Business Monday: Recalls at Toyota and Volkswagen
Happy October!
Coming at you today we have news of two different recalls, one from Volkswagen and one from Toyota - we’ll be adding both to our safety files.
Toyota Motor Sales, USA is recalling their all-weather floor mats that can jam the gas pedal in some Toyota and Lexus models. It’s a direct response to a federal investigation of “unintended acceleration incidents,” and about 55,000 drivers should receive letters.
Toyota owners were already warned about issues with all-weather mats earlier this month, when they were cautioned to use mat retaining hooks, and not to layer all-weather mats with regular ones. Replacements are not yet available, so owners will get a second letter about that at a later date.
Affected models are the 2007 and 2008 Toyota Camry and Lexus ES 350, but even if you’re driving the cool new 2008 Toyota FJ Cruiser you should probably make sure that your floor mats are secure.
The Volkswagen Recall is a little more serious, involving Volkswagen 340,000 Jetta and Rabbit models that were manufactured in Mexico, and sold in the United States, and have mis-constructed head lights.
According to spokespeople at VW, some of the head lamps on affected vehicles are missing legally-required rubber caps that are supposed to be installed in some of the screw-sockets. While VW says there’s no danger caused by the missing caps, owners are urged to bring their car in to their local dealer to have the caps installed.
Looks like VW’s hands on approach may need a little refinement.
