Toyota was forced to halt the sale of about 36,000 of its unsold vehicles this week, including the bestselling Camry, after learning that the heated seats don’t meet flammability standards.
The stop sale order affects U.S.-made Camrys produced between 2012 and 2014, all 2013 and 2014 Avalon, Sienna, and Tacoma models, and all
2014 Corollas and Tundras, USA Today reported. In all, the order affects about 13 percent of Toyota cars at U.S. dealers.
"The timing of this issue, and its impact on Toyota's most popular models, couldn't be much worse," Karl Brauer, analyst for Kelley Blue Book, said in a statement. "Given that much of the U.S. is currently in the grips of a record cold snap there's sure to be high demand for models with seat heaters."
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Though there haven’t been any fires or injury reports, Toyota is concerned that the padding around the heating mechanism inside the car seats doesn't meet flammability standards. The material used doesn't "retard flame" as fast as what's mandated by the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, the car manufacturer said in a statement.
There was no timetable provided for how soon all the models would be repaired, but Toyota remained firm that a recall is not necessary.
The order puts a big burden on dealerships across the country that have affected models on their lots, but can't sell them.
"Hopefully we'll get some parts in where we can get them fixed by the end of February,"
Toyota spokesman John Hanson told The Associated Press.
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