Toyota recalls 4,518 cars in Israel, so far

Union Motors, the the country's official Toyota importer, Thursday mailed out notices to 4,518 owners of Toyota cars in Israel, asking them to come to the company's garages to fix faulty accelerator pedals. The models being recalled are the Auris, Yaris, Avensis and Verso. Corollas are not being called in for the safety repairs, but it is still not clear if any Rav4 SUVs will be recalled.

Union Motors only received the list of cars involved Thursday from Toyota's European headquarters. The importer then located the cars' owners through the Transportation Ministry's licensing database, and sent out the notices. The letters should arrive in the mail over the next few days.

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

The repair will not involve replacing the gas pedal, but will include placing a small metal rod to prevent the pedal from being worn down and breaking, which will then keep the accelerator from sticking open and causing the car to speed out of control.

The service will take about two hours, and of course will be free.

There are also another 104 Toyota vehicles in Israel that were privately imported not through Union Motors - and need the preventative fix. They also need to bring in their cars, and the ministry has already notified them.

The affair started in the U.S. last September when four people died in an accident after the accelerator stuck open on their Toyota.

All told, Toyota is fixing about 6.1 million vehicles worldwide, and the company estimates the problem will cost it $2 billion.

While many Toyota owners came running into the importer's garages this week, since the problem became known in Israel last weekend, they were all sent home with reassurances that there was no danger, and to wait for the official notification - which went out yesterday.

One leasing company, Albar, offered customers replacements for Toyotas, for those customers who were still worried.

Toyota suppled more bad news yesterday as reports came out of problems with the brakes on its Prius hybrids, and U.S. regulators opened an investigation. Toyota said it had fixed the problems for models sold since January, but had yet to decide if a recall was needed for the hybrids.

As for the company, its shares - and profits - are taking a beating. The number of cars Toyota is recalling and fixing will be about the equivalent of a year's sales in number, and Toyota sales have slid since the news broke.