Peugeot and Citroën BlueHDi AdBlue tank fault

Which cars have the AdBlue tank fault?

Peugeot, Citroën and DS diesels with a BlueHDi engine and an AdBlue tank, built from January 2014 to August 2020.

Stellantis, which owns the three brands, describes the cars only by engine type and build date. It does not publish a list of models. It also names Opel, the sister brand of Vauxhall.

The build date is not the registration date. A dealer can read it from the VIN, and that date decides whether Stellantis will contribute.

What are the symptoms of a failing AdBlue tank?

A warning that the AdBlue is low when the tank is full, followed by a countdown to the engine not restarting.

The European Commission’s summary of owner complaints is that the car’s software showed the tank as almost or completely empty when it was not. In the Italian cases the message gave 1,500 km before starting would be prevented.

The countdown is not a second fault. These diesels will not restart once the AdBlue tank is empty, as the AA’s guidance explains, so a car that wrongly believes its tank is empty behaves the same way.

Why does the tank fail?

The fault sits in the tank unit, which holds the pump and its electronics as well as the fluid.

Three accounts exist, and they do not fully agree. The European Commission records it as software wrongly reporting an empty tank. The French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir puts it down to AdBlue crystallising in the tank. The Italian group Altroconsumo describes the whole tank assembly, meaning tank, pump and control unit, as the part that gets replaced.

Stellantis has not published a cause. It calls the matter a “complex issue” and says improvements were made at the factory for newer vehicles.

A related weakness is on record in the UK. In 2020 the DVSA logged recalls on later cars because the urea injector, the nozzle that sprays AdBlue into the exhaust, could gradually block. Autocar’s used-buying advice on the 3008 also notes that AdBlue pumps and injectors can fail.

How much does it cost to fix?

Consumer groups abroad put a new tank at €1,000 to €1,200. We found no published UK price from a source we would rely on.

Altroconsumo reported Italian owners paying €1,000 to €1,200 for a replacement tank. UFC-Que Choisir reported an average of €1,000 left for French owners to pay, with some paying more than €3,000.

The UK figures we can stand behind come from published Ombudsman decisions. One owner paid £496.80 to have the AdBlue injector and tank removed and cleaned. Another faced a £7,230 bill when an AdBlue warning turned out to involve the urea injector, the particle filter and a catalyst pipe.

Ask for the price of the part and the labour as separate lines. Stellantis’s contribution is a share of the part. Its labour contribution stops at £26.

What has Stellantis said?

It contributes to the part on cars up to eight years old or 130,000 miles, at authorised dealers, until August 2028. It describes this as voluntary.

Peugeot UK’s owner pages set out the terms. Under five years old and up to 94,000 miles, Stellantis covered the whole cost of the part. From five to eight years it covers 30% to 90% of the part, on a sliding scale by mileage.

Every car in the build range has now passed five years, so the sliding scale is the one that matters. The published table runs from 90% up to 30,000 km, through 60% at 80,001–110,000 km, to 30% at 180,001–210,000 km. Above that it is nothing.

The scheme began in Italy, after the competition authority there investigated in 2023. Stellantis extended it across the EU in December 2024 following talks with the European Commission. The UK is outside that agreement, yet Peugeot UK applies the same terms in pounds.

If you paid an authorised dealer for this repair between 1st January 2021 and December 2023 and received a smaller contribution, you can apply at stellantis-support.com for a top-up of £68, £110 or £195.

The DVSA has no recall for the tank on these cars.

Who pays for an AdBlue tank fault?

Stellantis pays part of the parts bill on some cars. The rest falls between you and whoever sold you the car.

Peugeot, Citroën and DS (Stellantis)

Pays 30% to 90% of the part, by mileage, on cars aged five to eight years, plus up to £26 towards labour, at an authorised dealer. It calls this voluntary. There is no UK recall for the tank.

The dealer who sold it

Answerable for the car being of satisfactory quality on the day you took it, including how long the AdBlue system lasts. A contribution from Stellantis does not replace that.

The finance company

On hire purchase or PCP the lender supplied the car, so the gap Stellantis leaves is something you can put to the lender as well as the dealer.

Your warranty

Stellantis says the tank is repaired free during the manufacturer warranty. Used-car warranties vary, and in one Ombudsman case the warranty covered the AdBlue injector but not the particulate filter found faulty with it.

Goodwill from the manufacturer and your rights against the seller are separate. Asking for one does not give up the other.

Is an AdBlue tank covered under warranty?

Under the manufacturer warranty, yes. After that it depends on the policy, and the dealer’s responsibility is separate.

Stellantis’s terms say tank repairs are free of charge, parts and labour, during the warranty period unless there is a specific reason such as accident damage.

A used-car warranty is a different contract. Some pay for one emissions part and not the next. In one Ombudsman decision the warranty would cover the AdBlue injector but not the diesel particulate filter found faulty with it.

A warranty company saying no, or Stellantis offering 40%, tells you what those two will pay. Neither decides what the dealer who sold you the car is responsible for under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Can you hand the car back?

That turns on how long you have had it. The Act sets three windows, each counted from the day you collected the car.

What has the Ombudsman decided?

Outcomes have turned on how soon the warning appeared and whether a report tied it to the day of supply.

Published decisions do not name the make of car, so these are AdBlue complaints in general. Two were against Stellantis’s own finance arm.

In DRN-5168292 the AdBlue light came on about a month after a three-year-old car was supplied, and stayed on after a refill. The dealership blamed short journeys. The repair came to £7,230, and the owner said the manufacturer offered to pay half. The ombudsman noted 8,300 miles in six months, found the fault was there at supply, and told the lender to end the agreement, collect the car and refund the owner’s share of the repair.

In DRN-5142406 a timing chain had been repaired, then the AdBlue injectors failed four months later. The ombudsman said the one repair had been used, so the owner was entitled to reject.

In DRN-4504580 the complaint failed. The owner had covered about 8,000 miles, and no expert evidence said the AdBlue fault was present when the car was supplied.

What should you do now?

Photograph the warning, get the fault codes in writing, then ask the dealer what Stellantis will pay for your VIN.

1. Photograph the message and the remaining distance, and note the mileage. Keep the receipt for any AdBlue you have just put in.
2. Do not let the countdown reach zero away from home. Once it does, the car will not restart.
3. Have the fault codes read and printed. A tank, an injector and a sensor are different repairs with different bills.
4. Ask a Peugeot, Citroën or DS dealer to confirm the build date from the VIN and the percentage Stellantis will cover. Get it in writing.
5. Check your purchase date against the windows above, then write to the dealer, and to the lender if the car is on finance. An independent inspection carries weight if the fault appeared after six months.