PEPAZZ: If youâre driving a STELLANTIS, may God be with you!! PART 2#
DS3 eTense with 23,000 km, warranty abused and 20 months of repair agony. The level of poor engineering in these vehicles borders on madness. This group is putting junk on wheels across diesel, petrol, and hybrid models, but what theyâre doing in EVs is unforgivable. The poor product experience is so strong it can turn anyone away from EVs for good.
As a repair shop, we face countless issues: aftermarket "right to repair" access for independent repair shops (diagrams, software, updates, parts), as well as specialized tools and documentation, are inaccessible. They rarely respond to inquiries or claim âit's not their responsibility,â violating EU Regulation 2018/858, Article 61. Weâve been waiting for weeks to get access to FIAT and Citroen accounts just to clear faults, while Tesla or BYD grant access within a day. Authorized service centers are controlled by the group with insufficient training or support, leading to random part replacements at the ownerâs expense.
Furthermore, manufacturers lack the necessary parts for repairs, leaving vehicles unusable for months, causing significant losses to business owners without replacement vehicles. Finally, the vehicleâs extended warranty is tied to every minor service; even a missed wiper change can void the battery warranty, a notorious issue weâve dubbed "Warranty R-a-p-e.â This has happened to this DS3, as the general warranty on wipers is tied to the motor and battery. The vehicle failed in motion due to an unknown fault (no communication with the VCU), and because of the PMSM motor in motion, coil excitation in the inverter burned out the inverter board.
After five authorized services, 200 lost work hours, and âŹ5,000 spent on a motor, two inverters, MCU, and additional equipment, we havenât located the primary fault, though we successfully cloned the secondary inverter from the old to the new. Getting the carâs wheels turning again without buying a whole new car is impossible. The authorized service demands replacing the motor and inverter, which costs âŹ12,500, though this likely isnât the primary fault, opening further costs.
The software system is shockingly limited for troubleshootingâyou can never locate the fault by error code. Diagnostic tools, whether OEM or aftermarket, donât provide access to specialized functions, resets, or programming. Pairing new or used modules is an excruciating process, and the entire policy on which this vehicle is based is unsustainable and unprofitable, leaving owners with major losses. These vehicles, once out of warranty, will be unrepairable and end up in parts or the scrapyard and owners returning to old VW TDI 1.9PD