Launched on April 1, 2021, the government site Rappel Conso made it possible to centralize all “dangerous product alerts” on a single digital platform. Food plays the leading role, with nearly 10,000 alerts recorded as we write these lines. But in second place, with more than 1,300 records, we find a category that interests us more here: those of “automobiles and means of transport”. It might therefore be tempting to use this tool to find out if your car is affected by one or more recalls.
Sometimes crazy translations
Unfortunately, you may be disappointed or even misled if you attempt to use this official site in this manner. The fault, in particular, lies in a very questionable design choice: that of automatically taking the information into Rapexthe equivalent of Rappel Conso at the European Union level. Even the translation is done without human intervention! Only automobiles and other motorized vehicles are entitled to such disfavored treatment, even though these are objects that are much more technical and complex than a box of cassoulet or a key ring. This results in expressions that are sometimes barely intelligible, even comical, such as these “curtain airbags” which become “curtain airbags” or a high-voltage battery box which “risks entering the water”. Not to mention the timing belt of the 1.2 Puretech which becomes a “cog belt”, while this 3-cylinder turbo turns into a “turbomotor”!
A lack of precision of information
It may also happen that you find campaigns on the site that only concern models not officially imported into France, such as the Renault Mégane 4 Sedan, a four-door version assembled in Turkey of the compact diamond. But the most annoying thing remains the lack of precision of the information provided. The production range, indicated in the “Product identification in RAPEX” line, is most often truncated due to a probable bug: the last three characters of the end date are not displayed. This does not help to know if your car is affected by a recall, especially since you will not find this date of leaving the factory on your registration document: only the date of first entry into circulation, sometimes much later, including figure. The “additional information” line is hardly more meaningful. You may be able to use it to check a match with box K of your registration certificate. But this in no way guarantees that your vehicle is indeed covered by the campaign in question.
Also read
Examples to follow abroad
Many recalls in fact concern a very small number of vehicles, and Rappel Conso gives no indication of this volume. On this point, Rapex does not do any better. On the other hand, the website of the German Ministry of Transport KBA manages to indicate this data. The American transport agency, the famous NHTSA, and the British government go even further. Both offer an online tool that allows you to check if your car is affected by a recall by entering its VIN serial number. This 17-character code is indicated at the letter E on the registration document and is often also visible at the base of the windshield, on the driver’s side. This solution is the most efficient and quickest. Unfortunately, in France, only a few manufacturers offer this type of practical functionality on their own site or on applications, starting with Renault, Peugeot and Citroën.
A first draft soon to be improved? Nothing is sure…
Rappel Conso therefore missed the opportunity to fill the absence of this service among many brands and to centralize information useful for the safety of motorists. Especially since the “what to do” line invariably invites you to “contact the dealer” without giving you any contact details for any customer service to make your life easier. Here too, most other products are better treated, with sheets which most often include telephone lines, sometimes timetables and occasionally details on “compensation terms”. The automobile thus appears to be the poor relation of this government platform. But the site is still quite young, since it will celebrate its four years on April 1, 2025. We can therefore hope to see the Government correct the situation in the future… even if it seems more occupied by the question of bonus and penalty ecological for now. While waiting for these still hypothetical developments, you can in any case count on the L’Automobile Magazine website to stay up to date with recall news.
