By Victoria Brenan

Last updated at 14:14, Thursday, 11 October 2012

Drivers of Toyotas in Cumbria will get letters informing them if their cars could be affected by faulty window switches.

The car giant yesterday announced it was recalling seven million vehicles worldwide and 138,000 in the UK.

Toyota said there had been no reports of accidents, injuries or deaths as a result of the window problem, which Norman Fraser, operations director at the Toyota site in Kingstown, Carlisle, said was down to grease on a component in the window switch.

“There is a strict protocol whereby the affected drivers are identified by the manufacturer and Vehicle Licensing Authority,” he said.

“Customers will then get a letter asking them to bring the car in for a test. If they come to us before letters are sent out, we would be able to check their cars for them and resolve it there and then. The whole thing would take around an hour.”

Models affected were sold between 2006 and 2006 and are the RAV4, Yaris, and Auris.

“Over time, the window switches may feel uneven or sticky,” Mr Fraser added. “It’s very minor.”

The number of vehicles being recalled worldwide is roughly the same as its sales for the whole of its last financial year.

It comes a day after Honda said they were recalling a third of CR-V model cars made at its Swindon plant because of a potentially dangerous fault.

A faulty seal on a master switch in the driver’s door that controls the windows may cause liquid to seep inside, causing it to overheat and catch fire.

The fault applies to the second series of the CR-V, made at the South Marston site between 2002 and 2006.

A spokeswoman for Honda in Carlisle said they did not yet know if any of the vehicles they sold had come from South Marston. She said owners would be identified by the VLA and notified in due course.

First published at 14:08, Thursday, 11 October 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk