Toyota Kirloskar India has acknowledged a possible defect in its Etios sedan and Etios Liva hatchback. But instead of announcing a full public recall for the effected vehicles Toyota has launched a print ad titled ‘Special Service Campaign’. Using this advertisement Toyota intends to inform owners of all Etios cars produced before 8th October 2011 about the potential anomaly observed in the vehicle’s fuel tank inlet pipe that could cause an inconsistent fuel supply or leakage problem in future. In total about 41,000 units of Etios and Liva will be covered under this exercise.Our research indicates that in all these Toyota cars the fuel inlet pipe (filler hose) has the part or the model number printed on it whereas in the cars produced after 8th October this number is embossed. This may help you just in case you are not sure when your car was manufactured. But still its best to visit an authorized Toyota dealer and let them determine if your car needs a ‘special service’ or not.
Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director (marketing) at Toyota Kirloskar, said “It’s part of a special service campaign and not a recall,”. “We realised there are surface cracks in the hose and filler pipes. While it doesn’t pose any immediate danger, we decided to change the parts as a pre-emptive measure,” he added.
With this recall, Toyota joins companies like Honda, Maruti Suzuki and Skoda in India, all of whom had to call back vehicles to fix faulty parts. But it’s quite amusing to see how all the manufactures try to avoid using the word ‘recall’ in their public statements and replace it with comforting words like ‘Special Service Campaign’. There is a reason behind this approach. The word 'recall' is interpreted as a product failure. Owing to this negative bias attached to recalls, carmakers in India avoid using the term and prefer to host service campaigns or deal with the issue on a one-to-one basis.
This is exactly what Toyota updated on its facebook page:
“We had observed a few cases of potential aberration in the filler hose in some of our Toyota Etios & Etios Liva vehicles. As a part of our Customer First philosophy, we are conducting a Special Service Campaign to check and replace the filler hose of Etios & Etios Liva cars manufactured till 8th October 2011. We are conducting this campaign as a precautionary measure in order to ensure safety & happiness of all our Etios & Etios Liva customers. We have also made an announcement in the newspapers in this regard. You may be contacted by your Toyota dealer in the next few days in this regard. Alternately, we request you to please contact your Toyota Dealer for an appointment. The service check is estimated to take less than 45 minutes and will be free of cost. You may be contacted by your Toyota dealer in the next few days in this regard. Alternately, we request you to please contact your Toyota Dealer for an appointment. The service check is estimated to take less than 45 minutes and will be free of cost.”
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