Recall for Toyota Camry and Aurion

UPDATED
10/08/2012TOYOTA Australia has issued a recall campaign on almost 20,000 of its Australian-built Camry, Camry Hybrid and Aurion sedans over a potential fuel leak.

The company said in a statement today it would notify the owners of 19,099 vehicles built at the Altona plant in Victoria between October 2011 and July 2012 that the fuel hose may have been incorrectly manufactured.

“There is a possibility that the fuel hose that connects the main fuel supply line to the engine may have become wrinkled during connector insertion,” the statement said.

“In some cases this could result in a small hole in the fuel hose which may allow fuel to leak.”

The company said there had been three reports of this condition to date, but that no accidents had been recorded as a result.

Toyota will contact owners by letter urging them to make a booking with their local dealer to arrange a free inspection and, if required, no-cost fuel hose replacement.

The inspection by Toyota technicians is claimed to take around 30 minutes, while the fitment of a new hose if deemed necessary would add an extra 60 minutes.

Toyota launched the current-generation Camry in December last year, and the new Aurion V6 in April this year – the same week as it controversially laid-off 350 workers at the Altona plant.

Sales of the Camry four-cylinder and Camry Hybrid in 2012 are one of the few good news stories from the Australian car industry in what has been a tumultuous year, with sales up 23.8 per cent in the first seven months of the year, including an even more substantial 29.4 per cent in July.

However, the heavier V6-powered Aurion is down 9.1 per cent this year, and was down a substantial 31.9 per cent in July.

By the end of this year, the Altona plant will begin producing the 2.5-litre powertrain used in the Camry range – current engines are sourced from Japan – opening up potential exports to Malaysia and Thailand.

The Camry/Aurion recall comes one week after Toyota in the US recalled 778,000 RAV4 compact SUVs over a possible suspension issue, but the company's Australian arm decided against issuing a full safety recall on local models.

Instead, the company will write to more than 66,000 RAV4 owners here asking them to take their vehicle to a dealer. There have so far been eight reported cases of loose suspension arms Down Under.