Toyota VN offers free repairs to faulty cars

Vietnam Register, a government agency responsible for vehicles’ safety, said Thursday it has received a document from Toyota Vietnam saying the latter will carry out free repairs to faulty cars.

Signed by Toyota Vietnam’s deputy director Dang Phan Thu Huong, the document said that Toyota Vietnam will check and repair free of charge all Innova vehicles that suffer from technical problems concerning brake systems, screws or their seats.

But by yesterday afternoon, Toyota Vietnam has not issued any list of faulty vehicles, a repair plan, or the venues for the repairs…

Do Huu Duc, deputy head of Vietnam Register, said this is a positive sign showing Toyota Vietnam’s responsibly for its products but the company must soon publish detailed plans for the solution.

According to a another senior official from Vietnam Register, the fact that Toyota Vietnam has submitted such a document means it is preparing to recall all faulty vehicles.

The firm earlier ruled out any possibility of a recall, saying the flaws are minor.

Engineer Le Van Tach, who earlier released documents showing three major problems with cars of the Innova and Fortuner models, said two of the technical faults take a long time to fix.

No companies apart from Toyota can fix the two problems as they require special tools and special training.

Tach attributed the technical problems to outdated equipments at Toyota Vietnam’s factory.

Camry vehicles also suffer flaws?

Meanwhile, Tuoi Tre received news that yesterday Toyota Vietnam sent another document to Vietnam Register saying it will also offer free of charge checks for Camry 3.5 and Camry 2.4 that were produced between January 28 and March 23 2011.

The document said a number of such vehicles suffer from a problem with bolts.

On April 1, Toyota Vietnam held a press meeting and admitted that there were technical problems with nearly 9,000 cars of the Innova model, which could cause unsafe incidents when driving.

According to Yoshida, production director of Toyota Vietnam, engineers detected technical problems on Nov, 22, 2010 on Inova J models: problems in their brake systems, their screws or their seats.

Toyota is the largest carmaker in Vietnam and its products are best sellers in Vietnam car market. It was established in Sep 1995 and sold 2,223 units in February 2011. Innova, in particular, is a popular model in the country, used widely by many taxi companies.

The announcement came after a local quality control agency said it had been tipped off by an engineer about technical problems on Toyota cars that he said could compromise driver safety.

Earlier, Vietnam Register, said engineer Le Van Tach, working for Toyota Vietnam, released documents showing three major problems with cars of the Innova and Fortuner models.

Tach said the cars made in Vietnam face balance issues since their screws are not tightened properly the way the Japanese company has instructed. He pointed out that the brake systems and seats do not meet safety standards either. – Tuoitrenews

Tags: Toyota Vietnam