim it had rolled backwards down the hill, into a hedge and was eventually stopped by a lamp post. Fortunately no other cars were involved but the boot was dented. When I got into the car the handbrake was still on and I had to release it in order to drive it back up the hill. Thankfully the damage is not too serious and I’ve not needed to involve my insurance.

    I have had it inspected at a dealership who then adjusted the handbrake. But now having spoken to Vauxhall they say as I was not parked in gear it’s not their problem. I’m planning on contacting all of the organisations above but based on the above chat I’m not too optimistic. The fact that the dealership adjusted the handbrake is a bit of an admission of guilt though. I don’t think it’s to do with the tightness of the handbrakes, though, it seems to be a faulty design, so as the handbrake cools it contracts so the teeth no longer grip.

  269. I had the handbrake fail on my Astra last night. I woke up to find the car down the hill embedded in a tree. Damage to bumper and wing. Its going to be expensive 🙁

  270. In the last hour my brand new corsa energy 1.2 700 miles on the clock has just rolled down my drive and hit my gates . The handbrake is in the off position , im gutted , the front bumper is trashed.

    Should i contact vosa after my insurance company ???

  271. Hi i own a 1 month old 1.2 corsa energy 500 on the clock and i have a back brake problem, they judder and feel totally wrong when you brake really hard, its been in garage once and goes back next week, they tried to fob me off with rust spots on the disks ( cheeky hey ) old habit form owning a old mini i always keep my car in gear when parked, as anyone else had the same feel from the back brakes.. cheers

  272. On the 27th November my car was parked on a slight incline in a car park whilst on holiday in Wales. Having already had the car roll once, you can imagine that I am rather paranoid about ensuring the handbrake is applied and that the parking light is on on the dashboard before leaving the car. It was also left in gear. We got out, walked to the ticket machine, returned, got some things out of the boot and then looked in the shop opposite which took approximate 10 mins. We left the car park to explore and when we came back found it have rolled backwards and embedded itself it the side of another vehicle. I am so pleased that nobody was injured but this is clearly a health and safety nightmare and we must persue Vauxhall to ensure that they take some responsibility and rectify what is clearly a dangerous fault with their cars.

  273. my daughter has had a handbrake problem on her car purchased from seekers in b,ham the car was 3 years old and had a 12 warranty. after 2 months it rolled down the drive and hit a tree, i contacted vauxhall & seekers trying to get the problem solved neither would admit there was a problem. i wouldnt let it drop and kept on badgering seekers who eventually took it in and checked the hand brake,they said it was ok but made adjustments to it the problem carried on. recently her starter motor started playing up this was covered by the warranty so they took it in to fix,my daughter had a phone call from them and they said they would replace the hand brake bust she would have to pay for it. she told them to see the sales team who sold her the faulty car,as she had had to pay her insurance excess and it was not her fault.they got back to her and said they would foot the bill as a token of good will. when she picked the car up they gave her the key and she insisted on them giving her paper work stating what work had been carried out.they didnt want to give her any but eventually because she persisted they did,it states hand brake replaced. to me they have now admitted liability and we intend to take it further. so to all of you out there dont let them fob you off keep on at them.

  274. Hi I am on my 5th Vauxhall Zafira now on a 10 plate diesel and i have yet to have a problem with the hand brake but i have always left the car in gear on a steep incline and normal slight inclines i use the hand brake and i do use the button but the new Zafira has an aircraft style handbrake but still no problems at all.
    It did have a problem with the very large part that cleans the emissions (smells like burning rubber when it does this) but vauxhall replaced the parts without any problems and even lent me a car to drive around in for 5 days at no cost to me.
    Sherwood’s of Stockton on tees have serviced all my zafira cars and i can state the Zafira does not roll back wards when the hand brake is used.
    This is my view so i will state things as i have found them and i use my car every day so it is well used and gives good MPG and feels safe to drive.

  275. hello this is tony have the same problem new astra j had it two months electric hand brake failed .iput handbrake on by appling the brake peddel and pulling up switch. when i got out off the car .drivers door open car rolled back damaged door and wing.warranty not covering it

  277. I have a one year old Corsa. Before this I had Corsas for ten years. My first corsa rolled off my drive but I assumed it was because my son had not applied the handbrake. I always left the car in gear, reverse for forward slope and first for backward slope. Told my son to do the same. The issue I am dealing with is the grinding noise and juddering when braking in cold weather or when it has been snowing. I replaced my 54 plate Corsa in November 09 because this had happened every winter and each time I complained I was told there was nothing wrong. My new corsa has just done it for the first time and I actually had a passenger with me as a witness. I now have to start the process again but after reading all these letters I think it would be safer to get rid. My brother works for Lookers and said they have been replacing clips but he hasn’t heard of this issue. My 54 plate corsa was recalled twice for issues relating to the brakes but it didn’t stop this issue. The cars have always stopped but it has made me lose confidence in the car.

  278. Hello D Swailes, it might be your Corsa, but I also think this sounds like the ABS system dealing with the road conditions – they do judder and make a quite alarming sound when braking in icy weather (I experienced it today), but I think it’s pretty normal and is a sign of the ABS working. There’s a good video here from Driverskills http://www.driverskills.com/driving-courses/driving-in-the-snow.html that talks about the noise and that might help you check if it’s a standard noise or something wrong with your car.

  279. Sounded like the ABS to me too, certainly not the handbrake.

    Well, I’ve had some good news with my Corsa (2001 @ 130,000 miles). The handbrake failed its MOT *again* in October, but this time they replaced the handbrake cable (my local garage, not Vauxhall!).

    It doesn’t make sense, but the handbrake is now better than it ever was (I’ve had the car from new), I’d even go so far to say it’s as good as the handbrake in any other manufacturer’s car, you know, normal, like a handbrake should be.

    Could it be that the cables were improperly installed in so many Vauxhalls?

  280. hi update on my new corsa, well vauxhall have changed by rear brakes and abs , which i found out by accident that while it was in the garage it had a recall which i wasn’t informed about, the problem as started doing it yet again, my rear brakes grab on is how the mechanic discribed it, took it in yet again and they did a visual check and said they cant find a problem, so now i am waiting on the area service manager to get intouch so he can take a test drive and see if he finds the fault.i am seriously considering getting a independent company in to find the fault, but who do you use, as anyone got any advive who to use. to all the would be vauxhall buyers dont bother spend your money elsewhere….

  281. I took my Vauxhall Zafira into Vauxhall garage (F.G.Barnes Guildford) on Tuesday for a recall for something minor, it was good timing as two days before I heard loud screeching noises from the passenger side, I asked Vauxhall to look at this as it concerned me. I was told “there’s nothing wrong, no fault found” I always get told that from Vauxhall (when the turbo blow up, or when the handbrake released, or when the turbo blew up for the second time) so a couple days later the car is still making noises but getting worse, so I took it to local tyre place, closest one to the route I was on, within two seconds he said your brakes have seized on! You have to change your brake pads, brake disks and maybe the brake calliper. How safe did I feel knowing the Vauxhall had only just said it was fine. The tyre place said it had been stuck on for a once as there was blue markings on the disk, means it was glowing red and then turns blue when cooled. He also said if a stone had hit it, it may have been game over! Now I was driving that car at 70mph on the A3 just hours after Vauxhall said it was fine.
    This one is certainly going to Trading Standards!

