- Feb 6, 2007
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Toyota has suspended sales of its recently released high performance TRD Aurion (Australian model), pending an investigation of an engine failure last week.
Only a month after the launch of its first official TRD model, Toyota has been forced to suspend sales following the report of an engine failure last week. The car is the 323hp (241kW) supercharged and FWD Toyota Aurion sold in Australia, and this latest occurrence is a rare blip on the carmaker’s trademark reputation as a manufacturer of some of the world’s most reliable cars.
It is the crucial first release from the new Toyota Racing Developments workshop, which has bolted a supercharger on to the Aurion's V6 engine to lift power from 204 kW to 241 kW.
Toyota spokesman Mike Breen says one vehicle ''had an issue'' in the hands of a dealer salesperson. ''The issue appears unrelated to the supercharger or the engine power output,'' he says. ''At the moment, we believe this is a one-off issue.
These latest comments are strange because the Aurion is basically a Camry and runs the familiar 2GR-FE 3.5L global V6 engine, which hasn’t previously presented any problems.
Toyota has a commitment to the quality of our product and since this type of incident is unusual for a Toyota engine, we took the decision to stop selling the vehicle while we investigate.''
About 150 cars in dealerships or being used for marketing purposes will be inspected. ''We expect it will take about two hours per car, and about one week to run through the process,'' Mr Breen says.
''A handful of cars have already gone out to customers, who we believe have no reason to be concerned. If they would like to speak to their Toyota dealer we encourage that and the dealer will take the appropriate steps.''
Source:
Drive