Toyota to Repair Water Pumps on 650,000 Prius Hybrids Globally
By Michelle Krebs November 30, 2010
Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it is launching a repair campaign on about 650,000 Prius hybrid cars globally - more than half of those in the U.S. - to repair a water pump that can cause the cars to overheat and lose power.
In the U.S., the campaign covers 378,000 Prius hybrids from model year 2004 through 2007. The remainder was sold in Japan, Europe and Australia.
The repair is not a recall required by law as it is not a safety issue; there have been no accidents or injuries connected to the flaw. Instead, Toyota views it as a customer satisfaction issue.
In February, Toyota recalled 397,000 Prius hybrids globally, half of them in Japan, to fix problems with anti-lock brakes.
Toyota is still reeling from a host of recalls on a number of models over the past year. Edmunds.com predicts Toyota sales will be down nearly 2 percent this month from last year's dismal November and down nearly 10 percent from this October. At the same time, the rest of the Big Six automakers are expected to post year-over-year sales hikes. As a result, Edmunds.com is pegging Toyota's November market share at 15.2 percent from last November's 18.1 percent and this October's
Photo by Toyota
The most recent repair campaign covers the 2004 to 2009 (pictured) Toyota Prius.
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