  282. hi we too have had problems with vauxhall perrys in bury manchester, my daughter traded her new corsa in last year for a used signum and its been fraught with problems, it has been in an accident which was lied about on purchase, and also it has problems with the fuel system, pigment and vauxhall despite her having a warranty, sure term and also the car being 6 months old have said she has to pay over £600 if they can fix it! the car is now dumped on their carpark and a letter of rejection has been sent to the dealership, and finance company, ive tried threatening them with the papers, trading standards the lot, and as a legal exec have quoted the laws at the left right and centre, the staff are rude and do not value customer service, I for one will never buy a vauxhall and want everyone to see this too, I reckon if enough people contact watchdog and other consumer sites it will put enough people off to hit them where it hurts. They have denied we can reject the car and we now have to go through the motions, Ive emailed customer service, and nothing no reply nothing, they really couldnt care less!
    people power is the best way to hit a company where it hurts, in their fat bosses pockets..

  283. After viewing this thread for over two years and having posted the endless faults with my new Twin Top and my ex – wifes Corsa It becomes apparent that Vauxhall are nothing more than scum,
    I gave my Twin Top to my 19 year old daughter as I work over seas and she is in tears as the heap of junk has broken down again, vauxhall are towing it into their Warrington (Lookers) branch today to take a look, Its out of warranty now and i’m inclined to have her take it to a salvage yard and have it crushed and then we will be rid of the nightmare once and for all, When I return to the UK in the summer I may try and drum up the local TV and press to come and watch a 3 year old car be put through the crusher to highlight just how bad vauxhall are, It won’t help me in the slightest but my daughter will then get a new car from a reliable manufactuer and it may just create some interest in the media to help others,
    Good luck to all on here that have vauxhalls and my advice is to cut your losses and sell the lemon ASAP and buy elswere,
    Nothing will change at vauxhall as they are a massive employer and no doubt pissing in the pockets of a few governtment officials to keep the heat off them, they are probabley pissing into the pockets of watchdog and anybody else that could remotely be able to help us, there is no other explanation as to why no organisation will step in to help, they should take a leaf out of toyota’s book and take the hit to restore confidence in their products but that won’t happen, the japenese are a proud nation and admit when they fail, the Americans however think they are above all others, I’m currently in the Philippines and listen to their drivel daily on how they rule the world and are the best this and the best that,
    Good luck!

  284. Well what a surprise i have stumled apon this site and gues what I took delivery of my insignia December 2010 and thought i was going bannanas. i have an electric hand brake that decides to release its self and allow my car to go it alone. i understand some people say leave it in gear to save it rolling of but with a deisel is that not dangerous as the car can start without the ignition being on. I also have the other problem when you do want it to go the hand break decides its time for a break or should that be( brake )it eventuly comes of and away you go with one of the best drives ever so why are people having to put up with this problem. I would also ask is anyone else having a problem getting the drivers seat belt on ie: can’t find the connection as its to far down the arm consul, and it feels like they have not given enough lenghth to the accepter part of the belt. Otherwise a cracking looking and a fantastic car to drive

  285. Wednesday last wk 9th March my Vauxhall Corsa 58 bought last year (April) still under warranty, decided to reverse back off my driveway across a road and down the driveway of the people who live oppisite and inpale itself onto their stairs and metal railings causing a fair amount of damage to my car and their house. I know full well that my handbrake was applied and sod’s law it was the one time I did not leave it in gear. I took my car to my mechanic, upon inspection you could clearly see the brass coloured pin holding the handbrake is clearly not thick or wide/long enough to hold the handbrake and this was just waiting to happen. I’ve seen 3 mechanics now and all of them will not touch the handbrake without inspection from Vauxhall. I’ve taken the Car to Toomey’s in Basildon where the service manager Andy Carr had a look, pulled the handbrake up and found after a few minutes it collasped. He said this with no doubt needs inspection from Vauxhall. Several calls later I’m now finding out that Alan Carr has told Vauxhall after he inspected it there was no manufacturer fault and the car was not left in gear it’s my fault problem solved………….I’ve pointed out that Andy Carr did not even take the cover off so how can they class this as an inspection. Also dated 14th March I’ve just received a letter saying my car is due a service, this will help with any manufacturer goodwill contributions should your vehicle have any major failures after 3 years or 60,000miles. The fact that I took my car else where for a service invalidates the warranty, (even though they used Vauxhall parts etc etc) Vauxhall have now said this case is closed. I’ve managed to get the name and phone number of a director from Vauxhall and explained about this. He new my name and said 15minutes ago he came out of a meating were he was assured I was being looked after? and was suprised to find out i’ve not been and not once have they called me back. He has explained that the call centre is now in Bhudapest! and there is a lot of communication problems, this would explain why I’ve been speaking to a ZOLTAN< and KARONY?? VOSA recall R/2010/056 vehicles 01/09/2009 recall for a handbrake that might fail. My car was biult a couple of month's earlier. He has told me he will look into this urgently and could not promise he would call back later today but would try. (he has not called back yet)

  286. i recently bought a astra sri in november,after xmas the handbrake was sticking i thought and would not come on properly,i reported this to the sales rep whom i got the car off and nothing was done.last week my girlfriend parked the car outside the house on a little bit of a hill, appiled the hand brake and turned the engine off and got out the car.
    after my girlfriend walked behind the back of the car to come in the house, the car rolled backwards down the hill straight through my neighbours wall causing the wall to be knocked down and £2000 pounds worth of damage to my car.
    when i reported this to vauxhall they just passed my phone call on and on and nothing was resolved.this is one of the worst handbrakes i have ever come across, i have had to pay for the wall and claim on my insurance for the car as we can not afford it, i am very dissapointed with vauxhalls and would advice people to stay clear from this car

  287. March 2011

    Hi there , Vauxhall can now add Tigra’s to their list of vehicles with faulty hand brakes !
    My vehicle rolled into a pillar in a lower lever car park with the hand brake on an hour & three quarters after I left it parked. It set off on its own & I have cc tv footage to show it doing so !

    I have taken this up with Vauxhall & surprise surprise they once again have given me the spiel about parking in gear & have said that they could not find a fault with the vehicles’s hand brake.

    If they persist in doing nothing I am going to contact Watch Dog & open up this can of worms again.

    Any one else had any issues with a Tigra ?

    Cheers

    Trevor

  288. I’m sitting here aghast at what I’m reading!

    I was driving my Mum’s Astra today (think it’s a 2010 model-she only bought it in Feb and it was an ex-demo model from the dealership).
    I parked on a steep hill (no, not in gear. Bah!), and went to pick up my son from school. A chat with other mums and a bit of a play later and we went back to get in the car (had been parked for about 15 minutes). Son wanted to ride up front, so I reached in over passenger seat (2 door, so seat folded back-no chance I knocked the handbrake) to get booster seat out of back.

    That was when the car creaked, then began to roll. I realised it was going to go and backed out quickly. As I got out, the handbrake just clicked and the car set off. I flung myself to the pavement to avoid being hit by the door and the car ran off down the hill. It crashed into a 10 foot tall, old stone wall, which collapsedbehind the car.

