Importer recalls Priuses to fix brakes

Israel's official Toyota importer, United Motors Israel, is recalling 1,335 Prius cars after the global parent company admitted to a problem - not with the accelerator this time, but with the braking system.

The repair will take about 40 minutes at Toyota garages, and will be free.

Toyota officials have been saying the problem with the brake is not serious.

UMI itself clarified that the issue isn't "hardware," it's a question of updating software in the car control systems. Moreover, UMI says the braking distance was not affected by the problem; it is a question of "feeling," the company said.

In other words, the problem is a question of customer satisfaction, as opposed to customer survival.

The brake-related recall, which UMI announced yesterday, was initiated at the behest of the Japanese government. Tokyo demanded that the giant car company investigate complaints about malfunctioning brakes in the Prius after some drivers reported that the "green machine's" braking was non-continuous on bad roads (meaning, roads with uneven surfaces).

The local recall is part of a vast move to repair faulty parts in several of the Japanese company's car models throughout the world.

Meanwhile, more than 33,000 Toyota vehicles have been recalled in Israel thus far, to have their accelerator pedals repaired.

Last week, while the global parent company issued apology after apology, Toyota mailed out notices to owners of Toyota vehicles in Israel, asking them to come to the company's garages to fix faulty accelerator pedals in Auris, Yaris, Avensis and Verso model cars.

Worldwide, Toyota has recalled 437,000 hybrid cars of four types, including the Prius, to address the brake problem. It previously recalled 8 million cars to address the problem with the accelerator.

Last week, Union Motors received the list of cars that need to be checked from Toyota's European headquarters. The importer then located the cars' owners through the Transportation Ministry's licensing database and sent out the notices.

Customers can look on Union Motors' Web site to see if their cars are included in the recall, or they can call a Toyota service center for information.

In other news of Toyota Motor Corp.'s woes, company president Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda, yesterday apologized yet again and announced that the company is considering a recall of two other hybrid models - Sai and Lexus HS250h gasoline-electric hybrid models that use the same brake system as the Prius.

Admitting that the veteran company was in "crisis," Toyoda vowed the company would double its quality control efforts.

He also said drivers could feel safe in Toyota cars.

They may be safe, but some are angry. Toyota faces at least 34 lawsuits in the United States and Canada, filed by car owners who claim the value of their cars has been diminished by the trouble. There are another 12 lawsuits by car owners who claim they or passengers have been injured or killed because of the problem with the accelerator.

On February 4, Toyota projected that it could return to profit in the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2010. It reported that the recalls would cost it about 100 billion yen, or $1.1 billion. However, its projections likely need revision.

Since the trouble first erupted on January 21, when Toyota suddenly recalled millions of cars because of sticky gas pedals, the company has lost $31 billion in terms of market value.

Nor are its troubles ending. Yesterday the journal Automotive News reported that Toyota may face investigations over safety issues in yet another model. Since April 2008, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received 83 complaints about problems with the power steering of Corolla cars, models 2009 and 2010, says the journal. Most of the complaints - 76 of them - claimed that at speeds greater than 65 miles per hour, the car suddenly veered.

UMI says the power-steering issue is not relevant to Corollas sold in Israel, and relates only to cars manufactured in the United States.