Official Toyota and Lexus distributor UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) has released a statement commending the move by transport minister Anthony Loke to bar the Road Transport Department (JPJ) from renewing the road tax of vehicles affected by the Takata airbag recalls. The company stated that it supported the government’s seriousness in handling the issue.
“Since 2013, Toyota Motor Corporation has been actively addressing this issue. The affected vehicles have been identified and distributors worldwide have been informed to initiate Special Service Campaigns. During these campaigns, the airbag inflator modules have been replaced at no charge to the owners,” said UMWT deputy chairman Akio Takeyama.
The company, which has recalled Toyota vehicles produced from 2001 to 2014 and Lexus vehicles from 2007 to 2016, reported a completion rate of 53% for Toyota models newer than six years of age and 91% for Lexus vehicles under three years old. Owners of older models have been urged to send their vehicles in to have their affected airbag inflator modules replaced immediately, it said.
Additionally, UMWT said that it has made all effort to request owners to bring their vehicles to authorised service centres for the free replacement of the module, as well as sending notification letters to owners based on their contact details in its database.
“Safety is our highest priority and we have made every effort to contact owners through various means. We are grateful to the Transport Minister for his concern and will fully support this initiative,” said president Ravindran Kurusamy.
Loke’s announcement followed a fatal accident involving a Honda City on May 27, in which a rupture of a recalled airbag inflator was confirmed by Honda Malaysia. The latter sent several notification letters related to the recall to the then owners of the vehicle based on information in its database, but records indicated that the recall replacement was never completed and the vehicle was not serviced at Honda authorised dealers.
Causing large scale recalls by numerous companies since 2013, the issue centres around a defective airbag inflator, which contains a non-desiccated, phase-stabilised ammonium nitrate propellant that degrades after prolonged exposure to high absolute humidity, temperatures and cycling between low and high temperatures. As such, the inflator module could rupture when the airbag is deployed, causing metal fragments to pass through the airbag and into the cabin at high speed, potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
In the case of Toyota vehicles, owners will be able to check if their car is involved in a recall by visiting Toyota’s Special Service Campaign website, using a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) checker. They may also contact the Toyota hotline at 1800-8-TOYOTA (869682). For Lexus owners, customers can contact Lexus authorised dealers nationwide or contact the Lexus hotline at 1800-88-LEXUS (53987) or visit lexus.com.my.
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Bravo Lexus UMW Toyota.
Sapoting cuz they dun need to do recall, let their customers get suprise when wanna renew road tax. Lazy toyota lords.
Change Umw glc…
As i said, buy Proton better. Proton no recall means no problem
Correct. P1 airbags havent kirr pipu yet. Syabas P1! Syabas Autoliv!
Autoliv actually made a pretty innovative airbag inflator that uses a different type of gas that’s apparently less prone to explosions and is overall safer.
I know a lot of cars that use Autoliv inflators and they haven’t had a problem yet. I reckon many of the replacement airbags use Autoliv inflators.
Very true, Proton have less or no recall. If they don’t sell, GUARANTEE NO problem. Hehehe. Cheers…
You must be coming from cave
I sent them multiple email since last year June to make appointment for the replacement with TOYOTA. At first they replied my message and told me that my car is being recall. Once it reached the scheduling stage, they stopped reply me eventhough i sent multiple email and phone call.
But they called me few days ago after MOT make announcement. Bravo Toyota.
Sadly UMW Toyota only interested to recall for cars that being distributed by them only.
Since past 2 years, I’ve been trying to get my airbag replaced but until now nothing happen. I hope I can talk directly with Mr Akio Takeyama (UMW deputy chairman) that his statement above is not accurate at all.
If Mr Akio Takeyama read this comment, I dare you to contact me and I will provide you all evidence how efficient your organization in handling this issue.
Toyota Corp wouldn’t be so irresponsible as to neglect any vehicles made by them. The Japanese are honourable people & have high standards of business ethics.
However, the same can’t be said for UMW Toyota. They can wash hands over imported models as why would they bear the (labour + misc) cost for vehicles not imported by them. UMW Toyota has always been strictly by the letter of the terms & conditions, nothing more nothing less.
you should go back to your imported dealer instead of UMWT. Or you paid money to UMWT for replacement.
thats your problem to buy recond car. why should umw be responsible for your stupid decision ? next time buy car from authorise local distributor ok.
Now I am confident why I have to buy P1 instead of P2 or other jepunis makes.
Never go wrong with P1. Return of Bapak, return of P1!
Yep. Geely Chinas
How about those parallel imported version? Do local Toyota support them as well? Or The buyer have to deal on their own with Japan’s Toyota? Please!!!
Hi guys,i want information that you know if there is, does Toyota Wish Recond cars 2009 – 2015 also have the same problem?
It likely may be
But you will probably want to ask around for advice on airbag replacement for imports (maybe some authorized service agents can help out if they’re that helpful).
I don’t think it’s likely that UMW will have the part and/or allocation for cars that they do not officially sell and I’m unsure if they will help out with sorting out gray imports. Such is the risk of getting gray imports but some people generally prefer them, especially enthusiasts.
dont know why so many stupid recond owners harassing umw. you buy recond car, its your problem . dont expect umw to be responsible for your recond car. dont want this kind of problem, then next time buy car from authorise local distributor ok.
It depends on the distributor.
I know someone who has the Honda FD2 Type R that was not officially purchased from Honda MY (even though they did officially import the FD2). Despite not being in their database as this specific one was not sold by them, they proceeded with the replacement despite needing contact with the Japanese division to have a replacement shipped.
I do have to stress that this one is pretty isolated especially since it involved an enthusiast model. But it does depend on who distributes the car. Some may go above and beyond while others would generally serve their own customers.
There are many problems where the current owner is not the first owner. Means the owner names & addresses with the Authorized workshops are incorrect. Therefore uncontactable. These “non-first” owners are also afraid of the replacement cost as they are either misinformed or care less.
UMWT and Honda always advertise via media ask those owner to check via webside or SC, you dunno how to check ka?