TOYOTA has announced a voluntary recall of 12,000 iQs in the UK to rectify a software problem.
The company has said that it would recall the iQ to carry out a modification to the software used to manage the vehicle’s Electric Power Steering (EPS) system.
The issue affects 12,000 iQs in the UK produced between 11 September 2008 and 22 October 2010 – Toyota GB were alerted to the problem by incidents in Japan.
Toyota say: ‘When driving on certain roadside safety side strips or ‘rumble strips’, signals received by the EPS sensors may be incorrectly interpreted by the EPS control unit, triggering the EPS warning light. Should this happen, the driver would need to apply extra effort to steer the vehicle.’
The company is working with VOSA to contact owners, but is adamant that no cases or accidents have been reported in Europe.
The company says: ‘The repair involves the update or replacement of the EPS control unit software. The job will take approximately two hours to complete, at no cost to the customer,’ and the company will ensure ‘that vehicles produced before 22 October 2010, but not yet delivered to customers, will be checked and the necessary repair undertaken before delivery.’
Jon Williams, managing director of Toyota GB PLC, said: ‘We are committed to putting the customer first and have a total focus on the quality of all our products.
‘We will liaise with our customers to carry out the repair procedures as efficiently as possible, with minimal disruption.’
The announcement is yet another recall to have affected Toyota owners in the UK. Only last month Lexus had to recall three of its most popular models, with the Prius causing Worldwide recalls earlier this year.
by JAMES BATCHELOR
