Toyota Announces Safety Recall on Select Vehicles

Torrance, Calif., January 28, 2009 – – Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. will launch a Safety Recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) involving approximately 134,900 Yaris vehicles sold in the United States.

The Yaris is equipped with driver and front passenger seat belt pretensioners that retract the seat belts to begin absorbing the occupant’s forward momentum when a severe frontal impact is detected. On 2006 through 2007 model year Yaris, Toyota has determined that the seat belt pretensioner deployment may affect the sound insulating foam in the center pillar, following a collision.

There are no reported cases of this condition in the United States and no other Toyota or Lexus vehicles are involved.

Toyota will inform owners of the involved vehicles with a Safety Recall notification via first-class mail beginning in early February. Owners are requested to contact their local Toyota dealer for repair. The repair will take approximately one hour, depending on the dealer’s workload.

Customers with questions or concerns should contact the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331.