Recall affecting approx. 75,000 UK vehicles
Toyota’s commitment to ensuring its vehicles meet the highest safety and quality standards includes detailed monitoring of vehicle performance.
This applies to new vehicles, and to those that have been in use for some time. This rigorous process is successful in alerting us to circumstances where vehicle components or systems do not meet strict standards and allows corrective measures to be taken.
Today (14 November), Toyota GB will register recalls for certain Toyota Avensis and Toyota Corolla models (July 2001 to March 2009) and for Toyota Prius (July 2003 to April 2009) with the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). The models included in this action are not new models currently on sale.
To check whether your car is affected by any recall, please visit the VIN check-up on the Toyota website.
What are the issues?
On certain Toyota Avensis, Corolla and Prius models (July 2001 to April 2009) there is a possibility of an issue with a component in the steering system – prompting a knocking or rattling and possibly a reduction in steering response. In such circumstances, the vehicle will remain safe to drive. There have been nine reported cases of this issue in Europe and no reports of any associated accidents.
Also, on Toyota Prius models there is a possibility the water pump in the hybrid system may fail. Should this happen it will be indicated by a warning light being illuminated on the dashboard. There have been three reported cases in Europe. There are no reported accidents related to this issue.
What will be done?
Customer satisfaction is of paramount importance to Toyota. Consequently, Toyota has decided to conduct recall activity to replace the hybrid system water pump and check steering shaft performance on the affected cars.
In full compliance with VOSA requirements, Toyota GB will contact the owners of all affected vehicles, asking them to make an appointment to bring their car to their nearest Toyota dealer. It is possible that some Prius will require attention for both issues.
According to model, the dealer will replace the hybrid system water pump and/or inspect the steering shaft. If the steering shaft does not meet Toyota inspection criteria, it will be repaired.
The water pump replacement should take no more than an hour and a half. If required, the steering shaft repair should be completed in an hour. This work will be carried out free of charge.
There is a registration look-up function on the Toyota website (www.toyota.co.uk) where owners can check if their vehicle is within the affected range of production.
If owners require additional information they should contact Customer Relations on 0344 701 6202.
Notes:
(1): Due to insufficient hardness treatment of some of the extension shafts, the splines that connect the extension shaft to the steering gearbox may deform if the steering wheel is frequently and forcefully turned to the full left or full right position while driving at slow speeds. This deformation may create increased internal clearance and the splines may eventually, over time, wear out. Toyota dealers will inspect the extension shaft to determine if it needs to be replaced and, if confirmed, will replace it. The inspection and repair will take approximately one hour.
(2): There is an electrically driven water pump that circulates coolant through the hybrid components. There is a possibility that the electric motor installed in the water pump may stop functioning, leading to illumination of various warning lights in the instrument panel. In limited instances, the water pump electric power supply circuit fuse may open, causing the hybrid system to stop while the vehicle is being driven.
Jemca Toyota in Reading, UK advised for change of belt and I complied with and gave my go ahead to change the belt. My quiet car started making knocking or rattling noise after they replaced the belt. It also started making squeaking noise when I start the engine in the morning and turn the steering wheel to drive out of the bay.
When I took the car to Jemca Toyota they did some “investigation” and stated that the Water pump is leaking and cause for the noise.
They are however, NOT clarifying as to why the pump suddenly starting emitting the noise after they changed they belt. The person behind counter says “the leak possible got worse suddenly and compared to electronic parts”.
I noticed that squeaking noise from the steering has STOPPED but the rattling / knocking noise has not.
Hi Venugopal,
Thanks for your post and sorry to hear this.
We would recommend contacting our customer relations team for further help and advice and for ease they can be reached via the attached link. http://bit.ly/bO71f4
Hope this helps.
I have recently purchased a late 2006Toyota Avensis 2 litre diesel and have noticed a noise coming from middle to right (drivers side) which seems to worsen when making a left turn or inreasing speed. The noise is more of a droning or whirring similar to a worn bearing (which it’s not). I have noticed some play in the right grove shaft but unsure at this point whether it is anything to do with steering recall and don’t know if there’s any relation to the two from what I read from Toyota as being the problem.
