The Liva, right from the outset didn’t quite feel like a true Toyota product. Somewhat lacking in terms of the finesse and substance we usually associate with Toyota products, the Etios / Liva twins did not quite impress their users as their Corolla and Innova counterparts have managed to for years. Seems like the heavy cost cutting measures on the car are beginning to show their effect on reliability after all!
Toyota is recalling 41,000 units of its Etios / Liva twins to replace a faulty inlet pipe leading to fuel tank. As a part of the recall, the company will replace the inlet hose leading to the fuel tank which is susceptible to crack when the tank is filled to the brim. Units of Etios / Liva produced till the 8th of October this year will be covered under this exercise.
Toyota Kirloskar Motors, however, are trying to veil the recall as a safety campaign. Right! You never have any recalls in India it seems, auto makers turn to charity only in this part of the world. Just a question, would you call this a safety campaign in the US of A as well, sir? The pleasures of doing business in India include being able to sell vehicles which turn into a ball of fire like a pyrophoric material without having to bother about recalls or any such things which cost money.
According to TKM deputy MD, marketing, Sandeep Singh, “it is a proactive approach by us. This development is not at all dangerous (it never is in India) but as per Toyota’s worldwide policy, we are informing customers that they can come to dealers at their convenient time and replace the pipe.” The inlet pipe replacement process will not take more than 30 to 45 minutes according to Sandeep Singh.
Toyota had earlier recalled a batch of about 20,000 Innova MUVs as well to repair an oil leakage related issue. RE fans, are you reading? Oil leakage is not a good thing – it’s a serious engineering defect, and the makers of the bike you revere so much should ideally be recalling each and every bike they ever manufactured.