Toyota HiLux recalled over battery kit issue

TOYOTA Australia has issued a safety recall for 39,700 examples of its HiLux 4x4 and 4x2 Hi Rider diesel utes over an issue with the fitment of a Toyota genuine accessory auxiliary battery kit that could result in damage.

The car-maker says that because of the improper fixing structure of the battery kit to the left hand front fender apron on vehicles fitted with the accessory, it could be damaged by vibration if driven on rough roads.

According to Toyota, if damage occurs, “the battery could move and interfere with the surrounding engine wire harness, causing wire damage, resulting in illumination of warning lights and in the worst case, the engine could stall”.

Just under 1500 of the genuine accessory auxiliary battery kits were sold in Australia until Toyota stopped selling them on January 13 this year, but the company has called in all 39,700 examples of the affected HiLux to have a new one fitted.

It affects the aforementioned variants built between September 29, 2015 and January 14, 2017.

Toyota is in the process of sending letters to impacted customers to advise them to make an appointment with their dealer, or to find out if their vehicle is not fitted with one of the auxiliary battery kits.

If the vehicle has one of the kits installed, Toyota will inspect the HiLux and the owner will be required to return at a later date for the fix.

The replacement parts will be available in June and the fix will take about an hour.

Toyota says it has received nine reports of cracks developing on the fender apron, but there have been no injuries or incidents as a result of the fault.

Toyota Australia is a supporter of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ (FCAI) Genuine is Best campaign, which promotes the use of genuine parts and warns against using fake or counterfeit parts.

More details of the HiLux recall can be found on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s product recalls website.