The hugely popular hybrid Prius model has ‘no reported problems in the UK or Europe’, Toyota has confirmed in a statement.
Following on from yesterday’s news (see story) that the carmaker has begun an internal investigation into Prius models sold in the US and Japan over alleged problems with the model’s brakes, Toyota GB has issued a statement to belay fears for models sold over here.
According to another statement issued by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), brand dealers in the US and Japan have notified the carmaker of complaints from consumers relating to the performance of brakes of the current generation Prius.
The new Prius was introduced to the UK in September this year. As TMC is in the process of investigating the complaints, the carmaker’s representatives in the UK have said it would be ‘premature to comment at this time’.
Meanwhile the brand has confirmed that seven models sold in the UK could be affected by a different problem, relating to the accelerator pedal becoming stuck. A total of 180, 865 UK will now be subject to a recall, and the carmaker is now working with DVLA to contact the affected owners of the models.
It was initially feared that eight UK-sold models would need to be recalled, but it has since been confirmed that no variants of the RAV4 need to called in for a repair. Additionally manual models of the city car Aygo are unaffected. However some automatic Aygos will be subject to the safety recall, along with variants of the iQ, Yaris, Verso, Avensis, Auris and Corolla.
The carmaker will begin repairs to these cars from February 10. The repairs will be carried out by Toyota technicians, at approved service centres. The procedure should take around 30 minutes to complete, requiring an engineer to reinforce the pedal assembly to eliminate the potential risk of excess friction that could cause the pedal to become stuck.
