Faced with failure of the ABS unit of my three and a half year old Golf and a £1,500 bill, I followed your advice, reported the matter to VOSA and asked if it was going to issue a vehicle safety recall. This was the response:

“Dear Sir,
Thank you for your email. This has been passed to me for reply.
Our role is to look at design and construction defects that fail with no warning and are likely to cause death or serious injury. Such incidents should be dealt with by the issue of a Safety Recall.
The ABS unit failure is highlighted to the driver by the vehicle displaying a warning light on the dashboard. This warns the driver that there is an issue and allows them to stop the vehicle safely and have the work attended to. Therefore, this is not something that VOSA would look at under its responsibilities.”

Automotive Safety Recalls Manager
Vehicle Safety Branch, VOSA.