KARACHI: Around 2,700 Toyota Corolla cars are being recalled under a “special service campaign” after the company found that the front mounting bolts of the front seats may be improperly tightened.

Indus Motor Company (IMC) said on Thursday it is offering a free inspection to rectify the problem besides a complementary car wash. According to an IMC spokesman, the company found the problem existed in 2,082 Corolla XLI and GLI, 410 1.6L Altis and 268 Altis 1.8 and Atlis Grande.

He said 1,100 vehicles of the batch were free of problems.

In February, IMC recalled almost 9,896 different Toyota Corolla models of 2016-17 owing to faulty brakes. However, the company denied at the time that the move was a “vehicle recall”.

The problem emerged in 7,892 units of XLI and GLI Corolla 1,300cc, 1,020 vehicles of 1,600cc Altis and 984 units of 1,800cc Altis and Altis Grande of 2016-17 models all over the country.

IMC said there is a difference between a special service campaign and a vehicle recall. A company makes a recall when it discovers faulty parts that need to be replaced. A special service campaign involves checking and adjustment.

Besides defects in new locally assembled cars, the issues of late delivery and premium still persist.

For example, a customer who books Honda Civic, Honda City and Honda BR-V gets delivery in five to six months.

However, impatient buyers can get immediate delivery by paying a premium of Rs200,000 on Civic and Rs100,000 on City to dealers.

The delivery time for Toyota Corolla vehicles is between August and November.

But sources said customers of Toyota Fortuner and Revo are getting a delivery time of next year. Premiums on Toyota Fortuner and Revo hover around Rs400,000-Rs500,000 per vehicle on spot delivery.

Under Auto Policy 2016-21, the price and delivery schedule, not exceeding two months, must be firmed at the time of booking.

Any delay of over two months will result in a discount of Karachi Inter-Bank Offered Rate plus two per cent prevailing on the date of the final delivery.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2017