Any ideas anyone. Thanks
I have recently purchased a late 2006 Toyota Avensis 2 litre diesel and have noticed a noise coming from middle to right (drivers side) which seems to worsen when making a left turn or inreasing speed. The noise is more of a droning or whirring similar to a worn bearing (which it’s not). I have noticed some play in the right hand drive shaft, but unsure at this point whether it is anything to do with the steering recall and don’t know if there’s any relation to the two from what I read from Toyota as being the problem.
Any ideas anyone. Thanks
Hi Jonathan
Thanks for your post.
Sorry to hear about your Avensis and to ensure the correct diagnosis we would recommend that you ask your local Toyota dealer to have a look at this for you. If you need help to find your nearest dealer you can use the attached link. http://bit.ly/1epbPJ4. You can also check whether your car is invovled in a recall by entering your registration number here. http://bit.ly/1b8itR5. Finally, if you do want to contact our customer relations team then they can be contacted here. http://bit.ly/bO71f4.
Hope this helps.
I took your advise and went to Burrows Toyota at Doncaster as part of a recall regarding a steering issue.
They printed off a check form and noticed a slight bearing noise on OsF.
I have since stripped down and did find some play in bearing, but not too bad.
But I then checked the drive shaft and it was moving up and down,( which I would have expected the Toyota experts to have found as it was near the steering issue being checked) so I had no choice to get it replaced as well as bearing.
I believe an apprentice or someone without too much experience did the safety recall as it was a non earner, so was tasked to do this check, but not confirmed.
I’m not at all happy with this from Toyota because had I have not checked this out and replaced the driveshaft, it could have resulted in a very bad accident and injuries had the driveshaft snapped.
Could someone from Toyota respond?
Yours very Disalousioned
Jon Smith
Doncaster
Hi Jon
Thanks for your post.
We would recommend that you contact our customer relations team regarding this issue so they can investigate with the dealer invovled. They can be reached via the attached link and the details required will help them with your query. http://bit.ly/1bwxYm0
Hope this helps.
Thank you for your quick response David, I will take this up with Burrows as im furious that they haven’t picked up on this serious issue with the driveshaft, which I can now confirm was two different parts off two different ( earlier/late) models of Avensis that caused the problem. I would hassen to add though, it was probably not Toyota who did this previous repair/replacement, but cannot check this as I bought privately.
Saying that, It doesn’t instil any confidence in Toyota if they can let these type of problems go unnoticed and putting peoples lives in danger.
I did point out to the Technician (name withheld) when I received the recall check notification if there was any issues with the driveshaft, and he didnt seem to have any answers, but the sheet did state items OK (Green) for Driveshafts/Oil Leaks?
This is surely lulling people into a false sense of security having had this checked by professionals?
Thank you for your reply Jon.
Our customer relations team will be able to investigate this further with Burrows.
I have a 2012 Toyota Avensis Diesel. The belt was making a noise that has been replaced but still making noise in high gears 3rd to 6th when acceleratting. also there is a rattle i can hear when car is in idle position. any suggestions what this could be. the rattle i sgetting a bit annoying now.
Hi Kashif
Thanks for your post.
It is difficult to diagnose problems online and for this reason we would recommend that you contact your nearest Toyota dealer who will be able to help. If you are unsure regarding this then click on the link. http://www.toyota.co.uk/find-a-dealer
I originally posted my comments in Jan this year. i ttok my car in to get the aux belt changed but i have been told these are on about 6 months lead time is that true. I have a 2012 2.0D. thnaks.
Many thanks David, I await Burrows response to this.
Jon
Having raised the drive shaft issue, I have now received a response from Burrows, Doncaster.
Basically they would not have picked up on a drive shaft problem in this particular recall, even though in roughly the same area! I find this a hard pill to swallow as it could have lead to a serious accident if I hadn’t have picked this up on investigation.