    Thankfully, my son was unhurt, and I just have aches and bruises. The car, however, is really smashed and the wall will have to be rebuilt. I shall be informing everyone as advised on here.

  289. Don’t feel too bad about not leaving the car in gear it would make no difference if the hill was steep. I proved to vauxhall the car would roll on a steep hill even if in gear (and yes the right gear reverse if facing down the hill) with the handbrake off the car starts to turn the engine and speed increases until the car hits something. vauxhall refused to comment saying not possible but if I turned the wheels in it would stop on a curb. Pointed out in the country we don’t have curbs but have nice trees to do the same job. Even offered to prove it to their engineers – guess what they did not want to know and stopped discussing with me. With the police telling me they would prosecute if I did not confirm fixed, and vauxhall telling me nothing wrong with it and dealing refusing to replace or discuss no option but to sell at loss of around £5,000 on a six month old car. Never will I buy a Vauxhall again

  290. Well Its now April 2011 and gues what my problem is ?
    Yes handrake or should I say no handbrake.
    I thought I was going off my head when my car started to roll away after locking and just about to go into my house, being disabled I have movement issues however as i had left my steering wheel pointing to the kirb it stopped. I called the dealership who I must admit were helpfull and I go in tomorrow. It A new insignia dli 2000 sri and a great drive but am a bit frightened about the break system. I also have a problem with the doors locking when driving along and when i’m working in the boot and this is with the keys in the ignition., Apart from that I am more than happy with my car (wait until tomorrow )
    will be back to comment after my visit to dealership. Peter Vardey Edinburgh .

  291. We have had our 08 zafira for just under a month, handbrake failed, rolled 9m on a slight incline and casued damage to another car. I have witnesses who could see the handbrake was on and also that the car could move with gentle force with handbrake applied. Had it looked at and “no problem” with it??? after doing an 80 mile round trip. They did find another problem so this requires another 80 mile round trip
    Still awaiting a return call from the dealership manager after speaking to head office as far as he is cncerned the car is off his forecourt so not his problem.
    any advise??
    thanks

  292. i have a 59 plate corsa 1.2 i stopped on a slope , got out put mirrors in and locked the door i started walking away and noticed the car start moving forward , lucky enough there was another car a foot away from me ,and my car hit it causing damage to its bumper, i now look for a parking space without a slope , i know i had put my brake on . now ive heard other people having the same problem

  293. Its me again !
    Yes I’m still having problems with my insignia and hand break unfortunatley i was unable to go to my dealer with the complaint (not the dealers fault I have been unwell) however my wife has had the same problem with the break releasing without the handbreak being touched. I think its about time for some itervention from a legal representative and Rac /AA looking at this very serious problem or are we going to wait until someone is walking in front or behind our cars and getting killed, before this is sorted. Message to Vauxhall We are not faulting the car its fantastic ! but the Electric breaks are not functioning!!!!!! get it fixed or we the car buyers are gouing to vote with our feet in other words we will not be stepping into your cars.
    Ricky lambert.

  294. I’m glad to report that I am no longer the owner of my dreaded Astra Twin Top, My daughter has had it for the past 18 months with nothing but trouble, the ERG valve went again costing a fortune despite it being swapped 4 times during the warranty period, So although I didnt use it I still paid for the ongoing bills, she finally traded it in and got a Mini,
    I am in Australia now and the same models are under the Holden Banner and non have the inherent problems I read about on this site and Holden are probably the most popular make on the Western Australian roads. I will never buy a vauxhall again and will never park my car down hill from one either, We seem to forget that Vauxhaull are a small part of GM who are in bed with the British government so no action will be taken against them, they don’t care if we never buy vauxhall again, they have made their money from us, I have spoken to two salesmen that worked for vauxhall and left for different reasons but both said that they knew they were selling “unreliable” and with the break problems “Dangerous cars”
    Sell your vauxhall now, take the hit and buy from a different manufacturer like Toyota, They had a problem in the US and owned up to it recalling tens of thousands of vehicles and putting the company in a fight for its survival I guess people admired their honesty and integrety which goes with the Japanese and continued to buy toyota, Vauxhall are great cars when alls well but down right junk when they act up and vauxhall will and have lied to me face to face to cover their arse. Should some body die they will still fight, lie and cheat to save the vauxhall $ Typically American corporate attitude
    I’ve said it on here before and I’ll say it again, SCUM nothing but SCUM!

  295. just an update on my daughters car, from vauxhall perrys, who have the worst customer service on record. After offically dumping it back with them after they tried to charge her £600 to fix a problem that was under the warranty (6 month old car) and contacting santander finance and requesting a rejection of the car under sale of goods act, we heard nothing but was turned down for rejection by the fin, the next thing exactly 4 weeks later they get a call saying the car is being dropped off fixed at no cost to them and fully valeted that afternoon! so if you want action then ring your finance company and fill the rejection forms in, it still doesnt resolve the fact that they are in the wrong but they cant do enough now there so I reckon they may have had a rollocking as the complaint I sent went to managing directors, share holders (search companies house online to get home addresses of all directors) and then fill in a couple of forums like this and paste the url to them in an email, stating that this is just the start etc etc, it took a few hours but got a result eventually. As for the handbrake issue on these cars, I reckon that should be taken up nationally by vauxhall and trading standards, if everyone reports the fault to trading standards then they have an obligation to listen, yeah there maybe back handers going on but people power and dont back down no matter how “big” the company will get results in the end..

  296. Recently bought astra exclusiv, lparked car and 30 minutes later it had rolled into a large vehicle damaging wing and pushing a light out of position. I got talking to someone at my sons rugby training and he told me about astra having problems with handbrake. I will be contacting dealer and requesting that they repair wing and light free of charge. Can anybody give me any other information regarding handbrake problem.

  297. Just been to the shops…came out and my car had gone. It had rolled down a hill onto the pavement and hit a dustbin.
    The car has a damaged light…a few dents.
    Spoke to Peter Vardy Vauxhall in Aberdeen who told me to phone Vauxhall…who say my model deosnt have a recall note and to book it in for a check with Peter Vardy
    Its a 60 plate Corsa Energy

  298. Hi ! Question why is it no organisation such as watch dog, Topgear ,AA,Rac etc are getting involved with this potentially deadly problem, if so many people are saying the same thing time and time again with regard to the brake issue with our cars and Vauxhall continually deny any problem is it the fact that we are all mad and realy should not be driving because we are going doo-lally and not operating our brakes properly,well excuse me shite and I’m sorry for the dirty word but I am sick hearing people complaining and not being heard by the manufacturer. Its going to happen or indeed may have happened but not been atributed to the problem someone being badly injured or even killed I will say farewell for now but I HAVE SOMETHING UP MY SLEEVE THAT MAY HELP US ALL AND SORT OUR PROBLEM ONCE AND ALL
    Kepp your eyes on this Page..

  299. Hi Ricky…after my Corsa went for a roll on its own accord yesterday, I emailed the CEO of Vauxhall after my garage told me I needed to take it up with Vauxhall and Vauxhall directing me the other way. I have filled out the Watchdog form and I have emailed VOSA
    I then found out that Vauxhall have a page on FACEBOOK….I liked the page and that let me post on it. I put a photo of my damaged car along with the events description…and within the hour Vauxhall were replying to my message….then I had a phone call from their Customer Service manager….he tells me he will monitor my case and speak to the garage on Friday when my car is being inspected.
    Be great to hear what you have up your sleave as this situation is driving me mad….I feel like Vauxhall don’t believe this model is part of their problem…

  300. Hi Everyone , I have just posted my handbrake fiasco with my Tigra on the Vauxhall website ! Great suggestion ! Suggest you all do the same.

