BREAKING NEWS: Toyota model recalled due to styling defect

TOYOTA has announced a recall of more than 45,000 cars after one of its biggest selling models suffered from a styling defect.


The company announced the recall of its Innova people carrier after it emerged that the seven-seater suffered from a visual fault which rendered the car so mind-numbingly dull that anyone who beholds it is at risk of developing headaches and lethargy. While nobody has been injured as a result of the defect, the Japanese car giant has gone ahead with the recall due to the risk of the styling boring other motorists to the point of sending them to sleep.

A Toyota spokesman allegedly told Life On Cars: “While the vast majority of our cars are designed these days to be as safe, aerodynamically efficient and as visually stimulating as possible, occasionally a model styled by someone clearly on a tea break or a work experience student does slip through the net.

“For this reason, and due to the safety implications of having a car in our model which is so dull it risks boring other drivers to the point of distraction, we’ve decided to recall the model and replace it with something more interesting purely as a purely measure.”

While the Innova, mercifully, is not sold in the UK, the measure comes in the wake of recent – and totally genuine - recalls affecting cars sold in this UK, including a trio of issues affecting the RAV4, Hilux, Yaris and Urban Cruiser models. Owners of the UK models affected by the real recall are urged to check whether their car is affected by looking at Toyota’s British website or by calling into their nearest dealer, but anybody who has been affected by the Innova’s styling defect can safely deal with the issue by looking at a more interesting car after they’ve read the rest of this column.

 Motoring pundit Joe King said: “Toyota’s UK offerings have come on a long way from the terminally dull Corolla models of the 1990s – you only have to look at the GT86, for instance, to see that there are some cars with real soul and charisma in their showrooms these days.

“UK motorists should be relieved that the Innova isn’t a regular sight on this country’s roads, but it just goes to show that even the world’s biggest car companies can still offer some inexplicably dull models in their line-up.”

Several other car manufacturers have had to recall models due to styling defects before, including Ford for the indescribably dull Escort in 1990, Hyundai for the offensively ugly Coupe in 2000 and Ssangyong for the poorly-proportioned Rodius people carrier.

Any readers considering buying any of these models are urged to consult their nearest optician for further advice.

Selling like hot brakes

Just got word from Toyota that last month was its best ever for UK sales of the Prius hybrid car.

That's the same month that many of the firm's models got caught up in the most widely publicised safety recall in years, and got residents where I live so concerned I was invited onto the local radio station to talk about how drivers might be affected.

It's the same story with Audi's TT; once that car had its stunning lines dilluted by a rear spoiler for safety's sake after horror stories about the car's stability ten years ago, it went on become a massive success story.

I don't like the Prius but I don't deny Toyota their success. If a car's good enough, no safety recall is going to stop it selling.

Don't go on about your Toyota, just get it mended

THE sky is falling. Climate change will kill us all. We’re all going to get swine flu. Oh, and if you drive a Toyota you’re going to be wiped out in a high-speed inferno.

If you saw the front of either The Daily Mail or The Times chronicling Toyota’s safety recall earlier this week you would think getting behind the wheel is about as safe as gargling wasps or bungee jumping with the wrong rope, but as a paid-up media man I actually feel sorry for Toyota. Hysteria doesn’t cover it.

The coverage of the safety recall has been so disproportionate that you’d think it’d be best not to venture outdoors at all, for fear of a runaway Yaris with its throttle jammed open wiping you out. I can just see The Runaway IQ or Avensisageddon becoming a bad movie later this year.

Toyota’s head office actually told me this morning that the fault, which involves sticky accelerators on the Aygo, IQ, Yaris, Auris, Corolla, Verso, and Avensis, as well as the (Toyota based) Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1, only affects a very small number of vehicles, and that they’ve had to recall so many vehicles to be on the safe side.

Motor makers recall lots of cars every year, but the press seem to cherry-pick a handful and go mad with their keyboards. The last time any car got this much coverage was the Audi TT in its original, slightly slippery state, but there’s been far worse – and far quieter – recalls since.

Even if you are one of the very, very unlucky ones who gets caught out by a dodgy pedal, it’s really not hard to bring it to a halt. Most cars I’ve driven – even the ones with jammed throttles – have a brake and clutch, both of which slow you down. Even automatics can be asked nicely to glide to a stop, by braking and getting the gearbox to slow you down.

There will be a full feature in The Champion designed to allay readers’ fears (and it’ll be on here in the next few days too) but if your Toyota’s accelerator jams, stick the thing into neutral and get it sorted by your friendly local dealer.

And then stop going on about it.