[LobsterB]

In line with the recall announced by Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) globally, Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) today voluntarily announced a recall of Corolla Altis (manufactured 30th July 2008 – 31st Dec 2008) and Camry (manufactured 1st Sep 2006 – 31st Jul 2008). TKM will recall approx 8,700 vehicles in India to inspect the Power Window Master Switch (PWMS). TKM will conduct this campaign on a voluntary basis.

On certain Corolla Altis and Camry models of the specified years, the PWMS may begin to feel notchy or become inoperative. This can be due to wear and tear over-time of specific contact points in the PWMS. Owners of the involved vehicles, covered under this Recall Campaign will receive a notification by letter/ call from Toyota. The Recall Campaign will be conducted from November onwards, across all authorized Toyota dealers in India. Customers can also contact the nearest dealer to find out if their vehicles fall under this campaign.

Authorized Toyota dealers will inspect and carry replacements (if deemed necessary) at no charge to the vehicle owner. The repair is expected to take approximately one hour, depending on the dealer’s work schedule. No other Toyota models, sold in India, are covered by this recall campaign.

The company will also notify SIAM, as a part of the voluntary code on vehicle recall, even though the recall does not fall within the purview of any safety hazards. The company requests its customers not to panic as this is not a safety hazard but only a precautionary measure, voluntarily carried out by the company.

[acatgain]

Is it only for the Power window switch or something serious ??

This can be due to wear and tear over time of specific contact points in the PWMS.

Normally No company will cover anything under the tag "WEAR and TEAR". That is the reason why I suspect a black hand.

If any BHPians are eligible for this recall, Then please closely watch the mechanics and check whether if they are connecting something to the OBD port or something..

[vinair]

Why does this happen with Toyota time and again? Should these recalls be taken in a more positive sense? Or just end up cursing the manufacturer??

1) On a + thought : Glad the manufacturer looks into such minute things and has the courtesy to replace a defective part on their own, this without anything really going wrong or me as a customer pointing at something that's defective! wow!

2) On a - thought : Aren't there any quality control measures at each stage of manufacturing? Doesn't anyone sample check when materials are collected from different suppliers before anything gets screwed/bolted/pasted on a vehicle? This shows how flawed the entire production system is!!! sigh!

[bansal98]

I thought the word "recall" was usually reserved for serious risks like vehicle catching fire, failing brakes etc. Can repairing a faulty window switch be called a recall? Is there something more going on here which we are not aware of?

[sgiitk]

@bansal98; I suspect there may be a fire risk in the switch. Else it could have been taken care of at the next service.

[mempheS.D]

Isn't it a matter of doubt that the same manufacturer continually tops the list of recalls every year? And that too for the same models - Corolla and Camry - time and time again? Leads me to doubt whether there's something fishy going on in their QC department.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/29/t...ber-of-u-s-re/

[fiat_tarun]

It has to be related to something more serious than just 'wear & tear' !

There must be a risk of these switches short circuiting & probability of a fire.

I remember Honda had a similar recall for the City where the power window switches allowed water entry and could cause a short circuit.

[acatgain]

Yes.. thats exactly my point..

Normally No company will cover replacements anything under the tag "WEAR and TEAR".

[AWD]

Power window switches have been faulty on Corollas. My Corollas Power Window switches stopped working all of a sudden. Toyota technicians said that if you don't use them often, they stop working. Call it disuse atrophy!

[sridhar24]

As far i understand Major automotive companies announcing a recall normally happens only if some serious flaw is detected in any component. The reason replacing just a power window switch seems to be something fishy. That too from a brand like Toyota which is great in reliability terms. Any BHPian got any info kindly share with us.

Originally Posted by AWD

Power window switches have been faulty on Corollas. My Corollas Power Window switches stopped working all of a sudden. Toyota technicians said that if you don't use them often, they stop working. Call it disuse atrophy!

What the technician said is strange, i don't understand how not using the power windows often makes it stop working. That too all window switches failed to work, then that must be some electrical glitch.

[AWD]

Originally Posted by sridhar24

i don't understand how not using the power windows often makes it stop working. That too all window switches failed to work, then that must be some electrical glitch.

