Renault recall 66,000 vehicles in the UK

Renault is recalling more than 66,000 cars amid fears of a faulty automatic hand brake which could apply itself while the vehicle is moving.

The French car manufacturer is in the process of writing to UK owners of its Scenic II models which were made between September 2003 to June 2005. In a move likely to cost the car company in excess of £10m, Renault UK is spending 10 weeks tracing the owners of 66,735 Scenic’s manufactured between the two dates.

The mammoth task was sparked by several incidents involving the parking brake unexpectedly coming on as the car was being driven.

Renault engineers investigated the cases and tracked the problem down to battery cables fitted incorrectly to the vehicle’s Engine Control Unit (ECU).

Service technicians will re-program the ECU on the family vehicles to correct the potential fault free of charge. So far, about 13,700 Scenic owners have had their vehicles fixed.

A Renault spokesman said: ‘We are having to trace 66,735 owners of Scenic II that were manufactured between September 2003 and June 2005.

‘The mailing to owners will be carried out over 10 weeks. This started on July 1st and will finish until early September. So far more than 13,000 have returned to date.

‘There is the possibility, in a very rare case that the automatic handbrake could apply whilst driving.

‘Investigation of a few very rare cases outside of the UK has shown this to be the problem.

‘The electronic parking brake computer (ECU) that manages the automatic handbrake will be re-programmed.’