Toyota Australia remains silent on hybrid stop-sale

Toyota Australia remains silent on its hybrid stop-sale issue, conceding it has no immediate remedy for the mysterious braking defect despite a month-long-inquiry.

Three weeks after carsales first broke the story, which affects hybrid versions of the RAV4, Camry, Prius and Corolla hatch along with the Lexus ES hybrid and Lexus UX hybrid, Toyota Australia is yet to communicate the exact nature of the problem, how many vehicles are affected or whether the braking performance of cars already in market could be in question.

The car-maker’s Australian officials provided the same response to carsales’ queries today as they did nearly a week ago: “We are continuing to carry out pre-delivery vehicle inspections as a precautionary measure. We will provide further details on expected completion timing and subsequent lifting of the sales stop as soon as possible”.

carsales pressed a spokesman from Toyota Australia with further questions, to which he declined to respond.

Those questions centred on: the cause of the sales-stop; which vehicles are affected specifically and how many examples of each model are affected; the prospect of extended waiting times for new vehicles; and whether Toyota has ceased importation of certain models until the stop-sale is lifted.

In an email response, a Toyota Australia spokesman said the original statement stood.

Based on discussions with Toyota dealer staff, it is understood the issue centres the brake booster fitted on the affected models, which in some cases could be the incorrect part.

Toyota’s communications so far on the matter, which caused the original sales-stop on June 14, is below:

“Toyota has identified that brake-related parts may require inspection and has therefore ordered a sales stop of selected vehicles,” the car-maker said in a statement.

“This is a precautionary measure only at this stage and we are in the process of investigation. Vehicle inspections have commenced and we will provide further details on expected completion timing and the subsequent lifting of this sales stop, as soon as possible.”

Last month, a spokesman said that Toyota hasn’t issued an official product recall for vehicles already in market potentially affected by the braking problem. He declined to shed any more light on the exact nature of the issue.

“The only update we can give you is that investigations are well underway,” the spokesman said.

“While the investigations are underway – it’s a serial number check – vehicles not affected will be released.”

The RAV4 Hybrid sales freeze is particularly ill-timed for Toyota Australia, having commanded a strong proportion of sales since its launch and creating extended waiting times.