    Together, we can beat them & make them do something & give us customer service that we deserve !

  301. I bought a new Vauxhall Meriva Club at a recent ‘special discount’ weekend at my local Seward dealership. I have taken it back twice
    (am going again tomorrow, with a witness), because right from the start there is a terrible screaching sound (metal to metal) noise when it is parked on the handbrake on an incline. The noise is so loud my friend heard it inside her house. Originally the handbrake was very loose, so they tightened it but that did not stop the grinding noise.
    When I went back the second time, with my husband, they offered to
    take me out in it with their engineer, but when I got to the appointment they said they had already looked at it and there was nothing mechanically wrong with the car. It also makes this horrible noise when passengers are getting into the vehicle. They explained to me that it is the different type of brake pads on this model, and
    asked me to give it time to run in, ie wait until the first Service, but I am not happy to do that, so I am taking back again tomorrow.
    I told them I am seriously thinking of selling the car (which will cost me a loss of money) and that I won’t be buying another Vauxhall car.
    I will see what they say tomorrow!

  302. Vauxhall dealer had my Corsa for weekend and told me they tightened the handbrake. They said the highway code and their handbook states cars are recommended to be parked in gear.
    Stinks of Vauxhall not thinking their handbrakes are reliable. When I returned to mycar at the dealer…they hadn’t parked it in gear!! One rule for one….
    I emailed the CEO of Vauxhall who replied to say the same thing!
    The best replies so far are on Facebook. Search for Vauxhall and ‘like’ their page and post a comment. They soon get back to you.
    I’ve just posted on twitter and included @vauxhallcustsvc and someone replied quickly!! Especially when a tweet by someone said the highway code only recommends parking I’m gear
    Come Vauxhall. Sort your car and your reputation!!

  303. I have had the use of a brand new astra SRI while having work done on my car.I cannot get used to this handbrake,find it dangerous,and would never purchase a car with it fitted,I dont know why they are being fitted whats wrong with the normal handbake?.Shame because its a nice car otherwise.

  304. Hi, Yesterday I parked my car ( Vauxhall Astra Sxi) on my sloped driveway as I always do. 5 minutes later a neighbour knocked my door to say that my car was in another neighbours house!! (Thank goodness no one was hurt). The handbrake was up but not in gear. The fire men said the handbrake was down when they got there, but I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the car if I hadn’t put the hand brake on. To which they agreed. When I was taught how to drive 8 years ago, I was told to always leave the car in neautral with the handbrake up. I’ve only had the car 6 months. I used to have a Ford and never had a problem just leaving it with the hand break up. My Husband has a Transit van and never leaves it in gear. My neighbour has a Focus and never leaves it in gear. Is this just a fault with Vauxhalls? It is at a (none Vauxhall) garage at the moment and I’ve asked them to investigate the handbrake. By the sounds of things Vauxhall don’t want to take any responsibilities for anything like this. I now know Vauxhall and the highway code states when on a slope leave the car in gear, but it’s not a law. I just need advice on what to do now?? Who should I contact and how to I go about it?

  305. Oh bless you poppet – they won’t accept responsibility – mine has been in and out and they say they can find nothing wrong, clearly it’s an intermittent fault and therefore hard to detect – 4 times now my brakes have played up,(the first time i was dragged across the road trying to save it)twice they have said nothing is wrong and the other times i didn’t bother!! Mind you, i always leave it in gear now, whether on a slope or the flat. Interestingly, when i have collected my car after they have had a look it is NEVER parked in gear!!!! You ain’t gonna win honey, sorry, but good luck anyway.

    Barbara

  306. What a crying shame for those that report problems with Vauxhall cars, you’ll never win ladies and gentlemen so suck it up and give up, it may have cost you hundreds or like me thousands of pounds in repair bills, just beg your friends and family not to buy cars from Vauxhall, They are (excuse the language) SHITE! I would love to face each and every vauxhall dealershit manager in the boxing ring (or just on the carpark) and knock seven shades of shit out of them as they are cowardly scum, they know the problems they are selling but are like little kids (Probably bullied at school) with their hands out taking the promotions and I guess fairly pathetic salaries to keep selling the junk known as vauxhall, They don’t acknowledge this website and deny reading it, But I know that they do…… Please one of you dealership managers, (Especially the fat prick from Lookers in Warrington) get in touch and agree to meet me just for 30 seconds and you’ll regret it for the rest of your pathetic life as I’ll treat you to more than you ever endured during your ALL bullied school days ,Again I apologize to all those robbed by the scum known as Vauxhall. Please look up the meening of “Vauxhall manager” in the oxford concise dictionary and I’m sure it will read, “One of lifes Complete failures who’s wife humps the local binman while he sells shite and who’s children would rather admit to their father being a phedophile than working for Vauxhall”

  307. i had the same handbrake failure got no where they gave me a number to ring vauxhall they say could not find any thing wrong .i had to pay up to 3000 to get car fixed rolled back as i was heading away from the car.i often had hand handbrake on level ground and heading back to the car in i get key in the ingition clutch down and start engine notice handbrake off went to brief got no where

  308. Only had my signum for 3 months and was not aware of these handbrake issues. Parked it on my drive applying the handbrake as normal. 20 minutes later I heard the alarm go off then a bang. I went outside to see my car had rolled down my drive and crashed into my neighbours new Mercedes . I know that the hand brake as applied as I have tried parking it on the drive and it roll’s down instantly and would be impossible to get out with out noticing. Thankfully nobody was hurt but it could have been fatal if it happen earlier when the children where playing in the street. I can’t believe Vauxhall are still not doing anything about this.

  309. I have owned an 05 Astra for 5 years now and haven’t had an incident until now; I parked up the hill from my hairdressers and as it wasn’t a very steep slope so just used the handbrake whereas if it had been steep would have put it in gear. I was sat in the hairdressers at least 10 mins before there was a crashing noise outside where my car had rolled down the hill (which gradually becomes steeper) and embedded itself in their garage front door and wall, there was a car in the garage which punched through a hole in the back wall, all creating thousands of pounds worth of repair from my car, their car and a garage rebuild. There were people either side of the car as is it silently passed them before crunching into the wall….scary!
    I am amazed to find 3 years of the same problem here repeated from the whole range of Vauxhall cars and nothing yet done about it!

  310. Hi

    I have a 59 plate corsa bought 2nd hand in April this year, its in the gargage today for the third time, 1st issue was the back window washer being blocked, well I can live with that but this was fixed, 2nd issue is the shuddering when coming off the clutch in 1st gear, (i think someone else mentioned the kangaroo effect)not sure if this is the same problem as others are having but it sounds like it, they have my car today and had it yesterday, i reported my steering freezing up just after turning corners and on occasion juddering, it has done this about 4 times over the last 2 weeks, they called me yesterday to ask if they could keep the car for another day because they could not locate either fault, nothing showed up on the diagnostic, although I find this hard to believe as a warning light came on and I thought everything showing up on this test, anyone any thoughts, thanks

  311. Agreed, a handbrake should function correctly no argument.
    However, I was always tought that when you park your car you should not only engage the handbrake but also select an appropraite gear (when parking and turning off engine).
    For example, if parked on an incline with the rear facing down the incline select first gear, if car is bonnet facing downward on an incline put it in reverse.
    If your handbrake were to fail the gear would then prevent the car from rolling.

