Seat heaters provide a warm, cozy welcome to your frigid car; that is as long as it doesn’t catch fire. That possibility has Toyota halting the sale of its most popular vehicles after discovering the padding in seat heaters doesn’t meet flammability standards.
Popular models, including the 2013 and 2014 Camry, Avalon, Sienna and Tacoma and 2014 Corolla and Tundra, are being sidelined until the seat heaters can be replaced, USA Today reports.
The problem was discovered when the Korean Automotive Test and Research Institute found the fabric backing material used in seat heaters did not meet U.S. vehicle flammability standards. A spokesman for Toyota said the issue affects thousands of vehicles, but did not have a specific number.
A recall of vehicles already sold isn’t planned, the spokesman tells USA Today. The company has not received any complaint about fires in seats of the affected vehicles and only vehicles made at Toyota’s U.S. plants are affected. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will make its own decision on how to proceed with the issue.
This isn’t Toyota’s first issue with a heat related problem in their vehicles. In September, the company recalled 369,000 vehicles worldwide (235,000 in the U.S.) for possible problems with heat damage in two hybrids and a possible defect in engine bolts in Lexus vehicles.
Toyota halts sale of key models over safety issue [USA Today]
via Consumerist http://ift.tt/1fqGbdd
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