Shane Carré, the after-sales manager at Freelance, says that owners should not panic about the safety of their cars

HUNDREDS of Toyotas in Jersey are to be recalled because of a potentially serious fault which can cause uncontrolled acceleration.

The car maker recently announced that it is to recall up to 1.8 million cars across Europe, including more than 220,000 in the UK, following concerns over a defect which could cause the accelerator pedal to stick.

Millions of Toyotas have also been recalled in the USA following a series of accidents allegedly caused by a faulty accelerator pedal.

Toyota said that there have been no incidents in the UK, and none has been reported in Jersey.

Seven models, including the Yaris, the best-selling model in Britain, are being recalled, although Toyota said that very few cars are actually faulty.

Freelance Toyota – Jersey’s only Toyota dealer – is now preparing to deal with the influx of cars.

Shane Carré, the firm’s after- sales manager, said that although many cars could be recalled, Toyota owners should not panic about the safety of their vehicle.
He said: ‘We are fairly confident that there are no problems with cars in the Island.

‘The problems tend to develop in older and higher mileage cars, and as vehicles in Jersey don’t tend to cover too many miles compared to other places, I don’t think we’ll see any here. However, if anyone does have any problems with their Toyotas then they should contact us immediately.’

Owners of the affected Toyota models will be contacted by the manufacturer or by Freelance over the next few weeks. Freelance, based on Longueville Road, will carry out the repairs for free.

Islanders who want more information on the recall can log on to www.toyota.co.uk/recall or phone Toyota Freelance on 703300.

lThe Toyota models which will be recalled are the Aygo MMT made between February 2005 and August last year, the IQ made between November 2008 and November 2009, the Yaris made between November 2005 and September 2009, the Auris made between October 2006 and December 2009, the Corolla made between October 2006 and December 2009, the Verso made between February last year and 5 January 2010 and the Avensis made between November 2008 and December 2009.