  312. Sorry WIBBLE but as I said previously the Corsa will roll on a steep hill even if left in gear, have the pictures to prove it. Vauxhall did not wish to discuss, surprise surprise!! and it was in the correct gear. Major problem if you live in some parts of the country.

  313. Is any one having problems with a leaking boot on a 09 tigra exclusive?
    Moved to a new house with steep drive and problems started when it rains. Been into Evans Halshaw, Blaydon,Tyne & Wear 4 times but each time comes back worse. Used to leak at front so I could soak up the water but since the seals were replaced by Vauxhall it now floods in to the back of the boot pooling around the electric wiring. Vauxhall have refused to correct the problem and say it is my fault if the car goes up in flames as i should reverse park up any incline,not a good idea on the uphill one way street in my area.I’ve widened my drive to allow me to reverse park outside my home.Threatened court action but ignored by garage and Vauxhall, getting onto trading standards now. Can anyone advise?

  314. Does Mr. Butterscotch work for Vauxhall? What have we learned from this forum? I think the answer is ” Don’t buy a Vauxhall, they’re crap” !!! All car manufacturers sell cars that have faults, but when they fail to address faults in something as important as the braking system, then you’ve got to question if you really want to buy one of their cars.

  315. Hello D Winter,

    I can confirm that I DO NOT work for Vauxhall. The reason for the second follow up post was to allow a right to reply for Vauxhall and a chance for the company to answer the many criticisms that had been raised with regard to this issue. I agree however that all issues should be considered when making a decision to purchase a vehicle, including alleged and confirmed safety issues. The fact that this post has garnered such interest confirms that it is pertinent to a number of readers of this site.

  316. My Corsa (one year old) rolled down my drive and smashed the garage door, and marked the car.
    It had just been in for service and no mention was made to us about a recall for this problem. We contacted the dealership who asked us to bring it in, (still no mention of any problem). Said no problem found!!!!
    So we checked the internet and find hundreds of complaints about the same thing. Vauxhall are saying unless we can prove there is a manufacturing fault or they will not reply to any letters etc. Trouble is it seems that it is a DESIGN fault that seems to happen intermittently, so therefore difficult to prove. However, we plan to get as much info as possible together, along with their dismissive letters and take them to citizens advice or even go straight to the small claims court. (The damage amounts to about £2000)

  317. Why not apply the handbrake in a level carpark and try pushing the car backwards to check if it is working? Then you will know for sure

  318. Good idea – doesn’t work when the handbrake just pings off half an hour or so after you have parked however!!

  319. I have recently purchased a Astra 1.6 Club. I quickly discovered that there is a problem with the handbrake when the started to move away whilst I was still in it with h/b fully applied. No rachet clicks, only holds on full on and only if parked on level ground. This is a particular problem as I am partially disabled. It now seems I have bought a problem. My question: Has Vauxhall got a solution to this problem (other than ‘CAR IN GEAR’ which won’t stop the car on a steep hill?
    Please advise what / I can have this resolved.
    Regards
    Tom Sharpe

  320. Hey Tom,

    Vauxhall didn’t ever fix my handbrake (just adjusted or cleaned it with temporary success), but my local independent finally did.

    When it got to ~120,000 miles they replaced the handbrake cable as part of MOT work. Now it works as one would expect.

    I used to have problems waiting at lights on inclines, but now it’s fine. I was always able to leave it in gear whenever parking on a steep hill though, that would always hold my ’52 Corsa, even with me in it.

  322. i to have the missfortune to have bought an 06 1,6 zafira 60.000 mls new clutch ,rust along the sills at the rubber seal ,new problem started yesterday when picking away clunk like an engine mount is away cant find a worn mount ,will never buy any vauxhall car again ,as they wont even have rust on the sill looked at without a70 quid charge stay clear of this junk,anyone who says thier good cars is either nuts or works for vauxhall

  323. I have a car on motorbility and have had problems with perry’s from day one of receiving the car almost 6month ago

  324. To all the correspondents re handbrake issues-ALL cars are susceptible to rolling down hills with the handbrake on. This type of incident is NOT restricted to Corsas!! Leave it in 1st or reverse gear. Not one of you seems to be aware of this very simple precaution. I park on a steep drive and have done for over 14 years-I would never trust the handbrake alone to hold the car from rolling. Consequently my cars have never moved! I live in a very hilly area and there have been many incidents where vehicles have rolled down hills and caused sometimes extensive damage-each one of these incidents showed that the vehicle was not left in the lowest gear but had the handbrake on! As regards the use of the ratchet button, I note that my handbook advises not pressing the button in when applying, contrary to what I teach my pupils to do-I hate the sound of the ratchet and there IS wear to it when not pressing the button in, marginal I would admit. So to recap, when parking downhill,Handbrake applied,gear in reverse,front wheels towards kerb. When uphill, !st gear and wheels away from kerb. Simples!!!

  325. Apologies to Wibble who seems to be aware of gears. Sorry Steve Turner but you’re wrong. No way the cars going anywhere with the handbrake fully on and in Lowest gear!

  326. Sorry f1mad but I produced the video for Vauxhall yes it does the corsa compresion ratio allows this to happen when in the right gear on a steep hill or drive. i am not an idiot have been driving probably long before you. I would agree that some cars will ease their handbrakes as the pads cool but the brake lever does not spring off as with the Corsa these cars are dangerious and the manufacturer will not accept it although their dealers are aware of it.

  327. Steve, if you’ve been driving longer than 37 years then you’ve been driving longer than me! In that time I’ve driven many vehicles and never ‘lost’ one in the scenario we are talking about. I have also been a professional driving instructor for over 30 years and trained to advanced standard with the Police. The advice when parking on a gradient as quoted in driving manuals, I have passed on to 100’s of pupils in this time. I have been a Corsa D owner for the past 3 years and now on my second CorsaD. I demonstrate the ability for the car to remain stationary on hills with the handbrake applied and gear in !st or Reverse then release the handbrake to prove the engine braking ability. I repeat that the incidents involving cars rolling down hills are not limited to Corsas and to suggest that Corsas are inherently dangerous suggests that you may have a grievance with Vauxhall? There have been recalls for Corsas built between 2006 and 2011 regarding a ‘brake bearing’ but on enquiring with my main Vauxhall dealer I am told that no recalls relate to the handbrake! I shall however stand corrected if my Corsa rolls!!! The only person I know whose car rolled down a hill colliding with another car is a friend who made the mistake of leaving his car with the handbrake on but no gear selected. Car in question? VW BORA! Are they considered dangerous too? A neighbours car was damaged by a rolling BMW….again in neutral with the handbrake on. Are they dangerous then? It’s the drivers responsibility to leave their vehicle, whatever make, in a safe and secure position.
    By the way-what video?

  328. F1mad – How do you leave your car in gear with the engine running whilst waiting at lights for example? If your handbrake won’t hold the car, it is faulty, that’s why they test it during an MOT.

