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Toyota recalls 98,000 RAV4s

Toyota recalls 98,000 RAV4s in Australia due to faulty rear seatbelts

Australia’s best-selling SUV is being recalled due to faulty seatbelts, but the fix won't arrive until June.

Almost 100,000 examples of Australia’s best selling SUV, the Toyota RAV4, is being recalled because the rear seatbelts may fail in a crash.

The car maker is recalling 98,000 of its more than 250,000 Toyota RAV4 vehicles on Australian roads -- models made from August 2005 to November 2012 – because the seatbelts in the outer positions of the back seat “could contact a portion of the metal seat cushion frame, become cut and separate” during a crash.

The company says there have been no accidents or injuries in Australia as a result of this condition.

Toyota will ask owners of the affected vehicles to return their RAV4 to a dealership for repair free of charge, but only once the replacement parts become available in June.

The four-month delay is due to the large number of vehicles affected globally -- more than 2.9 million -- and the time it will take to manufacture and distribute replacement parts.

The company says it will add “resin protection covers” to the metal seat cushion frames.

The repairs will take approximately 60 minutes but customers will be asked to book their cars in for an appointment once the parts become available.

For further information, customers can contact the Toyota recall campaign helpline on 1800 987 366 or via the Toyota Australia website to see if their car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) is one of the affected models.