Lexus Australia recalls 10,800 cars

Lexus Australia has announced a recall of 10,800 vehicles over a possible fire risk as a result of a fuel leak.

The defect, which affects Lexus IS, IS F sedan, IS convertible, GS and LS cars built between September 2005 and August 2010, is part of a global recall campaign of 1.75 million Lexus and Toyota passenger vehicles.

A statement from Lexus Australia said: "The recall is due to the possibility that the sealing property of the gasket between the fuel pressure sensor and the fuel delivery pipe could become degraded.

"If this occurs, fuel could leak past the gasket during vehicle operation, potentially increasing the risk of a fire hazard."

The recall is the latest in a string of call backs by Lexus and its parent company, Toyota.  The Australia-spec Lexus models are among 759,000 cars globally built between September 2005 and August 2010 prone to the same fault.

A further 802,000 overseas Toyota products built between June 2007 and June 2012 have been recalled to a faulty rubber seal leaking brake fluid, while another 190,000 Japanese Toyota models built between October 2006 and October 2014 have been called back due to a defective fuel evaporative emission control unit.

Lexus Australia says there have been no accidents or injuries as a result of the local fault. The repair work will take between three to four hours to complete and will be free of charge to owners.

The Toyota recall comes only a day after Holden announced two separate recalls for its Colorado 7 SUV, and Barina small car and Trax SUV.

The Colorado 7 recall stems from an issue with the vehicle's third-row seating, and applies to 3116 vehicles produced between January 24 2012 and September 24 2012.

"The retractor lock sensing mechanism inside the third-row seat belts may not meet a particular requirement of the Australian Design Rules relating to the locking of the safety belt when the vehicle is parked on an incline," a notice on the Australian Competition and Consumer website said.

Meantime, the Trax compact SUV and Barina small car, which share the same platform, were recalled over an issue with the ignition barrel.

According to the ACCC notice, the ignition key cylinder can develop a wear condition that "may allow the vehicle starter motor to crank the engine if the key is left inside the ignition key cylinder and in the 'Off' position, while the vehicle is parked".

Barina and Trax owners who leave their vehicle in gear while parked are most likely to encounter the problem, the notice said.