  329. Lee-your question is typical of the reason that there should be an MOT for drivers!!!
    The original issue is the problem with cars being left unattended with the handbrake on but the gear in neutral which is contrary to the Highway Code and Driving Manual(DSA) Any training you undertake would/should advise you that when leaving any vehicle unattended with a manual gearbox should be left in gear and an automatic gearbox in Park(P)-this like 1st/reverse??. This is mainly due to the fact that the handbrake generally works only on the rear wheels(on some vehicles the front) Why trust the handbrake alone especially when it flies in the face of EXPERT advice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s just common sense.
    If your vehicle will not hold in traffic as you asked then you obviously have a problem with the handbrake.(Next time you go to a garage ask the mechanic if when they test the handbrake if it is guaranteed to hold the vehicle forever???) But this is not what this is about is it? Read through the whole of the above comments!!!!!
    Look, I have more sensible questions from some of my students and what appalls me is the fact that there are so many people driving on todays roads without a clue!! That’s it-I’m out of here!!!:)))

  330. f1mad – I *have* read all the above comments, you evidently have not, particularly mine. Experts are not ignorant.

  331. Ok Lee, should have said ‘all of MY above comments’! From 20th January 2012!!!!!
    Stop blaming the car and look at your own inadequacies as a driver. Accidents/incidents are down to human error in the main-very few are attributable to the vehicle!!This is why I would advocate a regular check test for drivers instead of putting so much emphasis on the car!!! These forums tend to highlight the need????
    And incidentally, if every contributor would care to google ‘handbrake issues’, there are various makes and models with the same ‘problems’.
    And you’re correct in the last sentence-I hope you’re not referring to yourself?

  332. f1mad. You are ignorant. You haven’t read my comments, yet you say “not one of you seems to be aware of this very simple precaution”. I have not blamed the car for I have not had an accident to blame it for.

    I have only owned 6 cars, but the handbrake in my Corsa was so bad, I had taken the (proper) function of a handbrake pretty much for granted beforehand. I’ve never known anything like it, my other car’s handbrakes were perfectly operable, as one should expect.

    Just because the victims on this page didn’t leave their cars in gear, does not necessarily mean the handbrakes were not of poor design, especially the cases where they slipped of their ratchets because they were designed for left-hand drive vehicles (http://www.rac.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?1348-New-Corsa-handbrake-problems/page2).

    As for human error, you say you’re in the profession of teaching these simple precautions, yet most drivers have no clue, perhaps there should be an MOT for the instructors. 😉

  333. Lee-You’ve got to grow up sometime, kid! All the info re parking safely on hills( which is all I commented on this forum about incidentally) is in the Highway Code. Didn’t you read it when you learned to drive?
    I’m afraid you’ve lost the plot somewhere along the line. Still, it might be a bit of entertainment for the readers of this thread?
    Oh, yes, and we are Mot’d on a 2 to 4 year basis. Please don’t say anymore-you’re too wound up and I don’t think you can take it!

  334. Are you two married by any chance??????? (to each other), Your like a pair of old washer women (no offence intended to old washer women),
    Vauxhall cars are crap we know that, sell the dammed thing then take two spoons full of cement and toughen the fk up Princess!!!!!!

  335. I have been driving for 43 years and I never leave my car in gear when on a small incline. I should not have to. A hand brake should be good for purpose nd the Corsa clearly is not. We have parked many cars on our drive over a period of 21 years and only the Corsa handbrake ‘,jumped off’ all on it’s own. The manufacturer has admitted the faults but still it is happening. Until they completely redesign this will continue.
    F1mad I have followed your comments and I still think that a handbrake should stop a car moving when parked!!!
    Are you suggesting that because my Corsa rolled away it is in some way my fault? I consider myself to be a good and safe driver but this actually has nothing to do with Vauxhall’s handbrake problem. I would never buy a Vauxhall’s again, and if I had known what I know now I would not have purchased this one. They need to sort out this problem it is still happening to poor unsuspecting drivers!

  336. *IF* you’d read my comments, you’d know that I park in gear. Go read them. I read the highway code long long long before I learned to drive because it’s not just for drivers. You came here to laugh at others misfortune without a clue what had actually happened, just based on your own prejudiced assumptions. I’m not wound up in the slightest, you seem to be having a go at the quality of drivers yet you yourself instruct them for a living. I just find it ironic. You’re off topic, the article is about faulty handbrakes, not about how to park.

  337. Message forF1mad…..Corsa’s HAVE been recalled for the handbrake fault. Please check Vosa website. I also have the letter to prove it.
    Not that it has worked anyway!

  338. I also think the point has been missed. The Corsa does not roll away with the handbrake on it starts off being on then it jumps off itself without anyone touching it, that is the whole point! This makes it not fit for purpose and therefore ‘faulty’.
    Perhaps there should be a whole new driving lesson and test just for Vauxhall’s drivers! Ha ha

  339. F1mad, are you a sponsor of Vauxhall? I’ve compared several makes of cars against Vauxhall, and Vauxhall are years behind VW, Honda, even Ford and Citroën. It’s not just the handbrake but clutch mechanisms, but you would probably say its a drivers issue, actually a vauxhall technician told me that the Insignia could not take the punishment of a Mercedes. His words not mine. Get over it Vauxhall are crud nowadays, if you have one giving you grief, go on their Facebook site and give ’em hell, maybe they will wake up.

  340. Wondered when the ‘Fat Prick’ clobberer would enter the fray(comment 2/8/11). Can’t talk without swearing-a bit dim?

    Julia-driving 43 years and still don’t understand safety when leaving your car? Why the surprise when your car isn’t where you left it? Ha Ha Ha. Reminds me of the old guy says he’s never had an accident….caused 1000’s though! Hope I’m not parked near you!! Ha Ha HAH

    Lee-moron (nuff said)

    flexinob-yeh you sussed me(get paid alot for it though)-good wind up though while it lasted, eh?

    Seriously, some of the faults are noted but surely most/all of you have to look at your driving habits-confucious say ‘bad workman blame tools’.

    Enjoy life and don’t let the bastards grind you down!

  341. Yes I am surprised when my handbrake has released itself on a very slight incline! This clearly should not happen. Many cars have parked in the same spot but this has never happened before. I would only park ‘in gear’ when on a steep incline, or in a situation with which I deemed it necessary. Please give people a bit of credit for deciding a safe situation. There is no getting away from the fact that Vauxhall hand brakes are badly designed and not trustworthy.
    Mr f-1mad You are an annoying ‘think you know it all’ with a pathetic wit. I also hope you never park near me ha ha ha.

  342. @f1mad: Oh dear who needs to grow up? You can’t get out of a hole by digging some more.

    I was wrong about you being ignorant, that’s a label I use when giving somebody the benefit of the doubt – never assume malice whilst stupidity is possible, and never assume stupidity if ignorance will fit. I’m long past assuming you’re ignorant.

    I’m also past believing you’re any kind of expert, at least not one that anybody respects.

    So, have a nice life trolling [1]. If that’s what you do for fulfilment these days, then it’s sad, but whatever takes your fancy.

