Toyota fixing 1.3 million vehicles for engine oil leak

[Tohto]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp...1040937/1/.html

 

TOKYO: Embattled Toyota said Tuesday it is voluntarily fixing 1.3 million vehicles in North America for engine oil leaks but denied the campaign is a recall because it did not affect safety.

 

"It is what we call a service campaign," said Toyota spokeswoman Mieko Iwasaki in Tokyo. For the past five months, she said, "we have been carrying out repairs step by step, sending letters to owners and dealers."

 

The company had first informed North American dealers and car owners of the campaign in October and launched its third phase last week to voluntarily repair the defect, a crack in an engine hose.

 

In an email statement received early Tuesday in Tokyo, the company said the problem "may cause oil to leak from the VVT-i oil hose producing abnormal engine noise and the oil pressure light to illuminate."

 

"This is not a safety recall, and submitting a Defect Information Report to the (US) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is not required."

 

Japan's biggest car maker has come under fire for its global recalls of more than eight million vehicles for accelerator and brake system defects, and has been accused of dragging its feet on making the safety flaws public.

 

Toyota executives were due to face a US Senate panel grilling later on Tuesday after company president Akio Toyoda last week apologised in a US House hearing and did the same in Beijing on Monday.

 

The Toyota spokeswoman in Japan said the company had already repaired free-of-charge 342,200 Avalon, Camry and RAV4 models and 374,000 Lexus ES 350 and RX 350 vehicles in the United States.

 

In the latest phase of the US campaign started on February 22, she said, Toyota wrote to owners and dealers of 128,800 Avalon and 89,000 RAV4 vehicles, asking them to bring their cars in for the one-hour repair job.

 

"Separately in Japan we announced in October the repair of 45,000 vehicles for the same cause. The models include the Harrier and Estima," she said.

 

[Fedup-camry]

TOYOTA IS JUST NOT CREDIBLE ANY MORE

 

March 2, 2010

Data Shows Camrys Not Recalled Also Had Problems

 

By BILL VLASIC, HIROKO TABUCHI and JO CRAVEN McGINTY

This article was reported by Bill Vlasic, Hiroko Tabuchi and Jo Craven McGinty and written by Mr. Vlasic.

 

Toyota has recalled six million cars in the United States over concerns about sudden acceleration. But an analysis of government documents shows that many Toyota Camrys built before 2007, which were not subject to recalls, have been linked to a comparable number of speed-control problems as recalled Camrys.

 

While owners of all makes of vehicles have filed complaints with the government about speed control problems, the analysis