Automakers meet ministry officials over 24-hour rule

Abu Dhabi, March 9, 2010 (Gulf News) - The Ministry of Economy has met representatives of several auto dealers, including Al Futtaim Motors, Gargash Enterprises and Al Masaood Automobiles to ensure compliance with the "24-hour rule", which mandates the recall of all defective products within 24 hours of discovery.

So far, Al Futtaim has sponsored the largest recall of 3,900 Toyotas of various models in the UAE for full maintenance due to specific defects identified and announced by Toyota in Japan.

"The agency replaced all defective parts as per the Ministry regulations and distributed gifts to the relevant customers," Dr Hashim Al Nuaimi, Director of the Consumer Protection Unit at the Ministry of Economy, told Gulf News.

"Car agencies were instructed to withdraw any car models from the market if the relevant cars are declared defective by the manufacturer.

Official letters were also sent in this regard. The Ministry has given all car agencies 15 days to take the necessary measures and report back to the Ministry," Al Nuaimi said, adding that the Ministry does not have current information regarding the car agencies' cost of implementing these regulations.

He said Chrysler's local distributor was also instructed to fix defects in 2008 Jeep Wranglers, where the oil temperature in the gearbox sometimes rises to a dangerous level.

The Ministry of Economy announced that on February 24, Toyota's local distributor Al Futtaim Motors launched a recall campaign for maintenance of the Toyota Avalon 2005-2010 and Toyota Sequoia 2009-2010.

Al Nuaimi said Al Futtaim Motors informed the Ministry that the gas pedal in these models is equipped with a device to ease its use.

This device wears out or could catch up underneath the accelerator on long distance driving. Toyota issued a recall on this problem late last year.

The new problem relates to the pedal mechanism becoming sticky, causing it to stay depressed, or returning too slowly to idle.