Actually the Toyota mechanics/techinicians had warned me at earlier occasions that a lot of Corollas come in with Powe Windows Switch failure. Most of this they said was due to not using the switches so often. He further maintained that maybe dust accumulates in the motors of these mechanisms over time which leads to malfunction. So he advised me to use these switches occassionally. Now due to the extreme weather conditions, dust & smoke, windows remain rolled up round the year.

The rear power window switches of my car malfunctioned. Remembring what the tec. told me, I punched the windows a couple of times & the switches would work. Now this also doesn't help. I've not bothered to take the car to dealership for this issue as it rarely bugs. The windows of my car are going to reamin rolled up anyways!

Btw there was another serious glitch & that was in the cars Indicator Stalk, its terminals from inside would melt. Toyota recalled Corollas to rectify this earlier, I took my car too & the stalk was replaced. Sadly the problem occured on the changed stalk. I could see smoke coming out of the stalk whenever I used dipper. Once there was lot of smoke, thinking this may cause a fire, I immediately took the car to Toyota dealership.

The stalk was opened & I saw the melted points. Dealership said the stalk will have to be changed & I would have to pay for it. I rejected this as this was a changed part during recall. So I got in touch with Toyota which pulled up dealer to change the stalk free of cost. The dealer still did not do the job. I again had a chat with Toyota & this time they pulled the dealer hard & he came to my place to change the stalk.

[cawnpore ghost]

Originally Posted by vinair

2) On a - thought : Aren't there any quality control measures at each stage of manufacturing? Doesn't anyone sample check when materials are collected from different suppliers before anything gets screwed/bolted/pasted on a vehicle? This shows how flawed the entire production system is!!! sigh!

Toyota has been a pioneer in product quality. I have no doubt, they have Incoming Inspection for Lots, cycle test for individual components(like switches), Quality Alerts for inconsistency, comprehensive product Failure Mode and Effect Analysis.
Usually tests are subjective and results are acceptable if they fall between upper/lower limit set forward by design.
Problem may be undetected because:
1. Design/FEA is flawed. Product/ component adhering to the design will be a good product according to Line Operator.
2. Incoming Inspection is flawed. Products sourced from Tier II manufacturers are inspected in lots of a predefined number. Cycle tests are only conducted on samples and at pre defined intervals. Though once a Quality Alert is detected, a quality wall(experienced human operator/machine) is put in place to inspect every single component. Manufacturers try to come up with process deviation to remove this bottleneck as soon as possible.
3. Manufacturing Process is flawed. All processes are designed to inherently detect human error/ product failure. Example, a function tester at the end of line checks every assembled product for all functions it needs to perform, or clamps at a particular assembly station don't open unless all nuts are screwed on within specified threshold torque limits, detected by an electronic nutrunner and an optical sensor. Malfunctioning/ lack of such process controls makes a bad product pass the test and reach the vehicle.

Toyota has shown responsible behavior by detecting the fault, tracing it to individual lot and proactively coming up with corrective action, even when severity is not critical.

[chinmaybaikar]

Good to know that they even concentrate on such minute things. Any other manufacturer wouldn't have cared for this. Hope they aren't hiding anything from the toyota owners.

[fuel_addict]

I don't think we should look suspiciously at Toyota for initiating this so called recall. It's a good move albeit coming after almost 4 years. Honda did this too with the City. The manufacturing period stated is in the second half of 2008 which is around the time when the Altis was launched. I suspect the power window issue was carried over from the previous generation Corolla to the initial few batches of the Altis. It's raises some questions on Toyota's QC but its good to see their initiative considering several fire related incidents recently.

On a side note, I have witnessed power window operation slowing down over years in most cars. I believe this is due to long periods of inactivity of the winder motor. Working the power windows on all 4 doors once in a while might not be a bad idea to just keep the motors functioning.

[ganeshtvpm]

Corolla Altis (manufactured 30th July 2008 – 31st Dec 2008) and Camry (manufactured 1st Sep 2006 – 31st Jul 2008 recalled for faulty window switch replacement. My question is how did they came to know about this defect one fine day or is it just an exercise to show the customers that we care about the minute details of the car. If it is a faulty switch then how come it worked for six long years for the Camry.