Fuel leak prompts 17,000-vehicle recall by Toyota
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Image: Chris 73.
Toyota announced on Friday that it will recall around 17,000 Lexus vehicles in response to risks of the fuel tank in the cars leaking after a collision.
The Lexus HS 250h model was subjected to the recall following a US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigation. Despite previously passing Toyota safety inspections, the conclusions of an NHTSA sub-contracted investigator were that; when the vehicles in question collided with an object at more than fifty-miles-per hour, more than 142 grams of fuel, the maximum allowed by US law, leaked from the crashed car.
According to Toyota, further tests did not show any additional failure of the fuel tank.
In response to the findings, Toyota issued a recall of all affected vehicles, since the company had no solution immediately available. The recall includes 13,000 cars already sold, as well as another 4,000 still at dealerships.
Toyota says it plans to conduct further tests to determine the cause of the leak. A Toyota spokesman, Brian Lyons, said that the company was "still working to determine what the root cause of the condition is." It's still unclear when exactly the recall will take place, or when dealerships will be allowed to sell this model again. Lyons said that Toyota is "working feverishly to get this resolved as soon as possible."
Toyota isn't aware of any accidents stemming from the leaking fuel tank in the affected vehicles, first introduced in the summer of 2009.
Sources
- "Toyota recalls Lexus HS 250h hybrid, halts sales" — The Los Angeles Times, June 26, 2010
- "Toyota to recall Lexus hybrids to fix fuel tank" — The Detroit Free Press, June 26, 2010
