US investigates complaints of Toyota engine stalls

• Source: Global Times
• [17:44 December 07 2009]
• Comments

The 2006 Toyota Corolla and Matrix vehicle

The US government is looking into the complaints of engine stalls on the 2006 Toyota Corolla and Matrix vehicles, according to a Reuter's report.

The Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has received 26 complaints about the vehicles equipped with the IZZ-FE engine. The investigation involves 397,000 units which are sold in US market.

According to NHTSA documents, the motorists alleged that the stalls occurred at intersections and on highways, making it difficult to restart the engine. There were no crashes reported in the complaints since the investigation began November 30.

Toyota officials have yet to respond to the complaints.

Toyota has met a series quality troubles in the US market in recent months. It recalled nearly four million vehicles because of a gas pedal problem on November 25. It was the largest recall in the automaker's history.

And previously, Toyota recalled about 110,000 older model Tundra pickups for corrosion problems.

Experts say that some of Toyota's quality problems may be related to the company's strong sales growth in the global market in recent years.

Agencies and Wang Yang contributed to this story