SHAH ALAM (Malaysia): UMW Toyota Motor has confirmed that only eight Toyota Crown models it had imported from Japan might be affected by a brake master cylinder leak.

In a statement, the company said it would contact all affected customers and hold a special service campaign to replace the brake master cylinder seal.

The affected vehicles were produced between Nov 8, 2004 and Jan 4, 2006 in Japan.

If unattended to, a small amount of the brake fluid could slowly leak from the brake master cylinder, resulting in illumination of the brake warning lamp.

No other Toyota and Lexus models are affected by this campaign. Lexus vehicles sold by Lexus Malaysia was produced in the end of year 2006.

Customers may also contact UMW Toyota Motor free phone line 1-800-8-869682 for further information or assistance.

Just few months ago, Toyota US paid a huge amount… in billions of dollars… to the US Government as penalty after recalling millions of their Toyota and Lexus vehicles. Even their best hybrid car, the Prius, did not escape from the safety issues fiasco… it even went to live national TV shows when one of the Prius encounters brake failure… probably all the Los Angeles auto repair shops ceased their work to watch the incident on that day.

I feel pity and sad with Toyota… coz Toyota cars are my favorite although I did own a Honda Civic EG8 before… well that was during The Fast And The Furious season And I was really saddened when they pull out from the Formula 1 this year… someone even made a joke… “If Toyota were in F1 this season, they surely gonna win… they are unstoppable!”… coz they don’t have brakes

And today’s news, 22 October 2010, reported Toyota Singapore will recall 1.53 million vehicles globally to fix a brake-related problem that may cause fluid leaks… AGAIN?… The models affected by the recalls are the Lexus GS300, Lexus RX300 and the Toyota Crown. But the actual number affected in Singapore is not known yet… and hopefully the problem will not go further than brake fluid leakage… if Toyota start recalling for engine problem like faulty head gasket, I think people will stop buying Toyota or Lexus soon… I just hope Toyota can fix all these problem.

Toyota is the only Japanese car I like… and I support their F1 team together with Mercedes F1… but unfortunately their F1 team will not be racing this year… same with few other teams which were hit by the world financial meltdown last year.

For the past two years, Toyota has been recalling its vehicles… and it has recalled millions already. They are top in sales but they are also top in recall!!!

But almost all the recalled vehicles are with Toyota US!!! Not here in Malaysia.

Last year they were having problem with floor mat which will slip and cause major safety on the driver’s handling. Now they are having safety issues on the gas pedal… and recently there is a possibility safety issue on the brake system!!! But not all models are affected… only some…

If you are owning any of the US Toyota vehicles which has been identified as having safety issues, I think if you need term life insurance or do not have any right now, you better get it now… else you just have to keep your Toyota in the garage or sell it off…

If Toyota keeps on recalling their vehicles, I’m scared they will vanish from the business very soon… I hope they can improve their safety standard or fix whatever problem they are having in the production line… I hope it is not caused by design flaw because Toyota has one of the best designs… hopefully it’s just caused by bad materials…

I always exceed the once in 3 months servicing schedule… coz my mileage within the 3 months period always less than 5,000 km… so I only service my car once in 5 months, once it has accumulated 5,000 km… although UMW Toyota said it’s not good for the engine, well, I don’t really care coz I’m using synthetic lubricant… lubricant from Toyota itself…

It’s going to be the first servicing for this year… and I must do the servicing before the Chinese New Year… which falls on 14 & 15 February… which also falls on Valentine Day… and luckily my road tax and insurance are still valid for another 8 months… so I don’t have to worry about auto insurance quote… else more money need to be spent next month

This time they are recalling the 3.8 million vehicles for a dangerous floor mat!!!… Yes, a dangerous FLOOR MAT!!!… it was in the news today…

Floor mat can cause accident?… I know it sound so unbelievable… but yes, Toyota is recalling their vehicles for that reason… floor mat! Maybe only Tacoma car accident lawyer can explain this… Toyota spokesman said until the company finds a fix, owners should take out the removable floor mat on the driver’s side and not replace it.

According to Toyota the models affected are Toyota Camry, the top-selling passenger car in America, and the Toyota Prius , the best-selling gas-electric hybrid.

The recall will affect 2007-2010 model year Toyota Camry, 2005-2010 Toyota Avalon , 2004-2009 Toyota Prius, 2005-2010 Tacoma, 2007-2010 Toyota Tundra , 2007-2010 Lexus ES350 and 2006-2010 Lexus IS250 and IS350.

The device is so cool that thieves or syndicates who have the device can walk away with any Toyota Hilux, Toyota Vios or Perodua Viva easily. The device is estimated to cost about RM15,000.00 each.

My assumption after reading the news statement by the police chief of Negeri Sembilan, Datuk Osman Salleh is most probably the device is to be used with the factory supplied alarm and immobilizer system.

Now the question is, if we are to temper the factory supplied car alarm and immobilizer system, will it make the car manufacturer’s warranty void? How about the car insurance? My guess is, it depends on how you are going to modify your car’s security system.

The usual method is to leave the manufacturer supplied car alarm and immobilizer system intake. Simply install a new car security system parallel with the existing security system. I guess by doing so, the car manufacturer’s warranty or car insurance will not get void… what say you?

It supposed to be serviced every 5,000 KM or every 3 months or whichever comes first. It’s not hard to book for servicing at UMW Toyota but it just that works are so much and time is just not enough. And service centre only opened from Monday to Friday. If it opens on Saturday or Sunday, that will be nice… what to do…

But luckily I’m using syntactic lubricant, so it supposed to last about 10,000 KM or more compared to mineral lubricant which can last to 5,000 KM only… not to worry so much. But of course it’s not good to do it regularly. I wanted to call UMW today (yesterday) but I forgot… I try again tomorrow (today), and hopefully I will get a service slot this Friday… else next week lo…

That Toyota Fortuner Turbo with 1KD-FTV 3.0 litre 16-valve DOHC diesel engine is not mine… because it has manual transmission. I can’t drive manual car, I forgot how to drive manual car. But I just want to put it here so that everyone can see it