At least 1,000 Toyota owners in Malta will need to have their cars' acceleration pedal changed following a major recall in Europe and the US amid safety concerns.
The figure is a conservative one because it only includes vehicles sold by Michael Debono Ltd, Toyota's local agent, and not others bought from dealers or imported from abroad.
Company director Michael Mallia said yesterday the full extent of affected vehicles was not yet known. All the chassis numbers of the seven affected models from Europe were sent to Transport Malta, which would have to identify which cars were in Malta and contact the owners.
"They could not give us the information because of data protection issues," he said.
Toyota said last week that 1.8 million cars in Europe would have to be brought in for repairs. Over 180,000 British Toyota owners are expected to find out next week whether their cars have the potentially defective accelerator pedal.
Toyota is also recalling 2.3 million cars in the US after some acceleration pedals manufactured by Canadian company CTS were getting stuck, posing a safety concern.
Vehicles imported from Japan are not affected by the problem.
The affected models are Aygo MMT, February 2005 to August 2009; iQ, November 2008 to November 2009; Yaris, November 2005 to September 2009; Auris, October 2006 to January 5, 2010; Corolla, October 2006 to December 2009; Verso, February 2009 to January 5, 2010; and Avensis, November 2008 to December 2009.
Mr Mallia said there was no need for the owners of the seven affected models to stop using their cars.
"The accelerator pedal condition does not develop suddenly and anyone noticing that the pedal is slow to return to its original position or becomes hard to depress should contact us immediately," he said.
Michael Debono Ltd's managing director Geoffrey Debono said the owners of any defective cars would realise that the acceleration pedal would be harder to press or took longer to return to its original position. Although such a problem was rare, it was more likely to happen in cold and very wet climates. He said that although a lot of people had called the company, nobody had reported a problem with their acceleration pedal.
The parts required to correct the malfunction are expected to arrive in Malta at the end of the month and owners of affected cars will be able to take them in for repairs. The job takes about 30 minutes and Mr Debono said all defective cars found in Malta would be fixed, including those bought from other dealers or imported by the owners.
The problems for Toyota have not stopped with the accelerator pedal, and dozens of complaints have been made in North America and Japan about brake failure on its hybrid-electric Prius.
Mr Debono said the brake responded slowly when it was pressed softly, but the vehicle could be controlled by pressing the brake harder.
Asked whether the recall could put potential costumers off buying a Toyota, Mr Mallia said he hoped the way the company was responding to the situation demonstrated its commitment to clients.
Even car dealers do not think the recall will affect sales of Toyota cars or give the brand a bad name. "The fact that Toyota is voluntarily recalling the cars shows it is a serious company. Mistakes happen but, at least, it was serious enough to take action," dealer Adam Cini said.
Similarly, Mark Gauci, a Birkirkara-based dealer, said Toyota was a renowned brand and the recall would not have an impact on its reputation.
This is not the first time the Japanese manufacturer had to recall its cars. Back in November, Toyota recalled 4.2 million cars in the US due to pedals getting lodged under floor mats.
But this was far from being the biggest recall. According to Forbes, the biggest recall happened in 2006 when 7.9 million Ford cars had to repair a faulty ignition switch, which could cause a fire in the steering column.