It makes more of a mockery of the recall, when such likes of highlighting a split wiper blade and other quite insignificant issues were picked up on during the recall. They even noted a rough o/s front baring but not a drive shaft with an emojis amount of play (up and down movement).
Following this I wouldn’t ever trust or put my faith, safety or that of my passengers in their hands again.
Explanation from Burrows therefore very poor.
Your thoughts on this would be appreciated!
Hi Jon
Thank you for your post.
We do understand your concerns here and wanted to ask whether you had been in touch with our customer relations team over this matter? The reason is because they are set up to investigate customer concerns with our dealer network. Please let us know.
Hi David
No I haven’t as yet, but as you say it needs investigating as its something that Toyota would be very concerned by. I do find it unacceptable conduct to be honest. My concern here is if an elderly person or perhaps a lady (not being ageist or sexist) had taken their car in for this recall and this had happened to them, taking Burrows word for it, nothing was wrong and drive shaft had shattered. I wouldn’t have liked to witness the consequences!
Thank you for the reply Jon.
We wanted to ask as well as make you aware that we do have a team here dedicated to investigating customer concerns. Details can be sent to them via the attached link. http://bit.ly/1bwxYm0
Thank you again for bringing this to our attention and we do understand the reasons for your posts.
My car does indeed shudder/rattle when turning slightly right over any slight bump in the road. Much more that it should, and only started doing this after turning full lock on the steering once, which, bizzarely, made warning lights come on on the dash board. (VSC, ABS, and general engine warning light) I had it checked out by a Toyota garage in 2010 but they just plugged in a computer interrogation machine and advised me to spend £200 pounds on new software, and warned me that I may have to pay £700 more in the possible event of the computer not being compatible with the new software (which basically meant that they might break the computer in the process of putting new software on it)
Your recall checker shows that my car is not due to be recalled for this, and yet it seems to me that I have the exact problem described in this recall. PS please don’t advise me to call customer relations team, because I like things to be in writing, and don’t like spending money on phone calls.
Many thanks
Hi Richard
Thanks for your post.
Sorry to hear of your problems. We have checked with our tech team but it can be difficult to diagnose such problems online and ultimately their recommendation is to take the vehicle to your nearest Toyota dealer for diagnosis. With regard to the recall checker we can be very specific on the models affected however we would need the exact nature of the fault to be confirmed to check this for you. If you did want to liaise with our customer relations team then we do have an email if this helps. Let us know if you do book your car in then we can check this further.
Hope this helps.
Hi Kashif
Thanks for your post.
This does not sound correct and we would recommend that you contact our customer relations team about this. Auxilary belts are a service item, have not been related to any recall, and most dealers would hold in stock or could obtain within 24 hours. Here is a link for our customer relations team. https://mag.toyota.co.uk/how-to-contact-toyota-uk
Hope this helps.
Just purchased a 2005 low mileage Avensis and remembered something about a earlier recall in in the press. Looked this up and checked service history presumably you will tell me to take it to a dealer if having checked website the car is not deemed to need recalling. My concern is that this particular fault is not listed as a current recall on your site. Do such things have an expiry and somehow become a customer liability? Given that I have such a complete service history I’m surprised not to find something in it saying this job was tackled. MOT advisories mention steering column.
Hello Roy
Thanks for your post.
It sounds like you may have used the recall checker on our website which will show if there are any outstanding issues on your Avensis but if not this link will take you straight there. http://www.toyota.co.uk/owners-info/recall-checker
A recall has to follow strict guidelines which are set by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (previously known as VOSA) and once listed on the site the recall will always remain the responsibility of the manufacturer to rectify and liability does not pass to the customer. Recalls can only be undertaken in specific circumstances where the DVSA are satisfied that a possible failure could pose a risk to other road users. If you have a concern with your Avensis then we recommend contacting your local Toyota dealer who can check this further for you. They will be able to advise whether a problem is due to a recall or an unrelated issue.
Hope this helps but let us know if you have any other questions.
Total bull I had mine checked they said not affected rattles like a snake low speed and at high speed steering feels tight a reduced steering response I noted and told Toyota