Euro luxury brands feature in latest safety recalls

LAND Rover’s Range Rover Evoque has clocked up its fourth recall this year and the fifth since August 2016, this time to rectify an issue caused by a previous recall in December 2015.

The 2015 recall related to a potential electric short caused by the routing of the engine harness, which resulted in the fitment of a new wiring harness bracket in the engine assembly.

It has now been determined that the fix is “not durable for the life of the vehicle”, and that the wires within the engine harness protective sleeve could wear through, exposing the wires and again potentially resulting in an electrical short.

An electrical short could result in a number of failures including the engine cutting out while in motion and partial brake failure, causing significant risk to occupants and other road users.

Range Rover Evoque owners will be contacted by mail, and will be requested to contact their local Jaguar Land Rover dealer for an inspection of the engine harness, and if required, a repair of the harness.

A revised extension to the existing bracket will also be fitted to ensure the correct engine harness routing.

Previous Range Rover Evoque recalls concerned problems such as faulty airbags, electric shorts resulting in fires or engine failure, potential suspension failure and diesel fuel leakage.

Mercedes-Benz has also issued the second recall in a month for its E-Class premium sedan, this time for the unit that controls the recognition of occupancy for the front passenger side seat, which can result in the front passenger airbag being disabled even when the front passenger seat is occupied.

The affected vehicles were sold between April and September 2016. Mercedes will contact owners by mail to determine what the next step is in getting the problem fixed.

The recall from last month, which affected vehicles built in the same period, concerned the electrical wiring harness for the windshield wipers, which could fail and cause the wipers to stop working.

Swedish car-maker Volvo has also recalled its 90 series of vehicles including the S90 sedan, V90 Cross Country high-riding wagon and XC90 large SUV over the bolts that hold in place the curtain airbag.

Due to a manufacturing error, the bolt head may detach, which means the curtain airbag is not held securely in place, decreasing its functionality.

Affecting model year 2017 vehicles, owners will be contacted by mail to have the affected bolts replaced at their local Volvo dealer at no extra cost.

It is the second airbag-related recall for the XC90 this year, after it was found in January that the airbag igniter may cause inadequate inflation in any of the driver, passenger and seat airbags.