    1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)

  343. I have the Astra sxi hatch 09 plate and never park on a big hill as I don’t trust the handbrake as I’ve parked on small hills and the cars roll back wen I haven’t had the hand break fully locked

  344. Has any one ever had a problem with there car not starting or cutting out as if you stalled it but u know you haven’t .ive had my car from new just over 2 years now and a good few times the cars not turned over 1st time or even 5th time and the car just cuts out at slow speed out sittin at the lights but I’m sure I haven’t stalled it and the other last week I turned my car didn’t turn over tryed turning it over for 10 min and nothing but the windows cd player were workin fine and the lights were bright as normal but I tryed jump starting it which wasn’t workin so gave up then while I was gettin my phone out to call aa I just tryed turning it over one last time and it turned over turned it off and tryed again workin fine then did a few 1mile drives since no long runs and the cars turned over 1st time since .ive had the car into Arnold clark 4-5 times for this over the 2 year and every time they say there’s nothin wrong with it so charge me £60 for looking over the car and finding no problems that would be croved by warranty

  345. This is a very interesting discussion. Seems we in South Africa have the same issues or at least me.

    I too own a 2007 1.4 Astra H. bought the vehicle with less than 12 000km on the clock in 2008. I also had a handbrake failure which caused allot of damage to the rear of the vehicle. Car rolled down the street (backwards) into a brick wall, got to the vehicle and handbrake lever still in the upright position, this was confirmed by the police as they were close by when this happened. Luckily no one got injured.

    After further inspection at the GM approved panel beaters, they could not find one single fault with the handbrake. When i eventually got the vehicle back I booked it in at a GM Dealership for a service, and handbrake check, still they could not see or trace any fault.

    Wonder how many of my countrymen have suffered the same feat.

  346. I own a 3 year old Corsa D and from the day I got it iv been having problems the car has been recalled twice but there is still many problems with this car that has me out off pocket to fix. The main problems I’m having is with the electric’s. My handbrake makes
    A “Bing” noise when I’m driving, my fans only work on 1 speed setting all others have stopped Working, my outomatic window wipers turn on but they won’t turn off and my car charger socket fuse’s anything I put into it. Iv been told this will cost me well over a grand to fix. And all this is only with 13,000 miles on the clock. I Have to say I would never buy another Vauxhall again.

    I would like to know if any one else has had any of these problems.

  348. I’ve had my 09 Astra in arnold Clark for .the car cutting out and not starting 1st time ,couldnt find a fault .the boot jamming in the locked position when opened ,couldn’t find a fault . The cd player turning off on vol up or down or just changing Chanel ,couldn’t find a fault .2x flashing lights ,couldn’t find fault .the hand break ,couldn’t find a fault.the smell of petrol,  couldn’t find fault but never smelled it since .the back wheels making a noise ,couldn’t find a fault .the drivers side window banging off the fame ,couldn’t find a fault the windows ment to bang which I was told lol.the small back seat every time I put it down it jams ,the faults been fixed but still jamming away. Every time they say there’s no fault I’ve been changed for finding no fault and the last time I had it in for a flashing light it was something do do with the cutch  they replaced it the next day I went a trip 20mil in the light gos on and the car cuts out AA came out and found that the fan wasn’t connected lol 

  349. Stuart Mainwaring, you have to be THICK! You trade in a CRAP corsa for another on! You deserseve all you get!

  350. My astra 61 plate 1.3cdti handbreak has failed twice in 4 months with 5000 miles on the clock. Just cased 2k of damage. Anybody with simular problem please let me know.

  351. Same thin happened to us last October, Vauxhall were no help, in fact very rude in their letter.
    The cars have all been recalled on two occasions but the problem is intermittent , but they are still managing to wheedle out of any responsibility.
    I would never buy Vauxhall again!

  352. It’s happened to hundreds of people Mark – nobody seems to know why – I have to admit that now I never leave my car unless I leave it in gear, if I had a brick I would probably stick that under the wheel too!!! Why they fit the cars with handbrakes I know not, they aren’t reliable so are a waste of time. I was badly hurt when mine came off the first time and the car was only 3 weeks old, nobody believed me – if you can’t beat ’em join ’em, just leave it in gear honey xx

  353. Thank you for your feed back, i work in digital Media and my sugestion would be we all help Vauxhall with Social media optimisation and leave help full feed back to anybody look to buy a vauxhall. I have and in a day i have had some interesting comments. Join me https://www.facebook.com/#!/vauxhall?sk=wall

  354. I’ve had similar problem, first with meriva that rolled off my drive an hit neighbours jag best part of 2 grand in repairs in my insurance. Thought it was my fault till my astra rolled and hit caravan across road. I had put handbrake on fully, the car had been parked my drive for over 15 mins if it wasn’t on it would of rolled before I got my hand in the door. Didnt realise it was known fault certainly going to report this to vauxhalln. I have always sung praises of vauxhall till I git this astra but no more, been one thing after another will be glad to see the back of urn.

  355. Debbie, how old is your astra? Sorry to hear about your cars. Have you made any complaints?

    Mark

  356. Hi mark, my astra is 07 plate I haven’t made a complaint as yet due to my daughter being recently diagnosed with an illness that needs constant care, however I am certainly going to do so, not sure it will be listened to judging by other posts but I can’t leave it unsed.

  358. I have a 2008 Corsa which has a leak in the boot has anyone else had the same problem? Since buying this Corsa from new I have had problems with the wipers, a faulty fan and a recall for the brakes.

  359. Our 2 year old vauxhall astra has just rolled into the front of our house causing scratches and chips to the front of our car. Through no fault of our own this is now going to cost us money!! The handbrake was on and this has never happened before with a car we have bought. This is the first brand new car we have purchased – never again! It has also developed a hole in the aircon radiator which is going to cost approx £400 to repair. Also it has been recalled twice for checks to be made.

  360. The handbrake problem is still alive and kicking in 2012. I have a 2011 1.2 SE model and the handbrake has failed on numerous occasions, finally resulting in a £200 reapir bill for a rear bumper repair back in June. I have raised the issue with Vauxhall Luton Customer Care and my local dealership, whereby I purchased the Corsa from, and await further news. Please be aware, even with an October 2011 recall, the problem is still here, albeit intermittent. I want this car made a safe plus I want to be reimbursed for my £200. Taking on the big boys is a real challenge.

  361. Anyone trading an old Vauxhall for a new one deserves hell and back. Buy a VW or a Honda and you can’t go wrong

  362. My astra purchased from Arnold Clark Mount Vernon Glasgow rolled down hill after handbrake failed, car was tested by garage and they could not find fault. My car is left with a damaged front wing and will be repaired as soon as I can afford it. I have advised Arnold Clark that I will no longer purchase any other cars from their dealership (all of my family and friends). Servicing of my car will also be carried out by other garages and car will be handed back after required payments have been made under voluntary termination agreement. NB – I still need to double check car is left in gear and handbrake pulled on to maximum but still not 100% happy that I have to do this each time I park my stinking car.

  363. Hello, I have had my vauxhall corsa 3months brand new and yesturday I returned home at 2pm (I live on a hill) put handbreak on and sat down for tea at 4pm to find my car set off rolling past my window down the hill and crashed into a wall. Traumatised as I am I am currently pregnant I was very shaken up the car was a mess and rang vauhall they told me to bring it Down so I did (I found a piece of brass coloured metal under where my car was parked) they put the car in reverse when the handbreak was applied and the car went backwards!! They claimed on insurance and have to pay excess!! They told us they will contact us in a day or two with a courtesy car an take ours for repair!! Leaving me to drive the dogy car till they get in touch!!!

