Toyota is preparing for yet another massive global recall, involving 7.43-million cars, due to a possible electronics glitch that may cause electric windows to emit smoke.
Our Toyota South Africa PR contact has informed us that South African cars will be involved, and that the exact models involved will be officially confirmed soon.
Based on the international report, it looks as though a large number of local cars are affected as the vehicles being recalled outside of Japan include variants of the Yaris, Corolla, Auris and RAV4 that were built between 2005 and 2010.
PRE-EMPTIVE MEASURE
Our informant said that Toyota will make contact with affected customers and also stressed that it is a pre-emptive measure as no incidents of damage have been reported as yet.
On a global scale, this is the world's biggest automotive recall since Ford called back 8 million vehicles back in 2006. Toyota itself has recalled about 10 million vehicles in separate cases between 2009 and 2011.
While Toyota has not commented on how much the latest recall will cost the company, an international spokeswoman did say that that the process to repair the power window switch is not an extensive one and that it would involve putting heat-resistant lubricant on the switches, or exchanging them.
The first time the problem was reported was in September 2008 in the United States, and no accidents, injuries or deaths have been reported as a result of the problem, though there is a possibility that the malfunctioning switches could emit smoke.