Toyota recall: More than 2,600 Corollas affected by safety issue

The biggest car brand in Australia, Toyota, has issued an urgent recall of its hugely popular Corolla model due to safety concerns regarding the car’s torque convertor.

Thousands of Toyota Corolla 2.0L petrol engine vehicles, produced between August 2016 and October 2018, need to be returned to the dealer to undergo free repairs, with the manufacturer warning that the issue could cause an increased risk of crash.

A total of 2,640 hatchback auto Corollas, which is the world’s best-selling car of all time, are believed to be affected by a problem with the torque converter in the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) assembly, which Toyota have blamed on a “manufacturing error”.

Anyone who owns one of these cars has been urged to return the vehicle to Toyota Australia, as the blades of the pump impeller in the torque converter could become detached, damaging the converter and cutting power to the car. Hybrid models are unaffected.

The necessary repairs will take around 10 hours to complete as the CVT and torque converter needs to be removed and replaced, however the replacement parts needed are not expected to be available until the first half of 2019. 

Around 1,100 of these vehicles are already with Toyota Australia and will be fixed prior to being delivered to guests. 

While there have been no incidents or injuries caused by the issue yet, this is the second blow to the leading car manufacturer in just 24 hours as Bannister Law is currently investigating a class action involving their HiLux vehicle, relating to problems associated with its diesel particulate filter.

The class action, which also relates to diesel versions of the Toyota Prado and Fortuner SUVs, is built around claims that the vehicles’ diesel particulate filters are defective and do not burn off particulate matter in the course of normal urban driving.

The particulate matter can then build up within the filter, causing a blockage and resulting in “excessive emission of foul smelling white fumes from the exhaust”. Bannister Law claims customers have also reported excessive fuel consumption.

“Our clients have experienced increased fuel consumption and a loss of power of the vehicle which they believe may have been caused by the inability of the DPF to reach desired temperatures due to hard deposits accumulating on the DPF oxidation catalyst in order to commence regeneration/burn of particulates,” Bannister Law said in a statement.

Read more: Audi, Ford, Toyota cars added to Takata airbag recall.

Toyota was also affected by the Takata airbag scandal earlier this year, which saw them issue an urgent recall of cars fitted with the potentially deadly safety features.

Around four million cars across Australia were believed to have been affected by the recall, according to the Australian Competition Consumer Commission (ACCC).

For further information, customers can contact the Toyota recall campaign helpline on 1800 987 366.

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