  364. My Astra is an 05 plate and about 3 week ago it popped its handbrake off rolled down my street and crashed into a drive way pillar and then smashed into the front of an elderly couples house trapping them inside because they couldn’t open the front door and also on its travel down the road it collided with a Citroen Picasso only trading paint i was alerted about this by a neighbor i looked outside and i could hear my car alarm and a crowd of people around my car i approached my car only to have the whole crowd shouting that my car could have killed a child i told vauxhall all about this but all i got in return was a diagram on how to fucking park now im not being funny but i passed my test in 2007 and nowhere through my exam was i told to put the car in gear when parking i am now left to repair my vehicle as my insurance wont cover it. completely stuffed is not the word everybody who has had trouble with these cars we need to team up and take vauxhall to court

  365. Hi, after discovering my car rolling away from house and in Jag, has anyone had the same problem with Astra Excite 2011 plate and has there been any success and getting vauxhall to recall the cars to get fixed?

  366. Hi Everyone, I just found this website by researching. I got corsa vxr 08 and had handbrake failure today , I got to take it to garage tomorrow to get assesed but I am aware that they will try fob me off so looking for hits / tip to keep me on the right track. My car roll down a hill 30 mins after I parked up the car with the hand brake securely on. Any advice would be grateful appreciate. Thank

  367. I have a 2012 Vauxhall Insignia I parked it for 2 hours and then it rolled down the road and crashed into a poll, the parking light was still on when I got to the car, Vauxhall have checked the car and say there is not a problem, I find this very annoying because there is a problem the car moves away on it’s own and could have killed someone so why don’t they believe us when we tell them that the handbrake’s just don’t do their job.

  369. I have a 64 reg manual hand break Astra GTC..Was out for a few hours diving returned home parked up..Placed it into 1st gear as i always do applied hand break..Girlfriend got out with kids and was getting stuff from the boot and we all went into the house.My car was parked on tiny slope i wouldn’t even call it a slope lol..

    1hr 30 minutes later it rolled back into the wall so vauxhall is still plagued with these problems there is obviously some thing wrong as there has been 4 this month that is in the same garage that mine is in to get fixed..

    The garage said it was ok to manufacturing standards..Hum mm well as soon as i get it back its going for an MOT test and then i will take it up with vauxhal there is excessive travel on the hand break..

    If you own a new 64 plate Astra GTC be care-full they will roll even after 1hr 30 minutes later,Now my insurance is left to pick up the bill for the car i will be taking it further with the manufactures as soon as i get it back from repair i know fine well there is excuses play in the hand break and is the reason for the car rolling and don’t forget it was in 1st gear it just jumped out so that does not help at all..

    Please be care-full with vauxhall hand breaks even on 64 plate cars even with a manual hand break..The garage said its a common problem that there fleet of corsa courtesy cars have excess play in the hand break but its ok with vauxhall standards.

    Well i will be getting it MOT tested for the hand break.The garage where its been sent to be fixed does not have rolling road to test the hand break but found no fault with it they need to put it on rollers to test it..

    Unhappy customer.

  370. My sons 2015 Astra had same problem on first night he had it . Dealer is saying driver error. Has anyone obtained a engineer report or had a success

  371. Paul povey == My car is due back on Monday its been away for 3+ weeks to get a tiny bump out of the bumper,I’ve saw worse damage to cars that’s been in a collision,The thing is when the insurance company sends it to nation accident group they then forward it to garage locally,They test it mine was not put on a rolling road even though
    the insurance company asked for this to be done..

    Think of it this way if its down to the manufactures the garage isn’t going to get the money as fast as they would by blaming you as vauxhall will have the car picked up if there was a defect and checked and they will fix it meaning the garage that has the car for the repair that the insurance company sent it to wont get the work so its in there best interests to say its ok..

    NOW THE IMPORTANT PART..

    The garage say the hand break meets manufactures standards ?That is not MOT standards as soon as i get mine back its going to the rolling road test for the hand break to be tested properly on Tuesday or Wednesday..

    Mine has excess travel before the hand break locks and i know it wont pass an
    mot like this,Will keep this post updated when i know more but i don’t think vauxhall will admit there in the wrong for this…Even if i prove it i will take it as far as i can,But there is defiantly
    and issue with the NEW Astra GTC 2014 2.0 cdti sri handbrake mine was manual as well..

  372. Ok its back from repair and i took it for an MOT it passed with 33% and the standards say it would have to be 16% to fail..So the main problem in my case is my breaks where very hot and when the hand break was applied it felt as though it was at full travel but because the discs where expanded when it cooled down the hand break was not at full travel and off she rolled..So make sure you pull the and break up as hard as you can its self adjusting also so that doesn’t help..

    Hope this clarifies my own issue it was down to hot discs and me not pulling the full travel with the hand break simple..I would advice all Astra gtc owners if there breaks are hot either let them cool or put it in gear and make sure its in 1st mine was but it was not placed in 1st gear with the engine running so cant be certain it was engaged at the time..

    They easy pop out of gear any way and turn your car into a curb as much as you can use any means possible to stop it from rolling away,You can buy wheel stops on eBay there plastic stops that go behind the wheel I’ve purchased a set but if you can opt in for electric hand break get one don’t get the manual hand break what ever you do.

    And all the new cars are like this no more 3 clicks and the hand break is engaged yank it up till it wont go any further.

  373. My son has a 2012 Corsa and had the car from new. He had it MOTed last month and then about 2 weeks later the car rolled down from our driveway and hit the neighbours car. His handbrake was still on in the car.

    His car is not damaged but caused quite a lot of damage to the neighbours car. They insisted on going through his insurance – refused to let him pay for the damage instead (yes very neighbourly!)

    So it seems as though the problem is still around and my son has been hit with a high insurance renewal all thanks to Vauxhall

  374. Diana montague

    Hi vauxhall will not admit any liability,And i agree even the garage where my new 2014 Astra GTC
    rolled away,The hand break was on full and in gear and still managed to jump out of 1st gear and
    roll away down a bank into a wall.

    There has to be a problem with the self adjustment of the hand break itself,You have to pull the hand
    break so hard.Till its about to snap off lol..That’s what the garage told me that it looks like the hand
    break is on and it would be on any other car just with the first few clicks of engaging the hand break
    but it doesn’t actually grab until the end of the clicks so you have to pull it all the way up without
    the button pressed..

    I had no issues with the automatic hand break when i owned the Astra 2010 sri non what so ever
    was perfect..I thought i was doing myself a favour getting the manual hand break i wish i had kept
    the automatic electric hand break and it would never of happened..

    But your wasting your time with vauxhall and the insurance company..Strange how its never rolled
    away any more since..Just that one off and its been parked on some steep hill’s..To be honest i think
    there is a mechanical problem and vauxhall will never admit to it,And its impossible to prove even if
    you where to take them to county court the whole thing is on you to prove and would be impossible,Some thing will eventually be done when it causes a death and a full investigation
    is done,Because it’s Very dangerous and accident waiting to happen..

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