Missing room, crumb windows, impossible repairs. A Citroën C3 arrives at the garage. The observation surprises, the repairers adapt. A new headache for automotive pros.
When Justine opened the trunk of her Citroën C3 III, she did not believe her eyes. The rear window had been broken, but above all, the rear seat had disappeared. An entire part dismantled with method, without further damage. “By opening it, I immediately understood that something was wrong, but it took me a few seconds to really realize what it was, so improbable: the bench of my car had disappeared!” she says, still amazed.
This type of flight, very targeted, today worries automobile professionals. In garages, repairs related to rear benches are multiplying. And it is not only a question of labor: the parts are sorely lacking. The demand explodes, the stocks are dry, the replenishment deadlines are stretched. Result: immobilized cars for weeks, sometimes months.
Justine’s case has become an almost trivial scenario. Direction the garage, where the expertise confirms the flight. “I was warned that it would probably be necessary for months before being able to have the bench replaced, because there is a ‘shortage’ of this room because of the many flights targeting it,” she explains. The garage can do nothing immediate, for lack of available room.
Why this piece in particular? A repairer advances an explanation at UFC-Que Choosing: The rear benches are essential to transform certain utility vehicles into five-seater models. Faced with supply difficulties, a parallel market has been structured, fueled by flights. Thieves target specific models, such as C3, to collect these parts and resell them.
In the workshops, tension rises. “We dismantle, we wait, we are looking for solutions,” sighs a mechanic. Some are trying to organize exchanges between vehicles of the same model. This is what saved Justine. “The day the garage had to change the broken window, he had to transform C3 into two places, and he told me that he was going to buy the benches to use them on vehicles to repair. They asked me for my authorization to put one in mine and, of course, I said yes,” she rejoices. Thanks to this original part recovery, his car was repaired without additional delay.
The phenomenon affects the whole territory. Insurance companies and body workshops see the same cases parade: benches, ruffles, screens properly dismantled. According to the ministerial statistical service of internal security, thefts in vehicles are slightly increasing, but those linked to technical elements climb faster. In Villeparisis or Sarcelles, several suspects were arrested for this very specific type of flight.
In garages, one thing is certain: repairing this type of damage becomes more and more complex. And for motorists, it is better to redouble a vigilance, especially if their model is prized on the gray market of spare parts.
