Toyota recalls 98,000 RAV4s in Australia due to faulty rear seatbelts

THE nation’s best-selling SUV — the Toyota RAV4 — is being recalled worldwide due to faulty seatbelts yet the fix won’t arrive in Australia until June.

2010 Toyota RAV4 Altitude special edition 4WD SUV wagon.

ALMOST 100,000 of Australia’s best-selling SUV, the Toyota RAV4, is being recalled because the rear seatbelts may fail in a crash.

The world’s biggest carmaker is recalling 98,000 of the approximately 250,000 Toyota RAV4 vehicles on Australian roads — models made from August 2005 to November 2012 — because the seatbelts in the outer positions of the back seat “could contact a portion of the metal seat cushion frame, become cut and separate” during a crash.

The company says there have been no accidents or injuries in Australia as a result of the condition.

Toyota will ask owners of the affected vehicles to return their RAV4 to a dealership for repair free of charge, but only once the replacement parts become available in June.

There will be a four-month delay in having the safety concern addressed in Australia.

The four-month delay is due to the large number of vehicles affected globally — 2.87 million — and the time it will take to manufacture and distribute replacement parts.

The company says it will add “resin protection covers” to the metal seat cushion frames.

The repairs will take approximately 60 minutes but customers will be asked to book their cars in for an appointment once the parts become available.

For further information, customers can contact the Toyota recall campaign helpline on 1800 987 366 or go to http://www.toyota.com.au/news/toyota-australia-recalls-rav4 to see if their car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is one of the affected models.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

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