Toyota GB has announced the number and models it will recall to check for potentially sticking accelerator pedals.
There are 180,865 vehicles involved: iQ, automated manual transmission Aygo, Yaris, Auris, Corolla, Avensis and Verso. Toyota is obtaining owner details from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
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Toyota said today manual Aygo models and all RAV4 SUVs are not affected. The RAV4 has been recalled in the US but vehicles sold there are made in Canada while UK supplies come from Japan.
“The safety of our customers is our top priority,” said Toyota GB managing director Miguel Fonseca. “We appreciate their concerns and are doing everything we can to deliver a speedy and thorough solution to the issue with the minimum inconvenience.
“We would like to reassure customers that the potential issue identified with the accelerator pedal only occurs in very rare circumstances. Our recall action is a precautionary measure.”
Toyota yesterday said it had developed a pedal assembly reinforcement to eliminate the potential risk of excess friction that could, in rare instances, cause the pedal to stick.
The first shipments of parts for this fix will begin arriving in the UK next week and Toyota should be able to start repairing cars from 10 February. The job should take 30 minutes a car.
Lawyers have told British newspapers Toyota could be liable for prosecution here if it was proved that parts were faulty and the company did not act quickly enough to recall defective vehicles.
The company has admitted to knowing of 26 incidents involving the defective accelerator pads in Europe.
It today came under fire from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents over its handling of the crisis.
“Toyota needs to look at how this problem came about and why it wasn’t picked up at the start in post-production checks,” RoSPA spokeswoman told the Daily Mail.
One driver, Catherine Block, 28, told the Guardian newspaper how her Aygo careered down a ramp on the A2 when her accelerator stuck.
“It was only luck that I wasn’t injured or killed, because I eventually figured out for myself how to unjam the pedal while driving,’ she told the paper.
