Prius brakes found defective
Washington, Feb. 4: Americans should park their recalled Toyotas instead of driving to dealers for accelerator repairs.
This was the transportation secretary, Mr Ray LaHood’s warning on Wednesday.
As scepticism of Toyota’s faulty brakes grew louder by the day, the government’s probe has expanded to other models in the US and Japan.
Questions are now being raised on the brakes of Toyota’s marquee Prius hybrid.
The Prius was not part of the most recent recall, but Japan’s transport ministry ordered the company to investigate complaints of brake problems with the hybrid.
Mr LaHood said his department, too, was looking into brake problems.
Toyota spokeswoman Mr Ririko Takeuchi, said on Thursday that the automaker was aware of 77 complaints in Japan about faulty brakes for the Prius, just a day after the Japanese government had confirmed 14 complaints had come in against the Prius model. So far about 100 complaints have been filed in the US.
Harried dealers began receiving parts to repair defective gas pedals in vehicles and said they’d be extending their hours deep into the night to try and fix them. Toyota said it would solve the problem — which it said was rare — of cars unaccountably accelerating.
At a congressional hearing, Mr LaHood said his advice to an owner of a recalled Toyota would be to "stop driving it." — AP
KEN THOMAS and STEPHEN MANNING
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