UK Toyota boss John Williams talks about the sticky throttle recall.
Toyota’s UK boss John Williams has spoken about the sticking accelerator issue and offers advice and reassurance to Toyota customers
I know, I know. If you don’t have a Toyota you’re bored silly with the endless news. But millions of cars round the world affected by a dodgy accelerator is big news for Toyota owners, so we’re keeping you up to date.
Toyota in Japan have apologised for the problem and now it’s the turn of Toyota’s boss in the UK – John Williams – to offer apologies and advice to owners of Toyotas in the UK.
It’s a decent effort at damage limitation and at least shows that Toyota are working to solve the problem. It may be a case of ‘Better late than never’ but it’s commendable nonetheless. Even if the “I drive a Toyota; my family and friends drive Toyotas; I wouldn’t allow that to continue if the cars weren’t safe” does smack a bit of John Gummer eating a burger. Still, it makes the point.
The parts for the sticky accelerator fix will be in the UK by next week and replacements start on 10th February. If you need more information look through our Toyota Recall section or call Toyota GB Customer Relations on 0800 1388 744. You can also go to Toyota’s website and put in your VIN # to see if your car is affected.
JFK says
“TOYOTA” The manufacturing sacrificial sacrifice. Complaints of deaths due to sudden acceleration in Toyota cars, like the Audi that went 0-60MPH at a turn of a key that involved death and injury, I don’t recall any apologies from Audi. Recalls aren’t new take a look: http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/saf-sec-sur/7/vrdb-bdrv/search/search.aspx?lang=e Ford 1419 recalls, Chrysler 309 recalls, Cadillac’s alone 190 recalls Toyota 139 recalls; and them with out sin cast the first stone. Domestic(?) auto makers now push to produce everywhere but north America, Toyota and Honda with plants in US and Canada are turning more domestic then Ford, Chrysler or GM who just opened a new line in Asia. “Domestic” means production that takes place within the country’s borders (Wikipedia). http://twitter.com/economicblow
CarsUK says
We have a lot of sympathy with your remarks. The problem for Toyota is the way they have handled the problem. It looks to have been swept under the carpet and effectively ignored. We reported the other day there are reports going back to 2004 of faulty accelerators causing accidents in Toyotas. But Toyotas are good cars. We’d still buy one.