TOYOTA Motor is recalling more than 10,000 fairly new Thai-made
cars to fix a faulty gasket in the fuel tank and a grease glitch
that prevents some front seats from reclining smoothly.
Calling it a 'special service campaign', Toyota distributor Borneo
Motors said 7,269 Corolla Altis might leak some fuel when fully
topped up because of a faulty tube at the top section of the
tank.
The affected Corollas were made between December last year and July
this year.
The company is also asking customers to bring in 3,350 Vios made
between April last year and March this year because they may not
have enough lubrication to allow their front seats to recline. The
problem affects some Corollas too.
Borneo Motors said it has come across four cases of the faulty fuel
tank tube here, but no one has complained of stuck seats. There has
been no accidents caused by either flaw, it added.
'Borneo Motors is obliged to take the lead in the special service
campaign,' a spokesman said, adding that the company will be
writing to ask affected customers to take their cars back so the
flaws can be fixed.
She said the entire exercise will take about six months.
Replacing the faulty gasket will take about three hours per car.
The grease job will take five hours or so, although owners may have
to leave their vehicle for a longer period.
'We will clean and grease up the seat reclining mechanism to a
specific amount recommended by Toyota,' the spokesman said.
Owners can call Borneo Motors on 6471-8173 during office hours from
Mondays to Fridays for more details.
Reporting safety-related recalls has been mandatory since March
last year. In the first year of the new law, some 60,000 cars were
recalled, more than half of them from Nissan.
Cars affected this year include Hondas, Mazdas, Mitsubishis,
Mercedes-Benzes, Kias and Volvos.
http://motoring.asiaone.com.sg/articles/N_toyota_20041119_001.html