By Ravi Chandra
Following reports of fires in the driver's side doors of 2007 Toyota Camry sedans and RAV4 crossover SUVs, federal safety regulators in the U.S.A. are investigating the vehicles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents posted on its Website on Friday that as many as 830,000 vehicles could be affected in the probe. However, no vehicles have yet been recalled.
The fires are believed to have started in the power window switch on the door. The NHTSA has had six reports of fire, although no one has been hurt so far. The regulator said that the probe began on Monday.
In a statement, Toyota said that it is cooperating with the agency in the probe. According to the NHTSA filings, most of the six incidents were minor accidents and damage was limited to the doors, but a Camry was destroyed in one case. Several owners reported that they were hence scared to drive their vehicles.
A Camry owner reported on November 19, 2011, that he saw flames coming from the door right after starting the car. Firefighters were called, but the car was reportedly destroyed by then, the complaint said.
In August, 2011, an RAV4 owner reported that the master power window switch caught fire to burn a dime-sized hole. The owner said that he had been having trouble with the power window since July, 2009. In the complaint, the owner said, "I was so afraid to drive the fire trap I traded it in for a new car. The RAV4 was paid off. Now I have a car loan at 19.9 per cent."
This is the third consecutive year when a Toyota car has attracted an investigation, with the total number of recalls amounting to more than 14 million vehicles worldwide over the said period. Millions were recalled in the wake of acceleration problems, where Toyota replaced floor mats, which could trap gas pedals; and pedal assemblies which can stick and cause cars to take off.
But U.S. safety regulators, alongside NASA engineers, conducted exhaustive tests to conclude that there was nothing wrong with Toyota's electronic throttle controls.
