Toyota South Africa has confirmed that it is conducting a recall campaign related to potentially defective Takata airbag inflators. (The Takata recall affects a number of automotive brands worldwide.)
This is not a new recall for Toyota SA, but an ongoing campaign that commenced in July 2015. It affects some 770,000 locally-sold Toyota and Lexus models (currently 10 different model ranges) produced between 2002 and 2015. Please note that airbags were not standard on all Toyota models produced during this period.
Toyota SA would like to stress that the Takata recall campaign is a precautionary measure as there have been no injuries or fatalities reported in South Africa linked to the potentially faulty airbag inflators.
Affected customers are contacted directly by Toyota SA as well as their dealers to bring their vehicles in for the repair which is conducted free of charge. Toyota SA has established a dedicated Takata Call Centre to locate affected customers.
There are also three other tools Toyota has made available for owners to check if their specific vehicle is affected:
- Contact the Toyota Call Centre on 0800 139 111 (have your VIN number to hand – located on your vehicle licence disc);
- Go to Toyota.co.za/recall (once again have your VIN number handy);
- Download the MyToyota app – you will automatically be notified if your vehicle is affected. In addition the app will enable you to scan any Toyota licence disc to establish if it is affected by the Takata recall.
Mr Andrew Kirby, President and CEO of Toyota South Africa, would like to assure customers that our focus remains their safety and peace of mind: “I would like to sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this has caused but we feel that this pro-active measure is the right thing to do as prevention is always better than cure.
“There has not been a single reported injury or fatality in this country arising from the potentially faulty Takata airbag inflators – and we want to keep it that way.
“We as Toyota are committed to developing safe and reliable vehicles, whilst ensuring that even our older models provide occupants with the best level of safety possible.”
